Bottled Fruit: Belgian Pears recipe
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Desserts, Jam Jelly and Preserves | 127 comments
Our pear tree
I breezed onto the internet just now to see entries for Belgian Pears. I thought that they could be a traditional dessert. Well, in Belgium, they are not. Which is a shame, as anyone, from the Belgians to the Bengalese would love this dessert.
Forget any memory of dull bottled fruit. This wonderful concoction just happens to be preserved in a jar. We tend to include this for dinner parties when we’re feeling under pressure. Many jars of this superb non-alcoholic scrumptiousness are patiently sitting in our barn, waiting to be opened and enjoyed.
Our own pears have been rotten this year. Barely a handful from the entire tree. So I drove over to the farm shop at Westley to stock up for this recipe. They had several sorts of pears but none of their own. The lady in the shop explained that their pears had failed this year, due to lack of water. They had a choice, water the potatoes or the pears.
This is a pity as the Westley pears are the best that I’ve found to buy around here. Their potatoes are pretty good too. This is the first year that I’ve tried them and it’s well worth dropping in for a bag if you’re passing. They are just like home – growns.
The recipe for Belgian Pears was given to me by my generous friend Jo. It’s great if you have a glut of pears but even if we have a poor year, I buy pears for this recipe. Belgian Pears are a superb finale for a special meal. They taste very grown up with a real of depth of flavour. Friends find it hard to believe that they are not laced with some exotic liqueur.
We put the pears into le parfait jars that we seal in a bain marie (how do I seal Le Parfait jars? See tricks and tips below). We always make a few small jars for Christmas presents. Belgian Pears last a good year; we are still enjoying the massive batch that I made last October.
| Belgian Pears recipe |
- 2 kilos of pears
- 500g of white granulated sugar
- 150 ml of white wine vinegar
- Wash and peel the pears. Leaving the stalk on.
- Melt the sugar in the vinegar and any pear juice in a large heavy bottomed saucepan.
- Add the pears and simmer gently with a lid tight fitting lid for three hours.
- Remove the lid and simmer for a further three hours with the lid off.
- Pot into sterilised jars and seal in a Bain Marie.
- Test the seals when cold before labelling and storing.
- N.B. You need 2 kilos of pears. 1 kilo doesn’t make enough juice if you are going to bottle them.
Tips and tricks:
How do I sterilise Le Parfait jars and rubber rings?
Le Parfait jars can be used over and over again, as long as they are washed and sterilised just before use. Use new rubber rings every time the jar is reused. (Rubber rings are available from good kitchen shops. Living in the country, I tend to buy up a few packs if I see them so as to have them to hand when we start bottling).
The sterilising method that we use is simple. Just before making the food, I quickly wash and rinse the jars and place them upside down in a cold oven. Set the temperature to 160c/140c for fan assisted. When the oven has reached the right temperature I turn off the heat. The jars will stay warm for quite a while.
I only use plastic lined lids for preserves as the all-metal lids can go rusty. I boil these for five minutes in water to sterilise them. If I use Le Parfait jars, I do the same with the rubber rings.
How do I vacuum seal Le Parfait jars?
Fit a new rubber ring to your washed and sterilised Le Parfait jars, and fill to the level indicated on the jar, (this will be a line on the side of the jar).
Put the jars into a deep saucepan and put an old tea towel between them so that they can’t jiggle together and break.
Pour water to a level that generously covers the jars (at least 2 inches above the lids). Bring the water slowly to the boil. When the water boils turn off the heat and let the jars stand submerged until cool.
This method works well for us and we have never found a bad seal when we come to open the jars. It’s hard to prise the lids off if there is a vacuum seal. I usually give the lids a bit off a tug to check the seals. We sometimes use glass preserving jars with screw top lids (not old jam jars but a Kilner type of jar).
Some people think that these are safer to use as you can easily see whether you have a vacuum as there is a small section in the centre of the lid that is concave if you have a obtained a good seal. Use the same method as outlined above.
USE THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE AT YOUR OWN RISK. ALL ‘CANNING’ /PRESERVING METHODS VARY SLIGHTLY FOR EACH TYPE OF JAR, SO TRY AND KEEP THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT COME WITH THE JARS IN A SAFE PLACE FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
Leave a reply
Hi Sam,
As long as you can get the pears in the saucepan and put the lid on you will be fine!
hi,
moment of panic, it’s nothing i’m sure but thought i’d better check! my saucepan isn’t that big, as a result the pears are piled on top of each other. is this going to be a problem or should i ask father christmas for a bigger pan?
Hi pumpkin-power,
They are ready to eat now. The first year that we made them they tasted the same for the year and then they gradually softened (still good but not quite as good)!
I have some old ones in the barn and I have just made a new batch. Perhaps I should use the juice for a pear liqueur?
I have just made this wonderful recipe and can’t wait to try the pears, however it just occured to me to check how long you usually store them before eating them? As I assume the flavour improves with keeping? Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe! pumpkin~power
thank you for the very speedy reply, will let you know how it goes!
Hi Sam,
The best pears for this recipe are the hard pears(such as Conference). Soft pears would not work nearly so well.
I am going to be making a batch tonight with the last from our tree.
husband has gone to work, so i am secretly collecting ingredients for this recipe! i will be “going on a pear hunt” over the next few days, any advice as which varieties would be best? unfortunetly the neighbours pears have all gone over…. i will be ready next year!
Hi Dianne,
I think that if you used white wine you would have an entirely different result. The wine vinegar enhances the flavour of the pears. The taste of this dish is truly wonderful. It is the only preserved pear recipe that I have tasted that doesn’t make the pears insipid and too sweet.
You could try adding the juice of half a lemon and the zest, if you try this with white wine as the lemon would bring out the pear flavour. If you try it with your wine, I’d love to hear how you get on!
Hi, I am interested in trying out your recipe as we have dozens of pear (mostly conference) which need preserving. A friend just fills preserving jars with raw peeled pears and covers with a cooled syrup. I am reluctant to try this as I cannot find any recipe on the internet which does not involve cooking the pears. Anyway before I try your recipe, do you think I could use dry white wine instead of white wine vinegar. We make our own wine and I use it in cooking where the receipe says white wine vinegar – I can never find white wine vinegar in our local supermarket. What do you think. Thanks, Dianne
Hi Suzanne,
I do hop that these work well for you. I’m going to make some jars as well this weekend.