Traditional Pear Butter

This it a superb way to make use of an abundance of ripe pears. With these spices it tastes very much like traditional apple butter.

8 - 10 lbs ripe pears
2+ cups sugar
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
1 tsp nutmeg

1. Process pear chunks in a blender or food processor in small batches to get a smooth pureé. Pour pear pureé into a large, heavy bottom stock pot. Stir in sugar (1/4 cup for every cup of pureé), orange juice concentrate, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Taste and adjust flavors if necessary.

2. Cook over medium to medium-low heat, stirring often to prevent burning. Reduce heat if mixture spatters a lot. Allow mixture to gently bubble as it thickens. Simmer for 45 minutes - 2 hours. (Pear butter is ready when a small dab on a chilled plate is not runny.)

3. Ladle pear butter into hot, sterilized jars (a wide-mouthed canning funnel is oh, so helpful) and seal, allowing for 1/4-inch head space between the pear butter and the rims of the jars. Use proper canning procedures if you would like to store jars outside of the fridge. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes (half-pints) or 15 minutes (pints).

The above recipe is a tweaked, simpler version of this recipe.