We had a really fantastic crop of pears this season, and I didn’t want to waste a single one. They are of the hard and crunchy type – completely organic and some wearing the ravages of codlin moth and the dreaded pit infliction. The pits are like little stones that have been pushed into the skin, and everyone has to be cut out before bottling. Such a pain.
Finding what to do with this bounteous crop that wasn’t going to be too much work was quite tricky. Lots of recipes say how to leave the pears in a bucket and wait for it to turn into cider; or how to add vodka to it to make liqueur … that all sounded great, but a lot of work.
Bottling them seemed obvious, but I got a bit fed up after a few jars. The peeling, cutting out the pits, washing, packing, making the sugar syrup … so I looked for something a bit easier.
Pear jelly looked pretty simple. It’s very posh jelly. It is meant to be cut and placed on a tray with the blue vein cheese. Still quite a lot of work, though.
Then I thought of the easiest thing in the world to do with all my pears! I decided to make this absolutely to die for cordial! So easy, hardly any mess!
Here’s what you need!
- Pears
- Crushed ginger
- Handful of whole cloves
- Sugar
Here’s what you do!
- Cut the pears up quite small – cores, skins, codlin bugs, pits – the works, and throw them into your preserving pan. Cover with water. Bring to the boil, and stir every now and then. Cook until the pears are soft, and blitz with the hand-held blender. You will have a big pan of mush. Put it all into your muslin bag, and leave to drip for 24 hours.
- When you are ready, weigh or measure the juice, and chuck it back into the preserving pan. I also threw in a handful of whole cloves and two heaped teaspoons of crushed ginger. Bring to the boil and then add some sugar. I used a third of the amount of sugar, but you could use less, as mine is quite sweet. Stir this constantly while it’s coming to the boil. Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare your bottles by washing, drying and sterilising in the oven for at least 20 minutes on 100 degrees Celsius. Boil the lids in a pan of water for the same amount of time.
- When you are ready, sieve the cordial and bottle up using a funnel. The joy will come in about thirty minutes when you hear those little lids pinging as the seals set, and you will know that all your hard work will have been worth it.
- Make it up one to five with soda water – you will be so amazed with the refreshing taste. Kind of like ginger beer without the exploding bottles in your closet and without the waiting.
You will never buy store-bought cordial with all those additives and preservatives again, and that’s got to be a good thing.
POST SCRIPT: I have made a batch with no sugar. I have yet to try it, but for all of you ‘no-sugar’ people, it’s worth a try as pears are so sweet anyway.