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Making Jam: Cranberry Pear Jam

When I saw this Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam, I just had to make it!  I love pears and the addition of cinnamon and dried cranberries gives this jam a burst of fall flavor that will delight your taste buds. This is a delicious and easy jam to make and it has a beautiful rich color.  Perfect for November!

I’ve been canning up a storm this year.  I need to start giving some away some of these jams, but I’ve gotten attached to them.  Well, Christmas will be here before you know it.  You know what I’ll be giving this year.

 

For this recipe, be sure to use fully ripe pears so they can be crushed easily.  I peeled and chopped the pears, put them in a covered container, and placed them in the refrigerator for a couple of days to make sure they were fully ripe and easy to crush. 


Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam
Makes: Six to eight 8-ounce jars

Recipe from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving.

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups crushed cored peeled pears
  • 2/3 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened apple juice
  • 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice
  • 5 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 pouch liquid pectin

 

Directions:

 
Step 1: Crush the pears and chop the cranberries.
I started with these delicious pears.  I peeled, cored, cut them up and put them in the refrigerator for a couple of days.


It was much easier to crush the pears after they had been in the refrigerator. I used the potato masher to crush them.  It worked great!


Step 2: Prepare the canner, jars and lids. For detailed instructions on water-bath canning, please refer to the instructions on the National Center for Home Preservation site. See resources at the bottom.

Step 3: Cook the fruit mixture. In a large, deep stainless steel pan, combine pears, cranberries, apple juice, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon.  Over high heat, stirring constantly, bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Stir in pectin.


 

Step 4: Boil until gel forms and skim off foam. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.  Remove from heat and skim off any foam.


 

Step 5: Ladle jam to the jars. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.


 

Step 6: Remove air bubbles, add lids and rings and tighten.  Remove any air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot jam.  Wipe rim.  Center lid on jar and screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.


 

Step 7: Process the jars using the water-bath canning method.  Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completed covered with water.  Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes (if altitude is less than 1000).  If you live in a higher altitude or need more detailed instructions on water-bath canning, please refer to the instructions on the National Center for Home Preservation site.
 
Step 8: Prepare the jars for storage.  Remove canner lid.  Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store. Here is my stash of Autumn Cranberry Pear Jam.


 

In addition to the Ball Book on Canning, I’ve been using the following resources as a reference in my canning adventures.  You might enjoy them as well:

Happy Canning!

Cathy

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