Fragrant and juicy pears are the last hello of a sunny summer. Late varieties that ripen in autumn are especially tasty and sweet, so you want to see them on your table for as long as possible. Unlike apples, pears cannot be kept fresh for a long time, juicy fruits, unfortunately, quickly deteriorate. To prolong the sweet reminder of summer, you have to make preparations for the winter.
The hostesses make preserves, jams, compotes, jam, candied fruits, mashed potatoes and much more from pears. Canned fruits can be eaten not only as an independent dessert, but also used as a fragrant filling for buns, pancakes, pies, as well as for decorating desserts and pastries. By the way, these fruits are not uncommon in the dietary menu; it is not forbidden to eat them even for people with diabetes.
Secrets of homemade pears
- It is recommended to select fruits of the same degree of hardness, their pulp should be firm, in no case should the pears be overripe, bruised or decaying;
- Cut fruits tend to darken quickly, so after cutting they are immediately sprinkled with lemon juice;
- Pears themselves are sweet, so that the blanks from them do not turn out to be too cloying, it is recommended to add a little citric acid to them, and use sugar in moderation;
- For pears, as for many other fruits, sugar and acid are natural preservatives; without their addition, the preparations quickly begin to deteriorate with active reproduction of bacteria;
- To prevent pear jam from forming a large amount of foam, a small piece of butter should be added to it when cooking;
- Pears are in perfect harmony with spices and berries such as cloves, allspice, cinnamon, sage, star anise, lingonberries, nutmeg, marjoram, sea buckthorn, cardamom and basil;
- Jars of pear blanks should be stored in a cool, dark place.
Now you know the basic intricacies of making delicious homemade pears, which means you can learn more about the best recipes.
Pears in syrup
This recipe is a cross between jam and compote. Such pears are prepared without sterilization, which is very convenient, but they turn out to be juicy and tender. The finished syrup can be diluted to taste with plain water and used as a flavored drink, and the slices will be an excellent addition to desserts or sweet baking filling. Although they are delicious and just like that.
You will need:
- Pears (prepared slices) - 650 gr;
- Water - 600 gr;
- Granulated sugar - 180 gr;
- Citric acid - 2 pinches.
Preparation:
The pears should be a little underripe, harsh, with firm flesh and regular shape. If you take too soft, overripe fruits, then during processing they can turn into gruel. The presence of dents and damage on the fruit is not allowed.
First, rinse and dry the pears thoroughly.
Then fill a saucepan of a suitable size with cold water and add citric acid to it, at the rate of half a teaspoon of acid per five liters of water. If there is no acid, then it can be replaced with ordinary salt - it will take 10 grams per liter of water. This is necessary so that the peeled fruit retains its attractive appearance and does not darken immediately after peeling.
Next, remove the thin peel from each fruit, cut into 4 parts and remove the core with the seeds. Cut large pears into 8 pieces. If you are lucky enough to acquire fruits with a thin and delicate peel, then you can not get rid of it. Immediately immerse the prepared slices in a saucepan with acidified (salted) water.
It is advisable to rinse and sterilize jars and lids in advance. Then arrange pear wedges in each jar, trying to make the most efficient use of the container space. But you should not press down the pears by force - you can simply break them. Better during the installation process, gently shake the jar several times - the slicing itself will settle down more tightly.
Fill each jar to the very top with boiling water, cover the top with a lid and wrap it in a warm blanket.
After 5-7 minutes, remove the cans from the shelter and drain the water from them into a large saucepan. Special lids with holes are very useful for this.
Cover the remaining pears in the jars again and wrap them up in the same way. And add sugar to the water drained from the jars and, stirring occasionally, cook until the sugar crystals are completely dissolved.
Pour the prepared syrup over the pears again. Then the same procedure is repeated with covers and a blanket. You need to keep the fruits in syrup for 5 minutes. If syrup remains during pouring, do not rush to pour it out - it may still come in handy.
After the allotted time, the syrup is drained again, and the cans are closed and sent under the blanket. Bring the syrup poured into the same saucepan again to a boil, adding citric acid to it.
Pour in the pears one last time and tighten the jars. Turn the finished blanks upside down and warm them well. They should stand like this for a day, until they cool completely.
Pears in syrup should be stored in a cool place, out of sunlight.
You can add a fresh touch to the recipe with the help of all kinds of additives. For example, vanillin will give the slices a delicate aroma of sweets, and cinnamon will give them some piquancy.
Pear jam with a mesmerizing name "Autumn Velvet"
This dessert rightfully bears such a loud name - the jam turns out to be so aromatic and appetizing that it is simply impossible to tear yourself away from it! Especially if you add a few drops of lemon juice as you cook it, it will give the jam an unusually pleasant sourness, which, shading the tenderness of pears, will make the taste of the dessert enveloping and as if velvety.
The cooking process will take a lot of time, but it's worth it. In addition, it takes place in several stages, some of them pass without your intervention, so you can do other important things at this time.
For velvet jam you will need:
- Peeled pears - 1 kg;
- Granulated sugar - 600-700 gr;
- Lemon (small);
- Water - 100 ml.
Cooking method:
First of all, you should deal with pears. Fruits are needed ripe, but not too soft and without damage. it is highly recommended to use pears of the same variety - the cooking time of different varieties may vary.
Rinse the fruit well, peel and cut into quarters. After removing the core, they need to be crushed, but the pieces must be the same size. This is necessary in order for the jam to turn out beautiful, and the pieces are evenly boiled.
So that the pear cut does not acquire an unappetizing gray-brown hue, immediately after cutting, dip the pieces into a bowl with slightly salted, always cold water (10 grams of salt is added per liter of liquid). You can make this task easier if you put a colander into a wide container of salt water and put pears in it. Once you're done peeling and slicing, you simply pull out the colander and let the liquid drain - your pears have retained their color and shape.
Pour the required amount of water into a wide saucepan and add sugar. Place it on the stove and, stirring often, bring the syrup to a boil.
Next, pour the pears into the boiling syrup and mix gently. For 20 minutes, cook the dessert over low heat, covering with a lid, during this time the pieces should give a sufficient amount of their juice.
During this time, squeeze the juice out of the lemon. Remove the lid, add lemon juice to the pears, stir again. Next, the pan must be removed from the stove and left for a couple of hours to infuse.
After the allotted time, the jam is returned to low heat, where it should be boiled after boiling for 15 minutes.
Everything is mixed and left for another two hours.
The same procedure must be repeated one more time - the jam will thicken a little, although its color will remain the same.
At the last stage of cooking, return the pan to low heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Now the jam will have a pleasant amber color and will reach the desired consistency. Pay attention to the pieces of pears, if they are evenly distributed over the jam, then everything is ready.
While the jam is at the final stage of its readiness, take care of the lids and jars. Wash them well with baking soda, rinse with clean water. Boil the lids for at least 4-5 minutes, and bake the cans in the oven.
The finished product is poured only into hot jars, immediately they are hermetically closed, turned upside down and kept so until they cool completely. Such jam is stored away from sunlight.
Pear jam with orange
Sweet, delicate pear jam already has an excellent taste, and when combined with orange, this jam turns out to be especially successful. Orange notes make this recipe original and unusual.
You will need:
- Pears - 3 kg;
- Granulated sugar - 500 gr;
- Oranges - 1, 5 pcs.
The recipe indicates the mass of already peeled and prepared fruits, at the exit from them you will get about 1.5 liters of jam.
Step-by-step cooking:
Pears, it is convenient that even small ones are suitable, peel and cores and cut into pieces of any shape. If you are preparing a large portion of jam, then keep the pieces in salted water (in a ratio of 1: 100) to avoid browning.
Rinse the orange well and wipe dry. Using a fine grater, wipe off the zest from it. Then, carefully, without squeezing out the juice, cut off the thick white layer of the peel. Cut the resulting pulp into rings no more than 0.5 cm thick, and cut them into 4 parts, while removing the seeds.
In a saucepan with a wide and thick bottom, pour half a glass of water to prevent the pears from burning, and put the pear pieces along with the zest. Add sugar, cover the pot and place on the stove. After the jam boils, reduce the heat to the lowest and, stirring occasionally, cook for 20-30 minutes. The pears should be soft.
Next, cool the mass and use a blender to turn it into a smooth puree.
Then, over medium heat, bring the puree to a boil, reduce heat and cook for 50-80 minutes. The duration of the process depends on the degree of density of the finished jam. The color of the jam will darken noticeably at this stage.
Spread the finished mass to the very top on sterilized, still hot jars. Jars should be sealed immediately with lids, turned upside down and left to cool. You can store the jam at room temperature in a dark place.
There are some tricks to making this delicious jam. So, pears must be of the same variety and the same degree of ripeness, then the cooking time for them will be the same.
If the fruits are not very sweet, then the proportions of sugar can be increased. Be sure to taste the jam as it cooks, and add sugar if desired. However, you should always remember that the more sugar, the sooner the jam will thicken. If you want to cook a not very thick product, then after making mashed potatoes, the cooking process will take you less than 50 minutes, so constantly monitor the condition of the jam.
Interesting compote from pears with grapes
From pears, a delicious jam is obtained - sweet, tender with a pleasant slightly tart aroma. But for compote in its classical sense, this fruit is bland, it is advisable to combine it with any other fruits and berries that have a slight sourness. Drinks with a harmonious taste are obtained from the union of pear and cherry plum, dogwood, apple and, undoubtedly, grapes.
The sweetness of the pear goes well with the light piquancy of the grapes,the appearance of such a compote is also at its best - its color can be different depending on the variety of grapes used, from pale pink to deep red. All these circumstances are complemented by the fact that the recipe is very easy and will not take you much time. The recipe implies sterilization, but thanks to this, the compote is easily stored at room temperature and does not sour.
For cooking, you will need (all products are indicated already prepared):
- Pears 150 gr;
- Grapes (for example, Kishmish varieties) - 50 gr;
- Sugar - 100 gr;
- Water - 800 gr;
- Lemon - a couple of slices;
- Citric acid - ¼ tsp
Preparation:
For your drink to get a delicate pink color, the grapes must be dark in color, or half dark and half light. It is better to take pears fragrant, firm, not overripe (otherwise they are very easy to boil) and in no case spoiled.
Cut the washed pears into quarters, cut out the seeds, then cut each part into 2-3 more vertical pieces. Wash the lemon and cut into thin slices. Wash and peel the grapes.
Arrange all the fruits beautifully in the jars.
You can move on to making sugar syrup. To do this, pour sugar into boiling water and, stirring occasionally, cook it for several minutes until the grains dissolve. To keep the syrup clear throughout the storage time, add citric acid to it and stir. Then pour boiling syrup over the jars of fruits.
Place the jars of compote in a saucepan on a special stand or on a napkin and fill it with water (it should not reach the hangers of the jars a little). Cover the compote with lids.
Bring the water in a bowl to a boil over high heat, then reduce and sterilize for about 15 minutes.
Close the jars with ready-made compote, turn it over and stand until it cools completely. Delicious compote is ready!
