Applesauce is a good base for flavored fruit leathers. This one is made with frozen cherries so it can be made any time of year. Make sure you reserve and use all the cherry juice from the thawed cherries so that the leather isn’t too thick to dry evenly and well.
CHERRY APPLE LEATHER (Pantry Cooking with Home Preserved Foods)
2 pounds (about 6 cups) frozen tart cherries, mostly thawed, reserve juices
4 cups unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup sugar
Blend the mostly thawed cherries and their juice until smooth. Measure out 3 cups of puree. Stir into the applesauce. Add sugar and stir well. Spread mixture about 1/8-inch thick on lined dehydrator trays. Dry at 135o F for 8 to 10 hours or until completely dry. Leather should still be flexible. Fills 5 square trays using 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 cups per tray.
Note: Leftover pureed cherries can be dehydrated as leather and then chopped up and used like dried tart cherries.
