Pear Spread

Pears have been on sale for the longest time every time I visit the grocery store.  So I decided to buy some the other day to make my roasted pears for the French Dinner.  I love these roasted pears, but it was time for some diversity…  so I decided to make butter – Pear Butter.

I am not going to question how the name came to be… especially after my previous post about a punch called a “bull”.  If I were to name this in Spanish it would probably be something like “Compota de Peras” or Pear Compote.  However, I believe the name Pear Spread is truer to the final application.

Here’s how I made it…

PEAR SPREAD

2 ripe Bartlet Pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch pieces

½ cup water

2 tbs white balsamic vinegar

2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

 

¾ cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla powder

1 cinnamon stick

Pinch of salt

1. Combine pears, water, vinegar and lemon juice in a medium heavy saucepan.  Cover and simmer until pears are soft, stirring occasionally, about 20-25 minutes.
2. 
3. Puree the mixture using a hand blender or in a food processor.  If using the food processor, be careful transferring the mixture to the food processor and back into the saucepan again, because the liquid is very hot.
4. 
5. Add the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt to the pureed mixture.  Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves.
6. Increase the heat to medium and boil gently uncovered until mixture reduces and thickens, about 1 hour.  Stir occasionally to prevent any scorching in the bottom.
7. Discard the cinnamon stick.  Spoon the spread into canning jars if canning.  I do not know how to do that, so I just waited for the mixture to cool down some and transferred to a plastic container and ate it all within a week.

Tags: brown sugar, cinnamon, pear, vanilla