Pears. We ate them. Fresh out of the hand. Pear sauce (think apple sauce~ which we like but pear sauce~ not so much). Pear crumble. Canned in a light syrup. Pears in sandwiches (I know that sounds gross but it’s really good~ sliced super thin along the top of a thick, lean piece of meat in your sammy). Pear salads. Pears with cheese.
And now…..
Caramel Spice Pear Butter
And all I have to say is: YIPPEEEEE!!!!
A friend of mine gave me a couple of jars that she had made of this mighty stuff yesterday. And this morning we cracked that baby open and slathered, and I mean slathered, some of that good sweet thick nectar on home made biscuits and I think rays of sunshine shot out of my mouth.
And so I am going to share the whole thing with you here! Short. Quick. Good. Now don’t you feel lucky that you tuned in today?! Just make this stuff and then thank our Lord for the gift of fruit butters because they are really a gift from above.
Here we go: Caramel Spice Pear Butter (And I might add that the correct pronunciation of caramel is: “car-mal” not “care-eh-mel” like I’ve heard some clearly uninformed folks say.)
Caramel Spice Pear Butter
INGREDIENTS
- 15 pears pears
- 2 cups water
- 6 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
The instructions say to wash the pears~ no need to peel or core them then slice pears into a heavy saucepan. I didn’t EVEN slice those pears. Just added the water, cover and cook ’till tender.
Then blend together whilst hot. (don’t you love that word? “whilst”? I’m not even sure it’s a real word). I used this really cool blending stick. I think it has another name. Blending stick is what I call it.
Meanwhile, burn, I mean melt and caramelize 1 1/2 cup of sugar in a skillet.
……and pour the caramelized mixture into the pear sauce.
Mmmmm.
At first you will think you have done something wrong because the mixtures together will pop and sizzle and the caramelized sugar will get hard and you will think “oh no, I’ve really messed this up and dang it, I don’t have anymore pears to start again”. But never fear. The sugar mixture will settle down and eventually dissolve into this creamy, wonderful pear concoction. And you will pat yourself on the back and wonder why you ever doubted yourself.
Opps~ missed a chuncky bit of pear 🙂
Add the remaining spices and cook under a slow heat, stirring often to keep your golden nectar from sticking to the bottom of the pan and becoming burnt orange nectar. (Here the recipe calls for lemon. I didn’t use the lemon so the addition is optional.)
Pour hot mixture into sterilized 1/2 pint jars, put on lid, and crew band tightly. Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
And voilà (wala)~ just like that~ 6 pints of creamy goodness to sock away in the larder waiting to be revealed in the darkest depths of winter (IE: I’ll open these babies in January when ripe pears are just a memory of fall).
DIRECTIONS
Here are the steps and ingredients that my friend, Jill, explained to me. When I did an internet search on the recipe, lots of the info was the same so I’m not sure who to give the credit too. 😦
PS~ Because of the wet weather we are having, I am having a MOST difficult time down loading pics onto ChickenFriedHappienss. WAAAA! (Have I mentioned that we live out in the middle of nowhere?) Therefore, the dates will sometimes be messed up. Case in point~ I actually canned this great pear butter Saturday, 10.08, but after downloading pics ALL DAY and into the night, I am JUST NOW able to post the note. So bear with this home girl please. Thanks.
Today’s count: 23 eggs
What’s for supper: Beef and bean burritos.
Weather: Rain. Patchy fog before noon. High near 55. South southeast wind 3 to 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Tonight rain likely, mainly after midnight. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 42. South wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 60%.
