Gluten-free Cooking for Kids

Wash the fruit and remove any stems.  Drain in a colander for a few minutes to remove any excess water.  You do not need to remove the rind, cores or stones of the fruit.  Just cut the fruit into biggish chunks and place in a large pot.  If you have a jam making pan this would be a good thing to use.  If not, any large enamel pan will do. It's best to avoid stainless steel as it can leave a slight metalic taste.

To the cut fruit add about 100grams of sugar, more if the fruit you are using is very tart.  You can add more sugar towards the end of the cooking process.  Bring the fruit and sugar to a slow steady simmer, stirring every once in a while. Continue to cook the fruit until it almost reaches a jammy consistency.  You want to remove as much liquid as possible before the next stage, but you need to make sure the mixture doesn't catch at the bottom of the pan or get too thick.  When it is the right consistency put all of the mixutre through a sieve to remove all the pips, skin, stones etc.  It's important to make sure you get as much of the fruit pulp as possible so that you are only discarding bits of skin, pips and stones.  Taste the puree mix and add a bit more sugar to taste. Put the puree back on the heat and reduce until it's the consistency of a thick coulis. 

Prepare one or two large baking sheets.  These must have an edge around them to prevent the mixture ending up all over your oven.  Line the baking sheets with Bake o Glide- the silicone mats you use to line baking trays.  You can get these at Lakeland and some of the bigger supermarkets also stock this type of product.  It's important that when you line the baking sheet, you leave a good overhang of liner so that the fruit puree does not touch the baking tray.  The reason for this is that any fruit on the tray will cook much quicker and may burn.  Smooth the puree out onto the baking sheet so that it's even throughout.  Place in a very low oven- the lowest setting you can get, say 100 C.  An Aga would be brilliant for this sort of thing. It will probably require a good 4-6 hours in the oven to dry out, possibly more if the mixture is very wet to start with, or if you've got a thickish layer in the baking tray.  You can leave it overnight but if you are neurotic like I am, you will be waking every 15 minutes to check the house is not on fire.

After a good 5/6 hours you should be able to peel the edges off the liner. If it comes away easily then the winders are ready.  If it's still a bit tacky or sticky, then leave a bit longer or leave somewhere sunny to dry out a bit more. The paste when it's ready should be firm and pliable with a little stickiness.  Using a sharp pair of scissors, cut the paste into strips. Wind the strips into rolls pressing together to make them stick.  These will keep in a glass jar or you can pack them into little sandwich bags so they are ready to go. Those Baco Rainbow Resealable Snack Bags with pictures of dinosaurs, hedgehogs and fluffy dogs, will be just right.  You can buy these in Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Tescos.