Winter Pear Jam with Blood Orange, Pinot Noir, Cranberries
A Cozy Cold-Weather Treat
Winter calls for bold flavors, and this Winter Pear Jam delivers a perfect balance of sweet, tart, and spiced warmth. Featuring juicy pears, tangy blood oranges, tart cranberries, and a splash of Pinot Noir, this jam is practically a holiday party in a jar.
Why You'll Love It:
🍐 Pears bring a soft, buttery sweetness.
🍊 Blood orange zest and juice add citrusy brightness.
🍷 Pinot Noir gives depth (and makes you feel fancy).
💥 Cranberries add a tart pop to balance it all out.
How you will Make It:
You will peel and chop ripe pears—Bosc or Anjou work great. Macerate (rest) them with the sugar and lemon juice if you have time.
Simmer with blood orange juice & zest, sugar, and a splash of Pinot Noir.
Let it bubble away until thick and jammy, filling your kitchen with the coziest aroma. Add the fresh cranberries, return to a boil, and voila!
Jar it up and spread it on **toast, cheese boards, or straight onto a spoon
Ingredients
4 pears (about 1.75 lbs), pealed & chopped
1.5 cups sugar (about .75 pounds)
1/4 cup pinot noir wine (while most the alcohol cooks off, you can substitute concord grape juice if you are 100% sober)
2 blood oranges, zested and juiced (use regular oranges if you cannot find blood oranges)
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg (you can swap for cinnamon if you do not have nutmeg)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup of cranberries, thawed or fresh
Directions
PREP FRUIT: Peel and chop the pears. Measure fruit into a glass bowl or plastic food-safe Tupperware and add lemon juice, oranges, wine, spices, and all of the sugar. Stir well.
MACERATE: Ideally, macerate at room temperature for an hour or more (but no more than 12 hours), but if time is a crunch, at least for 10 minutes or so, until the juices start to pull from the fruit. Stir a few times to help dissolve the sugar. If not using within 12 hours, refrigerate or leave in a cool place overnight or up to 72 hours, so that the sugar and lemon juice can help release the juice of the fruit.
SANITIZE JARS & LIDS: Place your mason jars in a pot, covered with water; bring to a boil and turn off; leave jars in the hot water, covered, until ready to fill. Place lids in a heat-safe bowl and pour boiling water over them; let them sit in hot water while you prepare the jam.
Place a few metal spoons in the freezer for testing the consistency and gel of your jam later on. You can also place them in a cup of ice water if you prefer or on the windowsill in winter.
COOK: Bring the fruit mixture to a boil and continue cooking on high heat for 10 minutes, until the fruit begins to turn translucent. Skim if there is foam and continue cooking on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to avoid scorching. Gradually lower heat as jam reduces volume and starts to stick on the bottom. Stir every 60 seconds as it reduces. BE CAREFUL OF SCORCHING – stir, stir, stir! Once the pears are translucent and soft, mash the mixture with a wooden spoon or a potato masher till it is a mushy, jammy texture. Return to a boil and add the cranberries, cooking for another 5 minutes or so until the cranberries pop, using your wooden spoon to smush them into the pear mixture.
The syrup will reach the gel stage at 221 ° F (105 ° C) on a candy thermometer. If you don’t have a thermometer, test the consistency by placing a teaspoon of the hot jam onto one of the frozen spoons you prepped. Let it rest for a few minutes, then test the gel by tilting the spoon vertically. What is the consistency? If the jam runs loosely like syrup or has pools of liquid surrounding the fruit chunks, then it’s not done yet. If it glides slowly along in a gloopy glob, then the jam is ready. If syrupy, bring it to a boil again for 5 minutes. Once it is done, turn off the heat.
FILL jam to ¼ inch from the top (size of your pinky nail). Place lids on top and tighten hand-tight (not body-builder tight).
PROCESS: Place jars in hot water canning pot using tongs, make sure jars are covered by at least 1-inch of water. Bring to a boil, covered and let boil in hot water for 6 minutes (they should be clinking together at a full boil). Turn off heat, remove and let rest till cool. Jam lasts at least 12 months unopened. Store in a cool, dark place to retain color. Once opened, refrigerate.
Shopping List
4 pears
2 cups sugar (about 1 pound)
1 bottle pinot noir wine
2 blood oranges
1 lemon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 bag of cranberries, thawed or fresh
