First off, what is it?
Does it have butter? Is it
good?? Fruit butter is like thick apple
sauce. It’s a spreadable fruit paste that is so good! There’s no butter in it, and it is delicious!
I learned a few lessons from this one.
One: Crockpots didn’t give me the texture I wanted.
Two: Time isn’t something a crockpot cares about. I cooked the
butter on high for about 36 hours before I gave up and blended it, then used
the stove top to cook the pear butter down. I think that had I used the stove
top, there would be more of a caramel flavor too. Good lesson learned!
Bottom line, would I make this again. Yes! It is so good!!
Recipe:
- 9 lbs of ripe pears, peeled, cored and chopped (do this after you gather all of your ingredients, so you don’t end up with oxidized fruit.
- Booze. (it is me, afterall). I used 4 tablespoons of dark rum
- 1/4 apple juice (I used non-filtered)
- 6 tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 heaping and packed cups dark brown sugar
- 4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg (fresh grated)
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger (dried)
- 2 teaspoons ground cloves
- 1 star anise
- 2 teaspoon sea salt
The spices I used were to taste and fall-oriented. If you
like more, put in more!
I combined the sugar, spices and liquids together in the
crockpot and turned it on high while I prepped the pears. Once they were all
chopped, I threw it all together and mixed it up, making sure I scraped the
bottom of the pot and that the pears were coated. I out on the lid and waited.
And waited.
And waited.
Oh, how I waited. After 36 hours, I was tired of waiting,
and blended it all up, and put it in a dutch oven and cooked it down until it
had the consistency I wanted. I
sterilized 9 pint , filled with a ¼ in headspace, and did a water bath boil for
10 minutes.
It has a rich, caramel color, smells like fall and taste
like happiness! It is so good on greek yogurt, but would go well with chicken,
as a glaze.
