Anna Olson's Crisp Fruit Chips

~Leslie~'s Note:

Yes, this is another recipe from Food and Drink Magazine! "A garnish of fruit chips is a dramatic way to add shards of concentrated flavour and snappy crunch to winter desserts and soups. Pastry chef Anna Olson, host of Food Network Canada's "Sugar" and owner of Olson's Foods and Bakery in Port Dalhousie, particularly loves pear or pineapple chips. They're easy to make at home, she says, but cautions "the real trick is having a good sharp mandolin slicer to cut the fruit thinly." I had fun making these beautiful garnishes so I thought I would share! They may be made with your favourite fruits, unpeeled pears or apples sliced lengthwise, or peeled and uncored pineapple are good choices. Use your imagination!! Ingredient amounts are approximate, you can add more or less fruit and icing sugar to taste.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 35 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 cups fr ...

• 2 cups fresh fruit (unpeeled pears or apples sliced lengthwise, or peeled and uncored pineapple are good choices)
• 1/2 cup icing sugar

Directions:

1. Using a mandolin slicer (inexpensive Japanese versions are available in most kitchen supply stores), very thinly slice your favourite fruits.
2. Arrange slices in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet; sprinkle with icing sugar.
3. Top with another sheet of parchment and another baking sheet.
4. Dry in a 225ºF (110ºC) oven for 45 minutes. Remove top baking sheet and top layer of parchment; continue drying in the oven for at least another 45 minutes, until crisp. The more moist the fruit the longer it will take to dry.
5. Let cool completely; store in an airtight container.

Reviews

[Karen Elizabeth]

Very easy, only marred by my oven tripping the power halfway through the drying time! I left them in the cooling oven overnight, and this morning switched it on again, they seemed to be well on their way, and DH was left with instructions to keep an eye on them and take them out when ready! I can see they will be lovely, and I will give this another go once I've had that switch fixed! Made for ZWT5, thanks for a lovely recipe, Leslie!

[Sydney Mike]

Another trial run recipe for me, to see how these would turn out! Pineapples aren't that great right now around here, so I used some Fuji apples along with some Anjou pears! Wish I could tell you how long they'd last (if stored properly), but around here the last ones were gone after just 2 days!) Would really like to make these again when I have some chilled pear soup! [Tagged, made & reviewed for one of my partners in the Aus/NZ Recipe Swap #22]