Hawthorn Leatherand Hawthorn Jelly

Hawthorn Leather

1. 1

   Place 1 kg of washed hawthorn berries in a saucepan, add just enough water to cover them, and bring to a boil; simmer until the berries are soft and split, about 20 minutes.

2. 2

   Transfer the cooked berries to a fine sieve, pressing to extract a smooth pulp while discarding skins and stems.

3. 3

   Spread the pulp in an even thin layer on parchment paper, season with salt, black pepper, or soy sauce to taste, and dry in a dehydrator set to low heat (or a low‑heat oven at 140°F/140°F) until the sheet becomes flexible but no longer sticky, roughly 45–60 minutes.

Hawthorn Jelly

4. 4

   In a separate pot, combine another 1 kg of washed hawthorn berries with water equal to half the volume of the berries and bring to a boil; simmer until the berries break down, about 20 minutes.

5. 5

   Sieve this mixture to collect both pulp and liquid, then return the liquid to the pot.

6. 6

   Add an equal volume (1 kg) of red currant juice or crab apple juice to the hawthorn liquid, stirring to combine; if a sweeter set is desired, stir in jam sugar to taste.

7. 7

   Bring the combined mixture to a rolling boil, stirring constantly for 5 minutes to ensure proper gel formation.

8. 8

   Ladle the hot jelly into sterilized jars, leaving ½ cm headspace, and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes or allow to set at room temperature before sealing.

9. 9

   Let the leather sheet cool completely before cutting into strips, and let the jelly jars cool before storing.