I picked a bunch of pears from my neighbors tree again this year. (Last year Redditors determined they are Comice). I had made Ginger Pear Preserves last year, which are delicious, but I was having troubles with cooking times and yield amounts. This year, I let them ripen for a bit longer off the tree, and used Peach or Pear Quick-Cook Jam from Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.
My goal was to make a variety of preserves that highlight the pear floral flavors, while choosing flavors that are not the standard pear pairings.
Since I was focusing on floral notes, I swapped the lemon juice for lime juice, giving myself an extra heavy pour, and then added a teaspoon of the dried spice. I did double the lime juice for the two flower flavors because I think flower flavors taste better when they are balanced by a bit of acid. I also doubled the amount of rose petals since they were so fluffy.
Final flavor ranking starting with favorite-
Cardamom
Lavender
Pink peppercorn
Vanilla
Rose
Ginger
I was surprised by the ginger, which is one of my favorite flavors. I think it was the least interesting taste. Maybe I needed more? And I think I did need more rose petals, even after doubling. The lavender buds were fine as is, even though they are also fluffy. And I would say the cardamom was in a favor tier by itself.
As far as the recipe goes, it seemed foolproof- every recipe yielded 6 jars as specified. (With the caveat that headspace was more like 3/8“ rather than 1/4“). Only two batches had any foaming- the ginger and the lavender.
One warning- Don’t be like me and pick on a windy day. Getting hit in the back of the head by a falling pear was not a comfortable experience.
by iolitess
4 Comments
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Ok, so my mom has a pear tree with fruit every year that we always are trying to figure ways to make use of. I’ve canned pear butter and pear slices, with liking the pear slices more than the butter.
What are you using your preserves for? Is it like a jam, or? I’m very interested in how you flavored the pear in different ways, so curious on the functionality of this recipe.
I thought I had the proper additional line spacings but apparently not and can’t edit the post. The six flavors were-
Cardamom
Lavender
Vanilla
Rose
Pink Peppercorn
Ginger
I got plunked square in the nose whilst picking pears from one of our trees this year. I feel your pain!