One Thrifty Treat, Take Two
June 17, 2009 at 7:37 am | In Baking / Cooking, Food | 44 CommentsWhat an amazing place the blogosphere is… Although I often am astounded by the kindness and generosity of my fellow bloggers, I feel that this sentiment isn’t shared nearly enough. Endlessly inspired by colorful prose and pictures in so many posts, there’s never any lack of creativity out there, and the enticing ideas that I’m itching to try myself just pile up as the numbers on my blog reader grow in synchronicity.
This time however, it was a timely comment that got me racing back into the kitchen, providing fuel for a round of recipe writing. Ricki, of Diet, Dogs, and Desserts and the brand new book Sweet Freedom, made the brilliant suggestion to turn some of my excess dried fruit into fruit butter. You could probably have heard me smack my forehead from miles away when I read that! Seemingly so obvious, and yet something that I would have never thought of, it was an absolutely perfect solution for dealing with that bulky bag of shriveled pears. Racing to turn on the stove and get this fruity spread going, the hardest part of the whole process is probably just waiting for the contents of the pot to cook!
Warming spices just didn’t seem appropriate for the season, so I kept the flavors bright and simple with just a touch of lemon juice, plus one dry, wrinkled vanilla bean that was nearing the end of its usefulness as well. Instead of struggling to scrape out any remaining seeds from this seriously leathery pod, I simply popped the whole thing into the pot, let it rehydrate, and blended it all up thoroughly in the VitaMix. This recipe would be so easy to dress up with any number of different spices or flavorful juices though, the variations and possibilities are nearly endless. Have fun, play around with it, make it yours- I can see plenty of gifting opportunities with this sweet spread in the coming months, too!
Pear Butter
12 Ounces Dried Pear Halves (About 3 Cups)
2 Cups Unsweetened Apple Juice
1 Vanilla Bean
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/3 Cup Maple Syrup
Combine all of the above ingredients in a large pot, and bring it to a simmer. Cook gently for about 15 minutes, until all of the dried pears are soft and rehydrated, stirring the mixture occasionally. Let cool for a few minutes, and then transfer everything into your food processor or blender, and thoroughly puree. The mixture will be extremely thick, so make sure that you scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice to get things entirely smooth. Spoon the pear butter into clean jars, and seal tightly. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, where it will continue to thicken slightly as it cools.
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Huh, that sounds a heck of a lot easier than the pear butter I made from fresh pears (in fairness I used 50 lbs of pears which turned it into a 3 day extravaganza). I wonder if you could safely can this version.
Comment by Lily — June 17, 2009 #
That looks amazing! I’ve been toying with the idea of homemade peach butter for awhile now. Inspiration to finally make it!
Comment by Jes — June 17, 2009 #
Yumyum, so nice !
Comment by VeganPower — June 17, 2009 #
That sounds and looks absolutely delicious!
Comment by Dimah — June 17, 2009 #
That pear butter sounds delicious, and what a beautiful shot!
Comment by chocolateshavings — June 17, 2009 #
Ahh pear butter – such a succulent spread!
Comment by VeggieGirl — June 17, 2009 #
I could eat that with a spoon it looks so good!
Comment by allison — June 17, 2009 #
I would have never thought of it either! Excellent idea. I bet it tastes great!
Comment by Nicole — June 17, 2009 #
It looks fantastic, Hannah! So glad it worked out. And pear butter with a lemon zing sounds much nicer than a heavy spiced version!
Comment by Ricki — June 17, 2009 #
I never tried pear butter before, I bet it’s delicious though! Maybe I should try making my own fruit butter since I have such an abundance of dried fruit in my cupboards.
Comment by Kiersten — June 17, 2009 #
I love how generous all the bloggers out there are! I keep meeting so many amazing people! It makes me feel better about the world (i know cheesy but it’s true!) As for this recipe MAN!! So simple, love the use of maple syrup… This would be a perfect gift for someone!
Comment by stephchows — June 17, 2009 #
wow pear butter sounds amazing! are you planning on doing anything special with it?
Comment by SweetKaroline — June 17, 2009 #
Pear Butter is one of my very favorite treats =)
Comment by Shelby — June 17, 2009 #
Lately I’ve been feeling that my blogging friends are even thicker than my real-life friends. Maybe that’s just a product of me living in a foreign country. I don’t know what I would do without my blogging network.
The pear butter looks amazing. I love condiments for bread.
I saw your cookbook on Eat, Live, Run the other day. Scroll down this post to see your book prominently featured: http://eatliverun.com/unsweet-tea/.
Comment by Still Life in South America — June 17, 2009 #
That’s excellent! I would never have thought of that either! Mmm, pear butter sounds enticing, I can only imagine what mango butter would be like…
Comment by Veronica — June 17, 2009 #
I made pear butter last fall. It was so delicious. I used fresh fruit, but instead of just throwing away the cores/peels, etc, I simmered these with some water, then strained out the fruit, then added sugar and cooked it until it was thick. Pear honey, it’s called, and it also was super tasty. I ended up giving most of it away for Christmas presents. I found the recipe in a cookbook published by UGA all about canning and making jam that I found at a used book sale. Nutmeg is also a nice addition to pear butter, though it also doesn’t seem exactly appropriate for the season, either. THis makes me want to make some more!
Comment by Aubrey T. — June 17, 2009 #
Yum what a delicious creation! I’d never have thought to create fruit butter out of dried fruit.
Comment by Ashley — June 17, 2009 #
I once made a delicious spread based on one of Ricki’s recipes. It featured dried apricots and it was fantastic.
I can see so many possibilities for this and it is a great present, too.
Comment by Mihl — June 17, 2009 #
Never knew it was so easy! Thanks for sharing!
Comment by zoe — June 17, 2009 #
Im loving the use of dried pears!!! I made pear butter last fall but ran out. I need to give this a try! thanks :)
Comment by Jen — June 17, 2009 #
That *is* a great suggestion – I wouldn’t ever have thought of that one on my own! Bravo, Ricki!
Comment by shellyfish — June 17, 2009 #
This is a timely post for me. I’m a huge fruit lover but I often end up buying too much (and naturally regret the action) and then stop buying completely and feel deprived. I never thought of turning the leftover dried fruit into fruit butter. It’s so obvious but… (banging my head against the wall now). Thanks so much for sharing the info and the recipe!
Comment by Singing Horse — June 17, 2009 #
That sounds utterly delicious. I dont have dried pear halves but I think I will have to get some on the way home! I do love reading all the yummy food creations you come up with!
Comment by littlemisscrochet — June 17, 2009 #
wow, ricki is a genious. i have a copious amount of dried fruit, i should give this a shot :) love the pears, but my excess is apricots…
Comment by ttfn300 — June 17, 2009 #
This is going straight onto the “must make” list!
Comment by Vegyogini — June 17, 2009 #
Omg, this looks so good! I wonder if this would work using a canning method so that it can have a longer shelf life.
Comment by Oiyi — June 17, 2009 #
OMG. That is a great idea! How cool. It sounds very delicious.
Comment by Wendy — June 17, 2009 #
yum!
Comment by miss v — June 17, 2009 #
Good thinking, Ricki! That sounds perfect for toast. And the picture is beautiful!
Comment by Mary — June 17, 2009 #
Ooh, sounds yummy! I even have all the ingredients, although not enough pears…and not a big enough pot.
Comment by Gina — June 18, 2009 #
I’ve got a couple of bags of dried apples from last year that nobody except me wants to eat. I wonder if that recipe would work with apples rather than pears.
Comment by cassie-b — June 18, 2009 #
yum!! I love fruit butters, and I had no idea you could make them with dried fruit. 3 cups isn’t even SO so much that I might have that amount on hand someday. Oh, I bet you could make chutneys with all that fruit, too! (and congrats on the haul!)
Comment by liz — June 18, 2009 #
yum! what a delicious idea. i love apple butter and peach butter…but i never thought of making it out of dried fruits that i have. awesome.
Comment by meghan — June 18, 2009 #
Interesting! I bet it tastes great! So creative :-)
Comment by Melissa @ For the Love of Health — June 18, 2009 #
This looks lovely Hannah! Do you think I could do the same with dried strawberries? I have so many I don’t know what to do with them all, except add them to homemade granola.
Comment by tahinitoo — June 18, 2009 #
What a great idea to use dried fruit! I love it!
Comment by dreamin'itvegan — June 18, 2009 #
That was a great idea and you made the best of it. Sometimes I just can’t bear to cook my fresh fruits – I would rather enjoy them fresh and raw – so using dried fruit make perfect sense!
Comment by Diann — June 18, 2009 #
Oh pear butter sounds fantastic! What have you been doing with yours? Just on toast?
Comment by Y — June 19, 2009 #
This really looks and sounds fantastic. Butters are so good. I’ve never tried to make any of this kind of stuff, but I might give this one a try!
Comment by nomeatathlete — June 19, 2009 #
Makes me want Fall to be here.
Comment by peabody — June 19, 2009 #
[...] Pear Butter from [...]
Pingback by Weekend Foodie Links : Blisstree - Family, Health, Home and Lifestyles — June 20, 2009 #
Perfect Idea!! Did you still have a dried fruit party with bags of wonderful treats?? Your blog is amazing!!! I flipped through your book and I plan on using the Nibble kitchen for your recipes. I am ridiculously excited! How have you been by the way?
Comment by GG Merkel — June 21, 2009 #
Oh, that sounds delicious!
Comment by Melisser — June 23, 2009 #
Thank you for the recipe. we often make Apple butter but have never tried Pear butter.
Comment by Brandy — June 26, 2009 #