Dried lemons

I am lucky enough to have several varieties of lemon tree in my garden. I usually make marmalade or limoncello; this time I dried the lemons, then sprinkled them with icing sugar. They are truly delicious and crisp.

I slice the lemons very thinly. With my domestic food dehydrator I dry lots of fruit: figs, apples, persimmons, all kinds of citrus, kiwi, banana and pineapple, as well as vegetables and mushrooms. Dried tomatoes are wonderful. These dehydrators are commercially available at a reasonable price.

I arranged them in a single layer on the dehydrator trays; alternatively use the oven or air fryer.

I placed the trays on the dehydrator base and set the thermostat to 40°C for about 24 hours, give or take.

Occasionally I swap the trays round and turn the slices. When the time is up, depending on how thinly they were sliced, I leave them to cool and sprinkle with icing sugar.

I keep them in a glass jar or food bags without sugar, adding it when they are eaten so it does not dissolve. If you dry just the peel and then blend it, you will get lemon powder to use as a flavouring.