OLD-FASHIONED PEAR PRESERVES
These are old-fashioned preserves like grandma used to make, with silky pieces of fruit in a sweet, jelled syrup. Perfect for hot biscuits, morning toast, on top of rice pudding, or stirred into plain yogurt. Add ginger, nutmeg, and/or cardamom. They're also nice with orange or lemon peel. You can use any amount of pears up to four pounds. Greater amounts don't seem to work as well. The recipe takes three days, but most of that time is hands-off.
Provided by Cinnamon Turtle
Categories Pears
Time P3DT30m
Yield 6 pints
Number Of Ingredients 3
Steps:
- Day 1:.
- Peel and core pears. Slice or dice into pieces of desired size.
- Place pears in a large bowl and add an equal amount of sugar by weight (e.g. 4 lbs of pears = 4 lbs of sugar) Add juice of one lemon. Zest is optional, but adds a nice flavor. Stir gently to distribute sugar. Leave in refrigerator overnight. Stir several times to coat fruit with syrup.
- Day 2:.
- Place pears and syrup in a large pot. Bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer and cook an additional 15-20 minutes until pears are translucent and candied. Turn off heat and leave pears in syrup overnight (no need to refrigerate). Place a clean dish towel under pot lid to prevent condensation.
- Day 3:.
- Remove pears from syrup, straining all syrup back into the pot. Bring syrup to a boil and cook to desired thickness (usually around 220 degrees). Test doneness by dropping syrup onto a frozen plate. It should gel almost immediately. When ready add pears back to syrup and remove from heat. Stir gently for approximately 10 minutes as preserves cool. This will keep the fruit distributed in the syrup and prevent it floating to the top of your jars.
- Place preserves in sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch of head space. If packing hot jars, process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes. For cold jars, process 10 minutes.
- Leave jars undisturbed for 24 hours to cool and set. Enjoy!
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NANTABA GETRUDE
[email protected]These pear preserves are delicious! I love the way the pears are cooked down until they're nice and soft, and the addition of the spices gives them a really unique flavor. I've already eaten half the jar and I'm sure I'll finish it off soon.
Shekhar Theeng
[email protected]I wasn't sure how these preserves would turn out, but I'm so glad I tried them! They're the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and the spices really make them special. I'll definitely be making these again.
Josh Wheat
[email protected]These preserves are easy to make and so delicious! I love the combination of pears and spices. I've already made two batches and I'm sure I'll be making more soon.
Hayley Hargreaves
[email protected]I made these pear preserves last night and they turned out great! I used a slightly different spice blend than the one in the recipe, but they still came out delicious. I can't wait to try them on toast or with yogurt.
Blue Blue
[email protected]These pear preserves are the best I've ever had! They're so flavorful and delicious. I love the way the pears are cooked down until they're nice and soft, and the addition of the spices gives them a really unique flavor.