Fruit Leather: Preserving & Snacks

Learn how to make your own fruit leather in the next Edible Perennial class series with Jeff Hake of Funks Grove Heritage Fruits & Grains. Making fruit leather is a great way to preserve fruit at its peak ripeness while also making delicious, nutritious snacks. The lessons in this class can be adapted to a wide variety of small fruits, but the class will highlight local black currants sweetened with local maple sirup. Black currants are a bush fruit of emerging importance in the Midwest, and offer a juicy tartness you'll love. Once you know how to make fruit leather, you'll want a lot more in your life. Jeff Hake is an owner of Funks Grove Heritage Fruits & Grains in McLean, Illinois along with his wife and her brother. He loves farming, foraging, and cooking, and getting people as interested in those things as he is.

Register below to attend the free Zoom class on Saturday, March 19 from 2-3:30pm. The virtual Zoom class is free to attend but class participants have the option to preorder a class kit to make during the class with the instructor. This $30 Meal Kit includes everything you need to make the fruit leather including 2 lbs of frozen local black currants, parchment paper, and Funks Grove local maple sirup. Pick up the Class Kit at Common Ground Friday, March 18 from 4-6pm.

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Upcoming Perennial Class Series

• APRIL 23rd at 2pm - Perennial Cocktails and Simple Syrups with Liz Sands

• MAY 28th at 2pm - Asparagus & Rosemary Quiche with Hazelnut Crust with Sarah Buckman

• JUNE 18th at 2pm - Wild Soda with Kaitie Adams

Funding for this series is provided in whole or in part by the Illinois Department of Agriculture's Illinois Specialty Crop Block Grant program, awarded to The Land Connection and in collaboration with Common Ground Food Co-op.