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 Trish
I don’t know what went wrong here. Were the pears covered in liquid when you took the lid off after 3 hours of gentle simmering? If they were the simmer was too strong for the last three hours. It should be just tiny bubbles bareley breaking the surface.
The whole process is very gentle.
If too much juice boiled off make the recipe again with double liquid and use some of the new liquid in the old pears.
I’ve never had a problem with this recipe and the pears end up dark brown.
Have just made Belgian Pears using your recipe above but using only half the quantities. Unforunately there is not enough liquid to cover the pears, and how do you stop them going brown or is that the way they are meant to be,can you help!
Hi Tess
Of course I’ll let you know when I start picking our pears.
I’m not sure that this recipe would be good for apples as they would soften too quickly and you might just end up with a mush.
The recipe would work well with quinces (and Japonica quinces) though.
I think you are right — my husband tried twisting some today and only one came off easily. I read somewhere that apple pips turn from white to brown when the fruit is ripe so perhaps the same is true for pears?
Could you let me know when you start to pick?
I also wondered what you thought about the idea of adapting the Belgian pear recipe for apples? We have 4 eating apple trees and some of them don’t keep well into the winter (even with rigorous sorting for undamaged fruit). I’ve looked for bottled apples recipes online but they all look a bit anaemic.
Hi Tess
I’d wait a bit longer if I were you. I live in Cambridgeshire too and our pears need a bit more time. They should come off easily when twisted.
Ours are the same as yours – hard Conference. They are perfect for bottling.
Can anyone tell me when I should pick my pears to make this recipe? We have lived in Cambs for 2 years and have a tree in the back garden which produced lots of fruit in 2007, virtually none last year and has lots again this year. We did nothing with the 2007 crop because they were hard and we were busy with new house and new baby, but I don’t want to waste this year’s glut and have already printed out the Belgian pears recipe. Should I bottle now, or wait till they start dropping to pick them? I think they are Conference and I know in principle we should be able to eat them fresh too but I’ve never found the right time to eat them ripe. Any tips would be very much appreciated.
Thank you both for the advice, I am learning so much from you all!
Trish
Hello Trish
I agree with Enid. Jam jars won’t work for this as they are too small and probably not strong enough.
It’s worth investing in some good Kilner or Le Parfait jars. The seals need to be replaced each year but they are not too expensive.
Lakeland are now selling kilner jars.
Hi Enid
Thanks for your help and advice.
You won’t get the pears into traditional jam jars without breaking them all up. Vacuum sealing keeps the pears in tip top condition and seals the jars which you couldn’t do with jam jars. Its’ worth buying the proper kilner jars and the pears are delicious. No – you don’t need to vacuum seal your jam, the heat from the hot jars and the jam itself is sufficient. We’ve just spent the day today making plum, plum and ginger jam and plum chutney. Great fun but soooo messy.
Enid
Hello there again!
I am soon to try this recipe…I don’t have Le Parfait or Kilner jars but I do have alot of 1lb screw top jars (they have plastic inside the lid, I think thay are ok quality)…will these work, I assume I will still have to vacuum seal them?
Just out of interest,why do these need vacuum sealing and the jams do not(or should I vacuum seal all my jams pronto?!)
Thanks a million
Trish