Nicola made some hawthorn leather during the week, with a few blackberries added in to give a little sweetness.  Here’s how she made it.

Collect a good helping of haws and a handful of blackberries.  Nicola used a traditional trug.  Leave them outside for a little while to allow any insects to make an escape.

Remove as much of the stems as you can and start to pulp the haws and blackberries.  Nicola used a traditional Victorian potato masher that she made on a pole lathe.

You’ll need to keep going at it for a while until you reach the kind of consistency shown below.

To remove the seeds, push the pulp through a sieve with the back of a spoon.

You should now have a smooth paste.

Pour it onto a sheet of parchment paper laid on a baking tray. Aim to get a depth of 2 – 3mm.

Pop the tray into the oven on it’s lowest temperature; leave the door open a crack. You’ll need to leave the leather in the oven for a good 4 to 5 hours to remove the water.  Alternatively, you could use a de-hydrator.  Once it’s de-hydrated, cut the fruit leather into strips.  We found that scissors work as well as anything.

Pop the strips in an airtight container to store.

If you want to try out other fruits and berries, take a look here first.

We make many fruit preserves on our autumn foraging course. You can see plenty of photos from this and all of our other courses on our Facebook page.