Jovy

Fruit leather first emerged in New York City in the 1900s when Syrian immigrants dried apricot paste, and it came in one flavor: apricot. Louis Shalhoub, whose grandfather George was one of the first immigrants selling apricot fruit leather in the early days, founded Joray in the 1960s and sold the first commercial fruit rolls in a variety of non-apricot flavors. It wasn’t long before General Mills came out with their own Fruit Roll-Ups in various kid-friendly forms, including Fruit-by-the-Foot and Gushers, and today, that’s the brand that dominates the market.

After checking out the ingredients in the Joray and General Mills chewy fruit products, neither seemed worthy of a clone. Joray rolls are all apricot puree-based fruit rolls, sweetened with corn syrup and sugar, artificially flavored, and diluted with flour to give them a red licorice vibe. I found the texture of these rolls too hard and too chewy, and the fruit flavors were lacking. On the other hand, the taste of the General Mills rolls was terrific, and the products were soft and chewy, as you would expect. But with so much sugar and just a wee bit of pear puree in the mix, these products aren’t much different than candy.

As it turns out, the fruit rolls with the deepest histories are not the best-tasting fruit rolls on the market. That honor goes to Jovy, a Mexican brand that makes fruit rolls in a variety of flavors that actually taste like the fruit printed on the label. Jovy does this by using real fruit combined with a blend of apples and pears. Apples and pears have a more subtle flavor that combines well with other fruits, plus their high pectin content contributes a pleasant texture to the finished product. Jovy enhances the fruitiness by adding artificial flavors and colors to the rolls, but I opted for all-natural ingredients in this hack to let the real fruit flavor shine.

My Jovy Fruit Rolls copycat hack includes three flavors: strawberry, raspberry, and mango, all of which call for frozen fruit or berries, allowing you to make these any time of the year. Purée all the ingredients for your chosen flavor in a food processor or blender, then pour 1/3-cup portions onto baking mats and bake at a low temperature until the tasty fruit leather can be easily peeled off. If you have a “time bake” or “cook time” setting on your oven, you can start a batch in the evening, the oven will turn off automatically when it's done, and your fruit will be cool and ready to roll in the morning.

Find more fun snack recipes here.