Vanilla Lime Pear Jam Recipe

TL;DR

The original recipe didn't include lime juice. We have been adding lemon or lime juice for a few years now to our French jam, marmalade, jellies and preserves because citrus fruits contain natural pectin and that helps to preserve your jam.

The ingredients are all natural in this recipe and the preparation is as per our French family recipes. That means the jam jars are NOT canned as per US tradition.

Instead, the jars are turned upside down to create a vacuum, then they are stored on a shelf until they are opened. Once opened, the jar has to be refrigerated and double-dipping is not permitted!

Ingredient Notes

• Pears — Use only fresh pears. We normally get William pears (known as the Bartlett variety in the US) as that's my, my mother's, and Paul's preferred choice. But, you can use other pear varieties too, such as Anjou or the French Butter pear variety. Get pears that are ripe, but not spoiled. The pears should NOT be hard, they should be soft to the touch because when they ripen at the right time, they are most flavorful and naturally sweet.
• Sugar — Normal all-purpose sugar. Sugar helps in preserving your jam for months. I do not recommend switching this ingredient with other sweeteners.
• Lime — Freshly squeezed lime juice AND the squeezed out lime halves. The lime halves will be added to the jam during the cooking process so to release the natural pectin in the skin (which helps to set).
• Vanilla Bean — Get the best quality of vanilla beans, like those from Madagascar or Reunion Island. Look out for untreated pesticide-free on the label because you don't want these harmful substances in your food.

Remember to select a pear that softens when cooked. Avoid pear varieties that hold their shape after boiling.

You can jazz things up with brown sugar instead of regular sugar.

Get untreated (no pesticides) lime, you don't want poison in your jam. You can use lemon juice too, but I think lime juice rounds up all the flavors. It's the missing link!

You can also use vanilla bean paste if you prefer, but don't use vanilla extract, it's just not the same flavor experience when used in this jam recipe. Besides, you want the small black vanilla specks to add aesthetics to your homemade jam.

Process Overview

Step 1

Peel and cut out the core of your pears.

Cut your pears into chunks and weigh them.

Step 2

Slit open a vanilla bean lengthwise, scratch out the seeds.

Juice the Lime, but keep the lime halves!

Step 3

Place the pears in your jam pan with the sugar, vanilla bean, the squeezed out lime halves and the lime juice.

Mix it all well.

Step 4

Take the pot with the jam ingredients to the heat and bring to a rolling boil while stirring occasionally.

Step 5

Keep on the heat so that the jam can reduce over time and the pears cooked and infused with the vanilla lime flavors.

Step 6

When the pears appear darker, somewhat shiny and a bit translucent, after about 30–40 minutes or so simmering down, take out the vanilla bean and lime halves.

Blend them to your preferred consistency with a hand blender.

Step 7

Test if your jam is set, the thermometer setting temperature is 220 Fahrenheit/ 105 Celsius, or test by pouring hot jam on a cold plate to see if it's running.

Step 8

Pour hot jam up to the rim into clean sterilized jam jars. Close jam jars tight with lids.

Store or enjoy straightaway!

Only use healthy fruit pieces, never decaying fruit pieces. Cut spoiled fruit pieces away as they can reduce the shelf life of your jam.

You can choose to leave the pears to macerate with the sugar and vanilla bean overnight. That means you prepare, clean and cut, your pears and combine them with the sugar, slit open vanilla bean and lime juice in your jam pan overnight. The next morning, you take it all to the heat to cook down your jam. Macerating helps to release quality fruit flavors.

Don't reduce the sugar quantity because the sugar helps in preserving the jam and, besides, you will only eat a teaspoon of jam at a time with bread or in yogurt. Nonetheless, if you prepare a small batch of pear preserves, and you intend to eat it soon, you can reduce the sugar in the recipe.

In France, we use a large copper jam pan to cook our jams. Copper is a better heat transmitter, and the jams turn out better cooked in it. Alternatively, we also use large stainless-steel pots.

Bring it initially to a rolling boil and to reduce to a simmer so that you can control better the cooking process.

The fruits are done when they are cooked and appear shiny, glossy and almost translucent. That's a sign that your jam is ready, and then you can take out the vanilla bean and blend the jam to test the setting afterward.

A hot jam will always appear more liquid. Its true consistency only shows when it cools down.

Test the setting by using a candy thermometer. The setting temperature is 220 Fahrenheit/ 105 Celsius. I use the ice-cold testing technique, where a drop of hot jam is placed on the ice-cold plate, cooling it down instantly to reveal the true consistency. Moving around the plate, the jam either runs or doesn't, and if it's the latter, it's set.

A jam that is not set is easier to fix because you can just leave it further to cook down until it's done and set. A jam that cooked too much will get hard when cooled and can't be fixed that well.

If your jam was cooked too much and hardened when cooled, take it back to the heat with a small quantity of water mixed in and briefly cook it for a few minutes. Put it back into clean jars and refrigerate. This jam won't hold that long at room temperature because you had to add water to fix the jam, but at least you can still enjoy it.

Use only clean sterilized jars and lids. Scrub them well with soap water and sterilize jars + lids in a hot water bath or in your dishwasher at a higher temperature.

You can add a few drops of a distilled clear consumable spirit to your inner lids to kill all remaining germs before closing the jar with the lid.

Placing the tightly closed jam jar upside down, right after filling it with jam, is a technique to create a vacuum. This in turn prolongs the shelf-life of the jam. Turn it back up once the jam is lukewarm so that no air bubbles form at the bottom of the jar.

While we do not water batch can our jam jars in France (we only do it for canned sugar syrup fruits and the like), you are still free to do that. I have put together a general post with water bath canning instructions.

Storing

Once you filled up your jar with jam, close it tight with a lid, clean the jar with a sponge and turn it upside down.

Wait for the jam to cool and when it is at room temperature, turn it back up so that no air bubbles get trapped at the bottom of the jar.

Then store your pear jam jars on a shelf, away from direct sunlight, heat, and humidity. They are good for 10–12 months unopened (having followed all cleanliness precautions).

Once you open your jar, store them in your fridge.

Never double dip and always use clean spoons when dipping into your jam to avoid mold growth.

Ideas to Use Your Pear Jam

Generally speaking, we primarily use jams as bread spreads in Europe. Baguette, whole wheat bread slices, Brioche, Kaiser Semmel buns, you name it. This is essentially our breakfast.

Then, we also use jams as a pastry or cake filling. Think puff pastry cream cheese pockets, Donut fillings, or a cake can have a layer of jam too (which is a Torte glazing technique from the Austrian national cuisine).

At home, people add a teaspoon or two to their plain yogurts to flavor them instead of adding sugar. I recommend making French yogurt at home and adding this pear jam to it, it's a game changer!

I, personally, love my pear like vanilla jam mixed into freshly cooked plain porridge. If you feel adventurous, try a Scandinavian rice porridge with this fruity jam.

More Fall/Winter Preserves

• Apple Jelly
• Orange Marmalade Recipe
• Persimmon Jam made from scratch
• Medlar jam