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Sure you can—it’s very easy! There are several ways to do it—the best method depends a bit on the fruits you’d like to use and the consistency you want. One of the simplest ways is just to re-hydrate dried fruits in a bit of warm water. After they have softened, strain the soak water and reserve it. then puree the fruit to your desired level of chunkiness, adding the reserved soak water slowly until you reach your desired consistency. You can then add any sweeteners or flavorings you like. This turns out like preserves if you don’t puree it much, or like jam if you do. Date jam is particularly easy to make, and it is a really convenient sweetener to keep on hand.
You could also start with fresh fruits and dehydrate them partially to soften them up a bit, (or, in the case of juicier fruits, to concentrate the flavors). Then follow the same process as above to reach the consistency you’re going for.
If you’re looking for more of a clear jelly, I think that could probably be achieved by using fresh fruit juices or strained pureed fruit along with agar agar or irish moss as a thickener. I haven’t ever made a full jelly using agar, but I’ve had really good results using it to get a pudding consistency in desserts. I think the powdered version works best—you just dissolve it fully in warm/hot water, stir in your other ingredients, then refrigerate it to chill and set it. If you’re having trouble getting the agar to dissolve, a spin in the blender usually does the trick. From the recipes I’ve seen online, you should get a full jelly consistency by using 1.5 tablespoons of agar dissolved in .5 cup warm water and added to 2 cups of juice. So for a spreadable jelly, you might want to reduce the agar a bit. I think the procedure would be pretty similar for irish moss, but I’ve never used it myself, so I’m not certain.
Hopefully these will give you some ideas to play with!
Wow! Great awesome ideas. I never thought of dried fruit….date jam…mmmmm.
Thank you for taking the time to reply so thoughtfully.
There is a recipe on here:
http://www.goneraw.com/recipes/621-Strawberry-Jam