Pear Butter is not something I ever planned to make. However, I’ve been unable to find it any supermarket or specialty store in New York City for at least two years. I love the taste of it, and it’s one of my favorite accompaniments for my Dutch Pancake—see recipe here. And this homemade version is simply better than any commercial brand I’ve used.
You can use any pear variety, except Asian pears, for this Pear Butter recipe, but I highly recommend comice pears if you can find them. Here is some background on the pear that was born in France.
Just ripe comice pears.
They have a superior taste, texture, and juiciness. If you use comice pears, select fruit with at least a blush of red on the skin and no blemishes. This pear is quite fragile, so it’s generally picked rather green. Let the pears sit out for a few days until the green part just begins to turn yellow. Then you will know they are ripe enough and are at their prime. Do not let them over ripen, or they become mushy and mealy.
Gently peel the pears with a vegetable peeler.
Peel the pears.
Rub each peeled pear with a cut lemon to prevent too much discoloring. Halve the pears, remove the stems, core them, and cut them into small chunks as quickly as possible.
Cut the pears.
In a large saucepan, combine the pears with the lemon juice and water. Bring to a slow boil, then add all the other ingredients—brown sugar, honey, lemon juice, water, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice cloves, and cardamom. The nice part of this recipe is that you can use whatever spices and sweeteners you prefer.
Simmer the pears over medium-low heat for about an hour, stirring frequently. Half way through the cooking, taste the mixture for sweetness and for any needed spice adjustment.
Cook the pears.
If not sweet enough, add a little more brown or white sugar. If the pear butter seems to hold too much liquid, raise the heat and boil to cook off the excess water, stirring constantly to avoid scorching. If it’s too sweet, add a bit more lemon juice. Purée the mixture in a blender or food processor until very smooth.
In the meantime, bring a large kettle of water to boil, with a wire rack at the bottom. Place 4-6 one-cup glass jars, plus their lids, in the kettle of boiling water with a pair of tongs. Be certain that everything is completely submerged in the boiling water. It’s important that your jars are sterilized so that potentially dangerous pathogens do not develop.
Sterilize the jars.
Time this sterilization so that the jars have boiled for at least 15 minutes just at the time the pear butter has been puréed.
Remove the jars and lids with the tongs, draining out all water and being careful not to touch, and thus contaminate them.
Pour the pear butter into the jars, using a large-hole funnel, if possible to avoid a mess.
Fill the jars.
Immediately place the lids on the jars. Allow to cool thoroughly.
Cool the jars.
Serve the Pear Butter with a Dutch Pancake, croissants, or freshly made toast. Here I chose to serve them with warm buttered croissants and homemade hot cocoa—a delicious combination.
If you plan to use the pear butter within a couple weeks, just keep it refrigerated. Otherwise, freeze the remaining jars.
