Pears are a delicious fruit that many of us pass by for the crunch and zest of an apple. But not this girl! In fact, the pear is high up on her list of favorites. And once I pulled off this recipe, it only climbed higher! Allow me to share a favorite with you: pear preserves with honey and spice!
This recipe resembles apple pie filling in appearance and has a golden, honey-pear-flavor with a hint of spice. Its very fast and simple to make, requires minimal cooking time and will be a delicious additive to your fall canning collection!
PEAR PRESERVES WITH HONEY
Ingredients:
- 14 medium size soft, ripe pears
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 C honey
Directions: take 5-6 of your pears and halve, removing cores, stems and blossom ends. Cut halves into smaller pieces and place them in your blender. Puree the pears until smooth. You should have approximately 4 cups.
Take out a 1 gallon stock pot and pour your puree into in. Place the pot on a burner under medium-low heat. Whisk in cinnamon, nutmeg and honey while the puree is still cool.
You should have a rich, red colored sauce!
Take the remaining pears and also halve and core them. Slice halves into 1/4 inch slabs. Cut slabs lengthwise into thirds.
Add the sliced pears to the pureed liquid and gently stir in.
For canning safety, simmer your pear preserves 5-10 minutes, until you are confident pear sliced are heated throughout.
In this time, you should be preparing your canning equipment: canner, lids and jars!
Once everything is prepared, take 7 pint (500 ml) jars and run them under hot water. Using a funnel, begin filling jars with pear preserves!
Leave 1 inch of head space. Wipe the jar’s rim to ensure a good seal, then add hot lids. Place jars in a hot water bath canner and process according to your altitude.
At 2,000 ft in elevation, I had to process pints for 25 minutes.
When finished, always allow jars to cool before testing for a seal! This accomplished, be sure to remove metal bands before storing your pear preserves with honey on the pantry shelf!
These preserves can be used many ways! On pancakes or waffles, over ice cream or yogurt, as an icing (or filling) for cake. Want to make pear pie? Fill your favorite pie crust with this deliciousness and bake as you would a normal fruit pie!
what is the shelf life if canned? Refrigerate or in the cupboard?
Hello Jennell! Home canned food is shelf stable for several years. Once these particular preserves are opened, they should be refrigerated and will keep for several weeks.