Last Sunday, I made my favourite jam: pear and apple. I’ve never quite understood why more people don’t preserve apples and pears as jams. It seems that they are reserved mostly for jellies or dehydrating or making apple sauce. So a couple of years ago I decided that I’d experiment. I used the general jam-making principles from The Complete Book of Preserves and Pickles and A Year in a Bottle. I like it best if its 70 % pear and 30 % apple but this year I made it 50:50 and it’s still delicious. It’s fun to experiment with different varieties of pear and apple and see the subtle differences in flavour and texture. My favourite varieties are Beurre Bosc pears and either Royal Gala or Fuji apples. The jam reminds me of a fruit nectar or fruit honey and it, and my orange marmalade, are the fastest disappearing jams at our place.
So without further ado, here’s my recipe for Pear and Apple Jam:
- 1 kg of prepared pears and apples (peal, core, then dice pears and grate apples)
- juice of 1 lemon
- small amounts of water
- 1 kg of sugar
1. Simmer pears, apples and lemon juice until soft (about 30 min). Add water if it becomes too dry.
2. Add sugar and stir to dissolve
3. Simmer until setting point is reached (approx. 20 – 30 min) (see here for a good discussion on how to tell that you’ve reached setting point, I use the plate in freezer method)
4. Transfer to sterilised jars, ensuring any chunks of fruit are well-distributed. Seal, label, store and ENJOY!
The jam lasts approximately one year in sealed sterilised containers. Transfer to the fridge once opened.
The jam yielded the two jars shown at the top of this post plus another half filled jar that went straight into the fridge and is almost all eaten. I told you we liked it 🙂
Edit (13 Jan 2012): I had an email query and thought other people might also be confused. The 1 kg of pears and apples is combined not 1 kg of each. It’s great to hear from so many people making this jam. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as we do.
Tales from a Well-Stocked Larder 
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I have just recently started jamming and I have to say, I was very intimidated when going through recipes and books about jamming. I came across your recipe in a google search and I have to say it sounded so DO-able! Thanks for your great recipe! It is really making me look good to all my friends. One friend said she loved the pear jam so much, she wanted to marry it… I had to second the notion. I have a blog myself, and would love to feature your blog if you think that might be ok, please get back with me. You are truly brilliant and I love your jam and blog!
Thanks,
Kelle (from Texas)
Kelle, wow, thank you, I feel completely honoured. And I’m so glad you enjoyed the jam. I’ll definitely go and check out your blog and get back to you via email
Thankyou for this recipe. I had a bunch of pears to use up, and even though I didn’t quite cook it long enough to properly set, my family and I love the taste of our new sauce.
Had a look at the rest of your blog and it looks pretty interesting, though I’m a much lazier gardener than you.
Hello, I’m over in England and I’m about to try your jam recipe. But could I possibly query a few things so I have a foolproof understanding (I’m a jam virgin!)…do I need a proper jam pan? Do you put the the pears in water to simmer or just on their own? Sorry to sound so silly 🙂 x
Hi Neets, that’s great that you’re going to try jam making and I feel super special that my recipe is going to be your first. To answer your questions (and they defintiely are not silly). I just make jam in a normal pan. I do tend to like a better quality one with a heavy base – it just means you get a more even cook and less chance of things sticking (not so much a problem for this jam but apricots can be an issue). Just chose a pan that is big enough to hold all your fruit with lots of space to spare because you’ll need to add the sugar later -but by then the fruit will have cooked down to a smaller volume. I put the pears straight in the pan with just a dash of water (maybe 1/4 of cup, I’m not sure, I just use a “slurp” from the kettle to be honest). This water gets them started but as soon as they heat up much they start releasing their own juices and are fine. If you add too much water it will just take longer for your jam to reach setting point because you need to evaporate more liquid off. No big issue though. Good luck. I’d love to hear back how you go
Hello, I’m very interested in making your jam, I do have a couple questions.
I’m getting married Sept 17 and I want to make this for my wedding favors. I’m using 125ml jars and I have 130 guest. I would like to give each guest a jar. I’m not sure how many jars your recipe fills( what size are the jars you have in the picture). Or how much ingredients I would need to fill 130 jars.
Thank you
Jenn
Hi jenn,
Firstly, congratulations! best wishes for your big day.
I’m not exactly sure what weight /volume of jam I end up with and it’s a while since I made this recipe so I can no longer just go and look at the jars I have (we’ve eaten them). Also my jars are a range of different sizes making it hard to guestimate. I suggest making a small batch and seeing what you get then multiplying that up (and adding a suitable amount extra to account for errors) to work out the amoutn fo ingredients you need to buy.
Good luck
Bee
Thank you Bee,
We will be attempting this in a couple weeks, I’m so excited to try it! I’ll let you know how it went when it’s all done =)
Jenn
Thanks for this recipe for pear and apple jam, I tied it last year, it was great. this year I am doubling-up,
John W
Diss Norfolk
U.K.
That’s great to see that you enjoyed it so much you’ve made it again. I made a couple of batches over this winter too
Have you ever tried adding alcohol to the recipe? Lots of recipes add whisky or rum, just wondered what you would recommend?
Hi Hannah
Sorry to take a while to get back to you. I haven’t tried adding alcohol to this recipe but it’s a great idea. I love stewed apples with a bit of brandy so that would be my first suggestion. I would love to hear how it goes if you do try a batch with alcohol.
🙂 Bee
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Pear and Apple Jam | Tales from a Well-Stocked Larder is an extraordinary share. Many thanks for this article.
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Thank you live in Bulgaria our pear tree had so much fruit this year and no idea what to do with it all took apples fro our orchard too and I now have two big batches of jam thanks to your recipe added ginger to 2nd batch really lovely. So easy to follow .
So glad to hear it worked out for you and I’m a bit jealous about all your pears and apples. And the ginger is a wonderful idea – I’ll have to give it a try next time i make a batch – thanks for sharing!
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I have lots of crabapple juice, going to chop pears into it and proceed. Let you know how it turns our
I hope it worked out well. Crabapple and pear sounds yummy
Meant to say, it’s Neets in England – this is lush! xx
Thank you!
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