Rustic Pear Butter

I have a pear tree in my yard. It is prolific.  I tell complete strangers about it just in case they happened to be in need of free pears. I eat them out of hand. Then I make super chunky pear sauce, pear puree, pear pops for the kids, pear syrup, pear bread and pear butter. The list goes on. If it is possible to put pears into something, I've probably done so. And if you visit me in the month of September you will more than likely find a few pears tucked into your belongings when you get home. 

Let's get back to that last one on the list. Pear butter. It's so far left of any other pear dish I make. It's smooth. It has a deep and complex flavor. It's almost savory. In a word it's spicy, but not in a habanero kind of way. If you weren't familiar with fruit butters you might not know how to use them. I swirl mine in yogurt. Eat it on freshly baked biscuits. Atop a bowl of steel cut oats. Sometimes right off the spoon. I like it warm and cold. I'll let you decide. You need to know fruit butters. 

Rustic Pear Butter

25 pears (mine were small to medium) - washed, halved and cored

1 split vanilla bean or sub 1 teaspoon good vanilla extract 

1 cinnamon stick or sub 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon like Vietnamese
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated nutmeg or sub a sprinkle of ground nutmeg

a pinch of your favorite salt
*honey or real maple syrup to taste if needed

First you will grab your crock pot. What?! You don't own a crock pot? You can do this on the stove, but it will cause you to slowly go mad. So go borrow your neighbor's crock pot, okay? Toss those lovely pears inside. Turn it on low. Toss in the vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, cardamom, nutmeg and salt. Cook for 3 to 4 hours. Remove vanilla bean halves and scrape into pear mixture. Mash with a potato masher and continue to cook until desired consistency. Let cool a bit and use an immersion blender or food processor to blend smooth. This will magically turn the pear butter into pear buddah. Oh yeah. Refrigerate or process what you don't eat on the spot.

- If you feel that this is not sweet to your liking add some honey or maple syrup toward the end. If you would like to make it a bit caramely use brown sugar. I prefer mine more natural. Sugar burns easily. Especially if your crock pot heats up as hot as mine does. I gave it the enduring name of Hot Pot. It is possible that the sugar will scorch on the sides of your crock pot and make the whole batch taste burnt. So be careful.

- If you are finding that it's not thickening up you can prop open the crock pot lid with some wooden spoons or butter knives. If you started with really ripe pears it will have more moisture to get rid of. I cooked mine overnight. Probably close to 16 hours. 

- A crock pot will make the butter a darker brown than if you were to do this on the stove. I'll admit that I used to think that if it wasn't a dark amber it wasn't a true fruit butter. Nah. I just like to think I'm a little more foodie than some. Not the case. Not the case at all. 

- You can peel the pears, but that's more work and less nutrition. 

- You can process the pear butter in pint jars by using a water bath.  Boil for 15 minutes. Should stay fabulous for up to 6 months. If not processing, it will stay good for a few weeks in your fridge. I've heard folklore surrounding freezing pear butter. Freeze at your own risk. Very well could change the texture. Then again maybe not. I'm too spooked to even try. 

Enjoy! Share with those who make your heart happy.