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
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I’ll be trying these pronto, as the neighbor’s unattended tree drops zillions of hard pears onto my yard and I have never known what to do with them. Thx.
Hi Minamoo,
This is brilliant. Great news that they worked well for you. I am so pleased.
Thank you Thank you thank you! The pears are truly sublime! The syrup tastes incredible and the bits of pear I tried are just out of this world. And the best part is………….they look just as gorgeous as they taste! I can’t wait to share these with my other half. I’m sure he will love them as much as I do! I have bottled them and sealed the jars that I had been keeping warm in an oven for the past hour but I am however going to wait till tomorrow evening to process them as i am absolutely shattered (it is now 3:15am). Goodnight!
Hi Minamoo,
I always use hard pears for this recipe. The reason for the long cook is to mature the juice. The simmer has to be the merest twinkle.
Perhaps you could cook them for 2 hours in the final stage – to be quite honest, I just don’t know as they are very small pears.
If it was me I would look after two hours, last half of the recipe. The syrup needs to be dark brown and fragrant. If you have managed just a trickle of a simmer I would leave them for the 3 hours if not, I would remove them after 2 hours or so.
Love to hear how you get on.
They weigh about 50g each but they’re not soft pears. They’re the hard crunchy ones. Do you think I should cook them for the same amount of time anyway? On an aside…..you have no idea how much I want to lift up the lid and have a peak at them! This is an exercise in supreme self control for me! lol!
Hi Minamoo,
What is ‘rather small’? I have made this recipe with giant pears (don’t know the weight) and our pears 85g each. I used the same cooking time.
I do hope that this helps.
Hello! I am about to start cooking my pears but I need some advice! They are rather small pears but a little hard. DO they still need the full 6 hours? How will I know when they’re done? Thanks!
Hi Minamoo,
They will shrink. Good idea to use the smaller jars. They make a great present. Love to hear how you get on when you make them.
Me again! The freecycle fairy brought the pears round and I must say…….they are monsters! Unless they shrink quite a bit, getting them out of the jar once I have got them in there is going to be interesting! Lol! I am SO looking forward to making the pears! I have decided to use lots of smaller 1L jars so I can give a jar to my other half’s parents for christmas. So far they will be getting a jar of jam, a bottle of cordial and a jar of pears. I love this foraging business! 😀
Hi Minamoo,
I haven’t made our Belian Pears this year yet but as far as I remember we got 2 large (2k jars and several small 0.5k jars from the recipe). We made it twice and the second batch didn’t make as much as the first batch. Sorry to be so wooly.
Once opened they will keep for a couple of weeks i the fridge. You serve them on their own with possibly a little cream. They are very special.