Pear Butter = Success!

I have a sweet friend with a pear tree in her front yard.  She allowed me to come and rack up on all the pears I wanted and I had no idea what I was going to do with them!  I had seen a recipe for Apple Butter made in the Crock-Pot and wondered if I could adapt something similar with pears.... I made a few adjustments to the recipe and tried it out, well let me tell you, not only does it work but it is absolutely DELICIOUS!

The recipe is super easy:

5 quarts pears (peeled, cored and diced)

3 teaspoons Allspice

2 teaspoons cinnamon

3 cups sugar (can use less if you wanted a less sweet version)

1 cup brown sugar

Mix all ingredients in the Crock-pot (the lid may not close all the way at first, but the fruit will reduce down within about an hour and it will close), set the cooker on high for about the first hour then set to low and let it go all day (or night) long. 

By the time this heats up for an hour or so your house smells absolutely Heavenly!  I was contemplating the financial opportunities if I could bottle that scent!  After your concoction has simmered for a good 8 hours (I actually let mine go for closer to 12) I put my colander inside of a large bowl and poured the pear mixture into the colander (allowing the juice to strain into the bowl).  Using a potato masher I allowed princess to get in on the fun and mash up the pears into the "butter".  I personally wanted mine to have a bit of texture so I didn't mush it into oblivion, however, if you wanted a smoother texture you could achieve that easily enough with a food processor.  Now, if you want to use canning jars you will want to boil the lids for about a minute then spoon the HOT pear butter into the jars and immediately secure the lids.  The butter must be hot in order for the canning lids to seal.  Ok, for those of you (like me) who are not canning experts, the top will not seal immediately, as the butter cools they WILL seal! (I'm referring to that little pop up part of the lid)  So no need to fret and call your canning expert friend ten times to make sure you did it right.... oh wait, I did that!  Sorry Melody!  LOL :)

And here you go, this is the finished product!  I can assure you it is delicious and sure beats the tired ole Fruitcake as a Christmas gift to friends and co-workers!

Be Blessed Ya'll!

-KK