Pear, Vanilla & Ginger Jam

ottobre 27, 2009

Saturday has been a great day, one of those days full of sun, bright and warm colors, fresh smells and good purposes.  I was full of good purposes, first of all making jam! When I was at supermarket I was totally mesmerized by a pack of delicious Williams pears:  red ad Autumn leaves, small and Tuscan. It was the perfect starting point for a jam filled with the last sun rays and able to warm up next breakfasts with amber-coloured beams and an unexpected hint.

During the afternoon, I asked Claudia to peel and chop pears while, in the meantime, I was browsing through my spices jars in order to find the right mix of taste and smell to give a cut above to my jam. I found a lost vanilla pod into the sugar jar, a pod that soon after would have found its glorious end into my steaming cauldron. As my friend Viz usually does, I stared smelling the vanilla pod together with other spices to find something that would suit well. Cinnamon would have been perfect with pears, but Claudia doesn’t like cinnamon. Cardamom and ginger were my favorite ones, but at last ginger powder was the winner!

::::: PEAR, VANILLA AND GINGER JAM :::::

Ingredients for 3 smal jars:

• red Williams pears, 1,5 Kg (after peeling and deseeding them I had barely 900 gr)
• sugar, 200 gr
• vanilla pod, 1 open
• powdered ginger, 1 teaspoon
• lemon, 1 sliced thinly
• water

Peel and chop pears into small chunks. Sprinkle with some lemon juice to avoid them from browning. Put them in a large saucepan and add spices and sugar and put on a low heat. Keep on stirring. After about 20 minutes, the sugar was melted and it was starting to caramelize. I added some water (500ml) bit by bit to let pears cook throughly and get soft. Let it cook for about 40 minutes and when pears are soft remove from the heat and use a vegetable mill or a minipimer to puree them.

Since lemon slices were tender and sweet, and really lovely to see, I removed them one after the other before pureeing pears to add them again, before cooking the jam for the last 5 minutes. The jam was ready, firm, dotted with vanilla seeds, with candied lemon peels and an hint of ginger to suprise your tongue.

I filled three jars: one in the fridge to be eaten in these days and 2 were made to be stored. To store them, I boiled the jars  for 20 minutes and then I let them cool down into the water. If you keep them in a dark and dry place, they will last for and year and more!

The day after I had breakfast with sweet bread, this jam and Viz’s Masala Chai, perfect match with a sweet and spiced jam that reminds autumn in its colors and has a warm touch perfect to face the coming winter.

Sharing is caring!

• 

You should be interested also in:

1. Pear & Ginger Muffins
2. Lemon & Vanilla Marmalade
3. Apricot Jam with Cardamom, Vanilla & Lime
4. Ginger Meringues
5. Ginger lemonade to start again

Posted in Preserves