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Nutrition: per 2 tbsp

  • kcal47
  • fat0g
  • saturates0g
  • carbs11g
  • sugars11g
  • fibre1g
  • protein0g
  • salt0g
    low
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Method

  • step 1

    Put the sugar, vinegar, orange zest and juice, ginger, bay leaves and peppercorns in a large pan. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar, then boil for 5 mins.

  • step 2

    Meanwhile, peel, core and halve or quarter the pears, depending on size. Add the pears to the pan and poach gently for 10-15 mins until they are just tender. Remove with a slotted spoon and pack into warm sterilised Kilner jars with rubber seals (see tip below).

  • step 3

    Boil the vinegar mixture hard to reduce by a third, then pour over the pears, including the spices. The pears need to be completely covered with the liquid. Fit the rubber seal and clamp the jar tightly closed. Reserve any leftover syrup for topping up the jars later, as the pears will absorb the syrup over time. Store for up to 2 months.

RECIPE TIPS
STERILISING YOUR JARS

Wash in hot soapy water, rinse, then drain and set upright in a roasting tin in one layer. Put in the oven at 180C/ 160C fan/gas 4 for 10 mins. If your jars have a rubber seal, remove before putting the jars in the oven. To sterilise the seals, simply boil in water.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2012

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Comments, questions and tips (3)

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Overall rating

A star rating of 5 out of 5.3 ratings

claudia21

Delicious but very sweet. I used small, ripe pears but found they were very soft when cooked for ten minutes the first time so cut down cooking time to five minutes the second time and looked much better in the jar. I also added two sticks of cinnamon, star anise, cloves and allspice, it was much…

salmay

A star rating of 5 out of 5.

Absolutely divine. My husband would drink the syrup alone if I let him. Made these for gifts to give to hosts his Christmas and they look really special with a ribbon tied round and a labelled with a nice luggage tag. Think they will go down a storm and will be an easy pudding option with some ice…

geoffoconnell

WHERE CAN I GET RIPE PEARS TO MAKE THIS RECIPE - THE ONLY ONE'S I CAN FIND ARE SMALL AND AS HARD AS BILLIARD BALLS - WHATEVER HAPPENED TO LOVELY, SOFT WILLIAM PEARS?

stovinclark

Personally I think you are better off using unripe, even hard pears. If they are too ripe they just turn to mush when you poach them

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