spiced vanilla pears

in fruit
Sep 22nd
Canned Fruit

So the calendar tells me that it is Autumn today. Those of us here in Florida know that it is folly to believe in Fall until the very end of October, but I do like a celebration and decided I needed to get my pear love on for the Equinox.  The local grocery store seemed to agree as they had organic ones priced at under $2/pound. Canning fruit is pretty simple; a little water, a little sugar, maybe a spice or two and you’re good to go. An added bonus – this recipe will make your house smell incredible! And these taste amazing with yogurt or oatmeal.

Ingredients:

3 1/2 pounds of pears

5 cups of water

3/4 cup of sugar

3 cinnamon sticks

1/2 tablespoon of whole cloves

1 vanilla bean, sliced open and cut into 5 pieces

Yield ~ 5 pints

(prepare two-piece canning lids according to manufacturer’s directions)

1)  Core and peel the pears. If your pears are on the larger size, quarter them. Set up a bowl of water with some sort of citric acid added. You can buy something like Fruit Fresh by Ball or you can simply grind up some Vitamin C.  As you core and peel the pears, drop them into the bowl. This will keep the fruit from browning.

2) Put your spices in a spice bag or tie up in cheesecloth. Add this to the water and sugar in a pot on the stove. Bring to boil and boil for five minutes.

3) Drain pears well and add to syrup. Boil for five more minutes.

4) Remove spice bag and set aside. Pack pint jars with the pears and ladle syrup over them, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace. Remove the vanilla pieces from the spice bag and add one to each jar. Remove air bubbles and wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Water Canner for 20 minutes.

sunshine canning | spiced vanilla pears

this going outside for pictures is getting old, but they sure look lovely in the sunlight!

sunshine canning | spiced vanilla pears