Pear Jam Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minutes
Makes 2 x 350g/12.3oz jars
Ingredients Needed
- 1.1kgs/2.4lbs pears, firm
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 400g/14oz white sugar
- 200ml/7flozs water
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 - First place a metal or ceramic plate in the freezer. Peel and core the pears. From 1.1kgs/2.4lbs of pears you should end up with around 900g or 2lbs of pear flesh. Chop roughly and then place into a food processor and blitz until you get an applesauce consistency. Place the pear puree, sugar and water in a heavy based saucepan and bring to a simmer. Knock heat down to a simmer and place the lid on and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally but always replacing the lid back on. If the pears are drying out, add a bit more water and ensure that the heat isn't too strong.
Step 2 - After 25 minutes, add the vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract and cook for another 5 minutes stirring. Take a teaspoon of the jam and place on the cold plate from the freezer. Run your finger or the spoon along the centre and if the jam stays put and doesn't move it is ready! Place jars and lids in a 180C/350F oven for 10 minutes (make sure there are no rubber seals as these will melt). Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars and secure lids on (use gloves). Turn upside side which should make a seal. To ensure that the jam can last for a few years you can place filled jars in a pot large enough to cover the jars. Cover the jars with cold water and boil for 10 minutes. Remove with tongs and let air dry on a rack.
Personal Note
I love preserving and jamming and pickling is one of my favourite things to do with extra fruit and veg. Usually it's done in summer when fruit is plentiful but we do get some nice winter fruit like apples and pears. Not all preserving is a delicious success like jam. I find that jam is one of the easiest things to make but making pickles can be a bit trickier. A while back, I was trying my hand at making dill pickles. A friend had given me a recipe of her mother's. She never made it herself but said that her mother would pickle cucumbers over summer as they grew them.
I was so excited when I saw some small cucumbers that I bought them. The only vinegar I had was double strength vinegar. I bought it during the great moth invasion of 2023 and 2024 and it sat unused. I took a sniff and recoiled - it smelled so strong. I muttered to myself that this surely couldn't be for cooking but the label said that it was great for cooking. So despite my misgiving, I dove right in and made my pickles.
The thing about pickles that makes it a bit more trouble than jam is that you have to wait for it to do its thing. Sometimes you have to wait for a few weeks. I placed my jar full of dill pickles in the fridge and waited and waited. Then it came time to open them up. I took a good look at them and gasped. They were tiny and shrivelled up completely! It was as if the liquid had been extracted out of them. I went to try the brine but every time I lifted the spoon to my nose my brain would not let me eat it. It smelled like acetone nail polish and no matter how I tried to convince myself that it said it was safe, my mouth wouldn't open to let me drink it. So not everything with preserving can be a success but I promise that jam making is much easier!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever make jams or pickles? Does anything ever go wrong?