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Fruit Leather Edible School Books

May 31, 2011 This post may contain affiliate links.

These fun Fruit Leather School Books are a simple and tasty treat to make for your kids when they go back to school! With honey modeling chocolate in the middle this snack is amazingly one of a kind.

fruit leather edible school books

Fruit Leather School Books

Last week one of my readers wrote to me asking if I knew of any alternatives to using corn syrup in a modeling chocolate recipe. As luck would have it, I had just created my Inside Out Chocolate Caramel Apples where I swapped out Dulce de Leche for corn syrup in my modeling chocolate recipe. I was really pleased with the flavor and texture of this new modeling chocolate, and wondered if there were other ingredients that would work as corn syrup substitutes. So, I searched through my pantry for thick sticky liquids and found a few things that I thought might work to make these Fruit Leather School Books.

The first thing I tried was honey. Once stirred into melted white chocolate, I found that the texture of this version of modeling chocolate was just as smooth, soft, and pliable as it’s corn syrup counterpart, but it had a wonderful floral flavor that I really enjoyed.

I was happy with my first experiment, so I decided to work on another project that could be used as teacher’s gifts or end of the school year party snack. I had been thinking of unique ways to make school books, and knew the white modeling chocolate could easily be cut into rectangles to form the pages of some edible books. To create the book covers, I knew I could have wrapped the white pages in a thin layer of colored modeling chocolate, but I wanted more texture and flavor.

Stretch Island All Natural Fruit Strips, Cherry, 8-Count Strips (Pack of 6)I once again went searching through my pantry and came across some bars of cherry fruit leather. I sandwiched a rectangle of the honey modeling chocolate in between a long strip of the fruit leather, hoping it would taste good, hold together well, and be easily bitten into. Luckily, one side of the fruit leather was quite sticky, so it held the modeling chocolate in place. I took a bite – my teeth easily went through the sturdy chewy fruit leather and into the softer more pliable modeling chocolate. I was so pleased that the slightly sour cherry flavor blended so harmoniously with the honey scented, creamy vanilla, flavor of the modeling chocolate, but the best thing about this combination was that the deep burgundy colored fruit leather wrapped around the white modeling chocolate pages looked amazingly like a leather bound book.

fruit leather back to school snacks

If you are helping with a school party, are hosting a graduation party, or are looking for a teacher’s gift, why not try your hand at making these edible leather books? I used raspberry, cherry, strawberry, and apricot fruit leather and found that the apricot leather was tougher, thicker, and dryer than the others. I had to add some honey to the pages to make them stick. Try to find fruit leather that are very fresh (look for the expiration date on the package) for the best results. The leathers should be pliable and a bit sticky on one side. Don’t ask me why they are sticky on one side, I couldn’t tell you, but they tend to be, and it works very well for this recipe.

Edible Books Made from Fruit Leather and Honey Scented White Modeling Chocolate (makes 12 books)

Before you begin: If you haven’t made modeling chocolate before or haven’t melted chocolate, you should read my chocolate making tutorial.. All brands of white chocolate or white candy melts have varying amounts of cocoa butter or oil, so this recipe is just a guide. You may need to add more or possibly less honey. I used Peters White Caps which are similar to Merckens Super White Coatings or Wilton White Candy Melts.

Ingredients:

8 ounces of white chocolate, or white candy melts

1/4 cup honey

12 assorted fruit leather bars (cherry, strawberry, and raspberry work best)

powdered sugar to dust work surface

Special Equipment Needed:

rolling pin

ruler

pizza wheel or knife

Instructions:

Melt chocolate or confectionery coating in the microwave or in a double boiler. If using the microwave, heat on high for 25 seconds, then stir. Heat for 20 seconds, then stir vigorously. If needed, heat for 10 second increments, stirring after each until melted. Allow the chocolate to cool to about 91 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring often.  If you add the honey when the chocolate is too hot, the cocoa butter or oil will rise to the surface and you will have a greasy mess (if this happens, read this troubleshooting tutorial.)  If you don’t have a thermometer, test the temperature of the melted chocolate by putting a drop on your lip. It should feel cool. If it’s hot, let it cool longer, stirring often to make sure the chocolate at the edges of the bowl does not harden.

honey modeling chocolate

Pour in the honey. Stir until well incorporated. The mixture will become thick very quickly, so scrape the bottom of the bowl to incorporate all of the melted chocolate. Pour mixture out onto a counter top, preferably marble or granite. Knead until glossy and smooth. My hands tend to be rather warm, so I use a plastic bench scraper to help me knead the modeling chocolate, so that I don’t over heat it as this can bring out the oils in the chocolate.

how to cut modeling chocolate

Lightly dust your work surface and a rolling pin with powdered sugar.  Roll out the modeling chocolate to about 3/8″ thickness. Use a ruler and pizza wheel or knife to cut 1 7/8″ x 1 1/2″ rectangles.  Re-roll modeling chocolate as needed to create 12 rectangles.

how to make fruit leather edible school books

Unwrap your fruit leather bars and set them, sticky side up, on a cutting board. Use a pizza wheel or knife to cut off the thicker rounded edges.  Set one rectangle of white modeling chocolate on the right side of each fruit leather strip.  Fold the left side of the fruit leather strip over and press down firmly.  I found that the apricot fruit leather was not sticky enough to hold the books together, so I added a bit of honey. These books held together for a while, but did eventually open.  The cherry, raspberry, and strawberry fruit leathers were more pliable and more sticky.  To ensure the books would stick together, I covered them with some plastic wrap and set a baking sheet on top then added a heavy can to weigh it down.  I left the books under this weight for over an hour. None of the books made with the cherry, raspberry, or strawberry leathers came apart even after a few days.

fruit leather treatsTo serve, set the edible books on a wooden cutting board or a serving tray. Store in an airtight container. Do not refrigerate or the fruit leather will harden and dry out. We’ve eaten all but one of the books within a few days, so I really don’t know exactly how long they will keep if stored properly, but I’ll guess about a week. If you do store them for a while, you may want to keep some weight on them, to ensure they will stay closed like a book.

Do you make special snacks for your kids on the last day of school or do your kids have end of the year parties? Let me know in the comment section below.

Products used to make this project that are available on Amazon.com (commission earned for sales)

 

These fun Fruit Leather Edible School Books are a simple and tasty treat to make for your kids when they go back to school! With honey modeling chocolate in the middle this snack is amazingly one of a kind.

If you are looking for more fun Back to School or Teacher Appreciation Gift ideas be sure to check out all these other amazing food craft and recipe ideas on my School & Teacher Treats Page.

Whether you want to surprise your kids when they head back to school or thank a teacher for a job well done, these cute school and teacher's treats will score you an A+.

Filed Under: Kid's Treats, School and Teacher's Treats Tagged With: Candy, Chocolate, Modeling-Chocolate, School-Edible-Crafts, Teacher's Gifts

The Sugar Academy Chocolate Making Courses
Previous Post: « Inside Out Chocolate Caramel Apples make great teacher’s gifts.
Next Post: Rice Krispie Treat School Book Pops »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chic Cookies

    June 3, 2011 at 3:02 pm

    So super brilliant! Love these. I posted a link on EdibleCrafts.CraftGossip 🙂

    Reply
  2. Girlfrog

    June 3, 2011 at 3:30 pm

    Oh dear, this is fabulous!

    Reply
  3. Indigo

    June 3, 2011 at 8:36 pm

    Oh my goodness, I'm in LOVE with this idea! So freakin' charming. Definitely going to hold onto this.

    Reply
  4. birdsandbaking

    June 4, 2011 at 1:45 am

    This is such a neat idea! I love books! 🙂 Hopefully someday I'll have an occasion to make them for.

    Jillian

    Reply
  5. Beth @ Hungry Happenings

    June 4, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    Thanks everyone. I'd love to hear what other things you create using this version of modeling chocolate.

    Diane, this modeling chocolate works exactly the same as modeling chocolate that uses corn syrup. You can sculpt with it and decorate cookies or cakes. I don't have any experience working with fondant. I haven't ever decorated a cake using it, but hope to soon.

    Reply
  6. diane

    June 4, 2011 at 5:27 pm

    Great Idea, Have you tried using the honey with White chocolate in your candy decorating or for cake fondant?

    Reply
  7. Anonymous

    June 7, 2011 at 2:58 am

    great i love it,but more than a book seems a wallet,
    i shall imagine when it already will serve this:'anyone here has lost his wallet?' 🙂

    Reply
  8. The Craft-Arty Kid

    July 8, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    I've made miniature books before, but ones you can eat? My mind is blown. Haha. This is awesome!

    Reply
  9. adashofdomestic

    August 6, 2011 at 2:24 am

    How cute! Very creative!

    Reply
  10. The Princess and the Tot

    August 7, 2011 at 12:57 am

    LOVE, love, LOVE!!!

    Reply
  11. Anonymous

    August 10, 2011 at 5:50 pm

    These are adorable! I think I'll size them down a little bit more and put them on cupcakes. Thanks for the great idea.

    Reply
  12. Kids Art Club - North London

    August 10, 2011 at 5:21 pm

    FABULOUS!

    Reply
  13. Beth Jackson Klosterboer

    August 11, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Thanks everyone. It's so nice to see so many people like this idea. I've never made homemade fruit leather, but think it would make these taste even better. I'll have to try that someday.

    Beth @ Hungry Happenings

    Reply
  14. Danee

    August 11, 2011 at 3:27 pm

    I just found your blog – via the Craft newsletter- and wanted to let you know I think it is so clever. Love the books and love the flavor profiles. I enjoyed reading about your thought process as you worked through your idea. I share those types of ideas on my blog but find most people don't. I can't wait to have more time to read your other posts and see all your clever food ideas.

    Reply
  15. Nadia

    August 11, 2011 at 3:49 pm

    Those are adorable, I think I will make some with cheese instead of chocolate though for a back to school snack!

    Reply
    • Sallyy

      February 5, 2018 at 7:58 pm

      I thought about fresh mozzarella instead of white chocolate.

      Reply
      • Beth

        February 5, 2018 at 8:54 pm

        That would be an interesting twist to this recipe. Let me know how it turns out.

        Reply
  16. Nikolette

    August 11, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    Found this through Must Have Cute. Love it!

    Reply
  17. Janet Rudolph

    August 11, 2011 at 6:22 pm

    So fabulous.. I'll link this to both Mystery Fanfare (because we're all about books) and dyingforchocolate.com You really hit it out of the park with the!

    Reply
  18. Nedra

    August 11, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    I was thinking the same as Nadia, cheese would be a healthy, not to mention easier alternative to white chocolate. Just cut it up! lol Love the idea, they're so cute looking!

    Reply
  19. Chinnu

    August 11, 2011 at 7:49 pm

    Am not very much into cooking baking kind of stuff. But this one just caught my eye…i had to compliment….it looks super adorable and i bet its yummy too!!
    Cheers!

    Reply
  20. Eve

    August 12, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    These look great! But living in Ireland, we don't seem to have "fruit leather" over here. Does anyone have any suggestions as to an alternative?

    Or is fruit leather just a name for something like Fruit Winders, or Fruit by the Foot?

    Reply
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