Pear Jam with Dark Rum

I do not have access to any pear tree so now that I found cheap pears in my local store, I had to buy a bunch. Maybe I bought a couple to many so now I "had" to make pear jam so they are not just lying and rotting.

Pears and dark rum.

Ingredients for jam:

• 1 kg pears, I used a variety called conferance
• 750 g of gelling sugar / sugar with pectin
• 1 tbsp vanilla sugar
• 4 cl dark rum
• 1-2 dl water

The ingredients

Peel and core the pears. I even tried to remove the wires that go from the core house to the top of the pear. It seemed easiest to divide the pear into quarters and at a slight angle cut it off.

Two quarters of pear and a quarter core.

When the chopped pear pieces are to be cooked it is important that they are not burnt. Therefore, I put a little more than 1 dl of water in the pot to protect them. How much water that is required will depend on how firm the pears are and how long and hot they are boiling.

Chopped pears and some water in a pot.

The picture below shows the pulpy pear bits that have boiled for 20 minutes. If the jam should be completely smooth you can use a hand blender but I like some bits and used only a potato masher to reduce their size.

Boiled bits of pears.

When the cooked pears have the right consistency / bit size add the gelling sugar and vanilla sugar.

Sugar and mushed pears.

Let the sugar melt and boil for 5 minutes.

Boiling pear jam.

When the the jam have boiled for 5 minutes, pour the rum in to the pot and stir it around. Listen to the alcohol evaporate and then remove the pot from the heat. Pour the result into sanitized jars and cool them quickly. Wait a little while and enjoy.

Tasty pear jam with dark rum.