French Pear and Vanilla Jam

I was gifted 3 boxes of Pears this autumn. I love the generosity of those who garden.

They were mostly a variety called “Williams” with some “Beurre Bosc” thrown in for good measure.

“Williams” Pear is a really good all purpose variety as the more ripe it gets the more it suits jam and it cooks to mush, whilst if it’s slightly underripe, then it can be used in cakes and cooking and holds its shape.

“Beurre Bosc” on the other hand is a firm pear and is really, really, really good for cooking. It can be poached in a red wine sauce for ages and it holds it shape whilst absorbing all those lovely flavours.

Of course I had to photograph them, as I have this gorgeous wire display plate that seemed to be made for these pears.

Making a Jam is pretty easy when it comes to preserving. You could easily get away with the rule of 50% fruit weight to 50% sugar as far as quantities goes.

This recipe uses Pomegranate Molasses for the simple fact that Pears are quite mild and not acidic in flavour and when made into a jam with 50% sugar, it just comes out mildly flavoured and sweet but with no big punch of flavour that you might get if you used Apricot, or Raspberries. By adding the Pomegranate Molasses, you infuse this jam with some tart fruity goodness that works so well.

Recipe & Method:

Cut the pear cheeks away from the core, leaving a squared off core. Roughly cut the rest of the Pear making sure to weigh it .

I wouldn’t go any more than 3 kg of Pears in the pot, so if you have more, do 2 pots.

Add enough water to the pot ( I used about 3 cups of water and I had 2kg of Pears) to allow you to cook the Pears on high heat until mushy and the liquid all but reduced. This will take around 20-30 mins

Once mushy, add the same quantity of Sugar to the weight of the fruit. (For me it was 2kg of Sugar)

Stir to dissolve and bring to the boil.

Stick mix carefully (because it’s flamin’ hot) and stir in 1/2 cup of Pomegranate Molasses. (This is for 2 kg so if you have 1 kg of fruit, put in 1/4 cup of Molasses, if you have 3 kg of fruit, add 3/4 cup of Molasses.)

Also add 2 tablespoons of Vanilla Paste.

Stir until combined and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 more minutes then you can jar up.

To test for a good set Jam, I simply put a side plate in the freezer when I start making this recipe or any jam recipe and when I think I’m close I put a little dab of the jam on the frozen plate and leave if for a few seconds, then I run my finger through it. If it leaves a gap and stays 3 dimensional, it’s ready. If the gap closes over or it still seems to flatten down, keep on cooking it and try again in 5 mins.

To Put into Jars:

You need clean and dry jars with lids in good condition. (if re using lids and jar put in dishwasher cycle on hottest setting. Allow to cool and you are good to go. Don’t use lids that have gone back to raw steel or are heavily flavoured from the previous jar)

Lay out your clean, dry and room temperature jars all close together.

If you don’t have a ladle and a funnel, you can scoop the hot jar up with a gravy boat, or pouring just so that you can easily fill each jar without spilling over.

Ladle the boiling hot liquid magma Jam into the jars, filling to within 1/2 cm from the top of the glass.

Continue to fill each jar until all the mix is gone.

Next put on lids firmly and tip upside down for 3 mins.

In this time, the hot jam will have had time to sterilize the lids and the air in the jar.

Invert to upright position after 3 mins, allow to cool and then you have a delicious jam that can be stored on the shelf unopened for up to 2 years. Well done you!