Any suggestions are welcome!

Pear Butter with Cardamom and Cinnamon

5 pounds ripe pears, peeled, cored, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 1/3 cups Johannisberg Riesling wine
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cardamom

Combine pears, wine and lemon juice in heavy large Dutch oven. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until pears are tender, occasionally stirring and pushing pears into liquid to submerge, about 20 minutes.
Working in batches, transfer mixture to processor; puree. Return to same pot. Add sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Simmer over low heat until mixture thickens and mounds slightly on spoon, stirring often and partially covering if mixture splatters, about 2 hours. Transfer hot pear butter to clean jars. Cover and cool. Refrigerate. (Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Makes about 3 2/3 cups.

Caramel Spice Pear Butter

Makes 9 half pints

15 Barlett or other large, firm, ripe pears (I don't know what variety mine are. They are firm skinned like Bosc, but roundish and fatter.)
2 c Water
6 c sugar
1 t ground cloves *
2 t ground cinnamon (used 1 t see *)
1 t ground ginger *
2 T lemon juice

Wash and core, but do not peel pears. Slice and place in a 5 qt pot. Add water, cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes or until tender.

Let cool slightly, then force through a mill, sieve or whirl in a food processor until finely chopped; return to kettle.

In a wide frying pan over medium heat, melt 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, stirring often, until it caramelizes to a medium brown syrup. Pour immediately into pear pulp (syrup will sizzle and harden ,but dissolves again as the preserves cook.) Stir in remaining 4 1.2 c sugar and spices until well blended. * I used 2 t Trader Joes Pumpkin Pie Spice and 1 t cinnamon.
Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and cook, uncovered for about 45 minutes or until thickened. To prevent sticking, stir frequently as mixture begins to thicken. Stir in lemon juice just before removing from heat. (This step can be done in a crock pot; low setting for 5-7 hours.)

Ladle into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1/4" headspace. Seal and process in a Hot Water Bath for 10 minutes.

Pear Butter

4 pounds medium pears, quartered and cored
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup orange juice

Place pears into a large pot over medium heat, and add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot and keep them from sticking, about 1/2 cup. Cook until the pears are soft, about 30 minutes. Press pears through a sieve or food mill, and measure out 2 quarts of the pulp.
Pour the pear pulp and sugar into a large saucepan and stir to dissolve sugar. Stir in the orange zest, nutmeg and orange juice. Cook over medium heat until the mixture is thick enough to mound in a spoon. When the mixture begins to thicken, stir frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom. This will take about 1 hour.
Ladle the pear butter into hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace. Remove air bubbles by sliding a metal spatula around where the pear butter touches the glass. Wipe jar rims clean, and seal with lids and rings. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. The water should cover the jars by 1 inch. Check with your local extension for exact processing times for your area.

Pear Butter with Cardamon

4 cups of diced pears, not peeled
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp. cardamom
2 tsp. fresh grated ginger (1/2 tsp. powerdered ginger)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tblspns. lemon juice

Puree pears, add remaining ingredients, then cook in an open pan 3 hours til thick. Follow BWB processing.

Spiced Pear Butter

10 lbs. ripe pears
2 1/2 cups apple cider or orange juice (or for a more delicate flavor use part cider/juice, part water)
4 1/2 cups sugar

With cider add:
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger

With orange juice add:
1/2 tsp. nutmeg

For the best flavor cook the whole fruit first, then purée for pulp. So for pears, remove the stems but don't core or peel, just quarter or cut into similar-size chunks. Add half as much water or other liquid as fruit and cook until soft. Then put through a food mill or strainer. You want to get rid of the fibers.

Measure strained pulp and add 3 T. lemon juice per gallon, if you wish. The lemon juice heightens the flavor if you cooked the pears in water.

Rule of thumb for sugar is half as much sugar as pulp (by volume, not weight).

You can add sugar and then cook or cook a while and then add sugar. Add spices nearer the end; cooked too long they become bitter. For ground spices good proportions to begin would be 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. allspice per gallon of pulp. You can always eliminate spices, increase spices, etc. so you could use just ginger or ginger and allspice without the cinnamon. Whatever is your preference and tastes good to you. Whole spices in a bag will also work well and keep the color of the butter lighter.

Cook until you can mound the butter on a spoon and no liquid seeps out around the edge.

Follow general instructions above except the lemon juice isn't necessary. Ladle into hot, clean jars, 1/4" headspace. Clean rims. Apply lids and rings; process boiling water bath 10 minutes.

Michelle

Maple Vanilla Pear Butter
(Source: adapted from Ball Blue Book)

7-8 pounds pears, peeled, cored, and cut into chunks
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 to 2 cups sugar (taste it!)
1/4 to 1/2 cup maple sugar (ditto--could swap brown sugar here or maybe omit and double the maple syrup instead?)
1/4 to 1/2 cup maple syrup (ditto)
1 tablespoon vanilla
pinch salt

Add about a half cup of water to the chunked pears (just to keep them from sticking to the bottom) and cook over medium heat until the fruit is soft, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a food mill or food processor, and process until fairly smooth, but not completely liquified. Add the puree back to the pot, and add the sugars, syrup, vanilla, and salt. Cook over a low heat, stirring frequently, until thick enough to round up on a spoon. Fill sterilized jars and process for ten minutes in a water bath canner.

*The original recipe said the yield would be four pints, but I got just over half that. Perhaps I like my butter thicker than some folks?

The Maple Vanilla Pear sounds good too!

Michelle

Nancy

I did carmelize 1 1/2 c. sugar. Added not quite 2 T. of lemon juice, 2 c. sugar, 1 tsp cardamon and 1/2 c. white wine. All I can taste is the lemon. And Joe says it's "okay" which means he does not like it.

I read another recipe called Plum Kissed Pear Jam and I'm tempted to add some Plums.

Should I add more pears or plums or just forget it and start over? I made 5 half pints and I've got plenty of ripe pears so starting over is no big deal.

Michelle