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Fall Fest: Spiced Pear Butter

October 27, 2010 by Nicole 29 Comments

Spiced Pear Butter

The Fall Fest theme this week is “mad stash” or what we’re freezing, canning, dehydrating or otherwise stashing away for the winter.  Since I don’t have a garden this year and I haven’t even been to the Farmer’s Market for a few weeks, I don’t really have much to put away for the winter.  But I did get a little carried away buying organic pears last week and yesterday found myself with a few pounds of fruit that needed to be used up way faster than I would be able to eat them.  In keeping with this week’s theme, I decided to cook them down into a pear butter and stash it away in jars.  Well, my few pounds of pears cooked down so much that I ended up with only a pint of pear butter.  I don’t think my stash will last through the end of the month, much less the entire winter!

This pear butter is delicious!

Spiced Pear Butter

2 1/2 pounds pears, peeled, cored, and chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 cups sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick

In a large pot, combine pears, lemon juice, and white wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc).  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 25 minutes or until pears are tender.  Puree pears and liquid in a food processor or blender.  Return puree to the pot and stir in the sugar, vanilla bean, and whole spices.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until thick enough to mound on a spoon, 45 – 60 minutes.  Pick out the cinnamon stick, vanilla bean, and spices then ladle the hot butter into sterilized jars.  At this point, you can store the pear butter in the refrigerator for up to a month or you can process the jars in a water bath for longer shelf storage.  Since I only ended up with two half-pint jars, I didn’t bother to process them in the water bath – they’ll be gone quick!

Yield: 1 -1 1/2 pints pear butter.

More Pear Butter Recipes:

  • Pear Butter from Simply Recipes
  • Low Sugar Pear Butter from Farmgirl Fare
  • Pear Butter from Hedonia
  • Spiced Pear Butter from Baking Bites

How You Can Join Fall Fest 2010

Fall Fest!Welcome to Fall Fest! Have a recipe or tip that fits any of our weekly themes? You can contribute to our online recipe swap in various ways, big or small.

Contribute a whole post, or a comment—whatever you wish. It’s meant to be fun, viral, fluid. No pressure, just delicious. Simply leave your tip or recipe or favorite links in the comments below a Fall Fest post on my blog, and then go visit my collaborators and do the same.

The cross-blog event idea works best when you leave your recipe or favorite links (whether to your own blog or someone else’s) at all the host blogs. Yes, copy and paste them everywhere! That way, they are likely to be seen by the widest audience. Everyone benefits, and some pretty great dialog starts simmering.

Or think bigger: Publish entire posts of your own, if you wish, and grab the Fall Fest 2010 pumpkin badge (illustrated by Matt of Matt Bites).

Summer/Fall Fest 2010 Posting Schedule

7/28: Cukes and Zukes
8/4: Corn
8/11: Herbs, Greens, and Beans
8/18: Stone Fruit – I missed this one!
8/25: Tomatoes
9/1: Sweet and Spicy Peppers
9/8: Garlic
9/15: White (or colorful “white”…but not sweet) Potatoes
9/22: Spinach
9/29: Apples
10/6: Fall Salads
10/13: Pumpkin + Winter Squash – I missed this one!
10/20: Pears
10/27: “Mad Stash” (as in what you’re shoving in freezer/jars/dehydrator, etc.)
11/3: Root veggies
11/10: Brassicas: incl. Brussels Sprouts, Cauliflower, Cabbage or other
11/17: Sweet Potatoes
11/24: Bounty to Be Grateful For

The Rest of the Fall Fest Gang:

  • Alison at Food2: Break Out the Stash
  • Kirsten at Food Network: Roasting Pumpkin Seeds
  • Liz at Healthy Eats: Mad Squash Stash
  • Michelle at Cooking Channel: Save Em’ While You Can
  • Caroline at The Wright Recipes: Brandied Apple Butter
  • Cate at Sweetnicks: Arugula with Roasted Butternut Squash, Bleu Cheese and Apple Cider Vinaigrette
  • Alana at Eating From the Ground Up: Chest Freezers and Why They’re Fabulous
  • Margaret at A Way to Garden: Everything Into the Pot, Freezer, Cellar
  • Caron at San Diego Foodstuff: Single Woman’s Refrigerator Sauce
  • Todd and Diane at White on Rice Couple: Persimmons

Filed Under: Fall Fest 2010

Previous Post: « Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Cilantro Pepita Pesto
Next Post: Grilled Rib Eye with Havarti Horseradish Fondue »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Amy says

    October 27, 2010 at 3:25 am

    That looks really good! I made escabeche this week for fall fest: http://savorymomentsblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/escabeche-pickled-jalapenos.html - a mixture of pickles jalapenos and other vegetables.
    Reply
  2. Becky @ Random musings of a deco lady says

    October 27, 2010 at 4:15 am

    First a question: In the ingredients white wine is listed, but the directions call for adding red wine. Which should it be? And my pear post contribution is Pear Mincemeat. http://decolady-randommusings.blogspot.com/2008/11/pear-trees-and-pear-mincemeat.html
    Reply
  3. the blissful baker says

    October 27, 2010 at 5:18 am

    that pear butter looks WONDERFUL. i love your photo! i just want to eat a spoonful of it!
    Reply
  4. Vicki @ Wilde in the Kitchen says

    October 27, 2010 at 5:26 am

    Wow, this pear butter looks tasty! Makes me want to go buy too many pears, just to make this treat!
    Reply
  5. Lora says

    October 27, 2010 at 7:20 am

    Gorgeous pear butter. What a delicious idea!
    Reply
  6. A Canadian Foodie says

    October 27, 2010 at 8:09 am

    Absolutely gorgeous butter - and with cardamom...YUM! Gorgeous photo, recipe - lovely gift and treat. You 've got it all in the bag! :) Valerie
    Reply
  7. Prerna@IndianSimmer says

    October 27, 2010 at 8:46 am

    I've never made a fruit butter myself and that's the reason I have no idea how it tastes. Just the name butter throws me off but now I think I have a clear idea of what a fruit butter is and I'm most definitely going to try this! And adding wine into it made it even more interesting :-) Work and busy life kept me away from posting a fall fest recipe for a while but I’m glad I was able to do it this week. Here’s my contribution to mad stash http://bit.ly/bT3Vsb
    Reply
  8. Rachel says

    October 27, 2010 at 8:47 am

    I was so excited to see that this week's Fall Fest centered on preserving! I'm just getting into it and really enjoy it. Here's my recipe for Cranberry Conserve: http://muffinegg.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/cranberry-conserve-bright-crunchy-stowed-away-for-winter/
    Reply
  9. sandhya/vegetarianirvana says

    October 27, 2010 at 9:34 am

    Nicole,I am making this! I have so many pear halves that we store away, but take a new one to eat every time. Great idea to use up my cut up pears. This is the first time I am making something just as I am reading about it. It is bubbling a way. Thanks so much. I have used my herbs to make a Thai soup stock to freeze for a later time. http://vegetarianirvana.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/thai-soup-stock/
    Reply
  10. Nicole says

    October 27, 2010 at 9:50 am

    Becky - You should use white wine. The red wine in the instructions was a typo and I just fixed it. Thanks!
    Reply
  11. Purple Cook says

    October 27, 2010 at 10:30 am

    For Fall Fest: In my constant pursuit to make as much of our food from scratch as possible, but still meet the demands of a busy family life, I came up with this method for having frozen French Fries on hand. Farm Fresh Frozen French Fries http://purplecook.blogspot.com/2010/10/farm-fresh-frozen-french-fries.html
    Reply
  12. Caron Golden says

    October 27, 2010 at 10:33 am

    I have all the ingredients! This sounds great and I hope to carve out some time today or tomorrow to make it! Thanks for the idea!
    Reply
  13. Florentina says

    October 27, 2010 at 10:37 am

    I could eat that with a spoon ! Yummy!
    Reply
  14. Kristy says

    October 27, 2010 at 11:14 am

    I would love to try that, thanks for sharing!
    Reply
  15. Feast on the Cheap says

    October 27, 2010 at 11:38 am

    WOW. That looks incredible. I have a bounty of pears at home after making Acorn Squash & Pear Soup (which I'm freezing), so I know what i'll be doing with those extras! Other winter stashes include: I make Butternut Squash & Sweet Potato Soup (and store it in portion-size batches in the freezer) and Pumpkin Ricotta Lasagna, which also freezes well (take that Stouffer's!). Curried Pumpkin Pie Soup is another fave.
    Reply
  16. Louise says

    October 27, 2010 at 12:09 pm

    cardamom, i bet that adds a great backdrop flavor the the sweetness... toast and butter please~
    Reply
  17. Kathleen says

    October 27, 2010 at 6:36 pm

    I live in Florida and the Stash is not that often. I made a wonderful berry sauce for cakes, ice cream, etc. for this week: http:dejavucook.wordpress.com/2010/10/27/four-berry-sauce/
    Reply
  18. Betty @ scrambled hen fruit says

    October 27, 2010 at 7:27 pm

    That's just beautiful! I'd love some of that tomorrow morning on my toast. :)
    Reply
  19. napa farmhouse 1885/diane says

    October 28, 2010 at 3:20 pm

    i made a spicy onion & garlic jam this week...full of onions, shallots, garlic and a bit of jalapeño...very slowly cooked in extra virgin olive oil...perfect way to use use up a bunch of onions... http://napafarmhouse1885.blogspot.com/2010/10/onion-jam-no-sugarthis-is-savory-dish.html
    Reply
  20. Michelle says

    October 30, 2010 at 6:04 am

    This sounds fabulous!
    Reply
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