This pear jam is flavoured with black pepper and lemon which really lifts the sweetness of those pears. Add to that it is refined sugar free and you get something really rather special for your toast in the morning.
Refined Sugar Free Pepper Pear And Lemon Jam, quite a mouthful (in a good way) and a bit like the proverbial Peter Piper who picked a peck of pickled pepper, hard to say after one too many!
I make a LOT of jams, curds, jellies and other sweet things on this blog. But I do like to try replacing standard refined sugar now and then to see how things work out.
Refined Sugar Free spread
This yummy Sugar-Free Spread with Pepper Pear And Lemon is a case in point. It is both sweet and a wee bit of a lip puckerer, but there ain’t no white sugar in there! I have instead used organic apple juice as my sweetener and I have to say it works a treat.
While boiling down the apple juice may seem like a bit of a chore it really is well worth the effort.
Ingredients for pear jam
- 1 litre/1 ¾ pints organic apple juice
- 500g/1 lb 2oz pears
- 1 lemon (unwaxed if possible)
- 6 black peppercorns
How to make pear jam
- Pour the apple juice into a heavy-based pan and bring to the boil, you want to reduce this down from 1 litre to just 250ml, one quarter of the original amount. Pour this into a jug and set aside.
- Roughly chop the pears and remove zest from the lemon with a grater (scrub and dry if using a ‘normal’ waxed to remove the preservative spray) .
- Chop lemon in half and squeeze out the juice. Now scoop out the flesh just leaving the white pith behind. Chop flesh and toss this into your washed out pan along with the pears, lemon zest and juice. Add the pepper corns and bring to the boil then simmer for 40 minutes until everything is tender.
- Press the mixture either through a sieve with a wooden spoon or use a food mill. You get a smoother texture doing this than you would if you whizzed everything up in a food processor, this is a case of slow is better and by-hand beats technology.
- Return the smooth pulp to the pan and add the reduced apple juice that you set aside earlier.
- Bring to a boil and lower temperature to simmer for approximately 25-30 minutes until you have a thick creamy consistency.
- Spoon the spread into two small sterilised jars and pop on the lids.
How much pear jam does this make?
I got 2 small jars of refined sugar-free pear jam from this recipe. The apple juice always seems such a lot but when it all boiols down there is a rich and intensly fruity mix.
New to preserving? Then don’t panic, I can take you from zero to hero in no time at all.
Just check out these handy articles to get you heading in the right direction fast;
How to make great jam and marmalade
How to make chutney and relish
How to sterilise jars and bottles
How long will this keep
Your Pepper Pear And Lemon Jam will keep for up to 3 months. Once opened store in the fridge and use within a couple of weeks.
How to serve this pear jam
This is ideal on your breakfast toast and also on crumpets and scones.
I like it on oatcakes with a slice of cheddar cheese too.
This recipe for Refined Sugar-Free Pepper Pear and Lemon Jam is just one of 50 easy recipes in my Ebook Naughty and Nice Edible Gifts For Christmas.
If you like this recipe then you’ll love these refined sugar free jams too;
Refined sugar free Lover’s Jam
Completely sugar-free apricot and almond chia jam
Refined Sugar Free Banana & Ginger Jam
Completely Sugar Free Spiced Plum Jam
Refined sugar-free chia plum jam
Finally, if you do try this recipe don’t forget to leave a comment/star rating below as I just love to hear from readers. Want more Larder Love? Then follow me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and sign up for my newsletter too of course.
Pepper Pear And Lemon Jam (refined sugar free)
Ingredients
- 1 lt apple juice organic apple juice
- 500 g pears
- 1 lemon unwaxed if possible
- 6 black peppercorns
Instructions
- Pour the apple juice into a heavy based pan and bring to the boil, you want to reduce this down from 1 litre to just 250ml, one quarter of the original amount. Pour this into a jug and set aside.
- Roughly chop the pears and remove zest from the lemon with a grater (scrub and dry if using a ‘normal’ waxed to remove the preservative spray) .
- Chop lemon in half and squeeze out the juice. Now scoop out the flesh just leaving the white pith behind. Chop flesh and toss this into your washed out pan along with the pears, lemon zest and juice. Add the pepper corns and bring to the boil then simmer for 40 minutes until everything is tender.
- Press the mixture either through a sieve with a wooden spoon or use a food mill. You get a smoother texture doing this than you would if you whizzed everything up in a food processor, this is a case of slow is better and by-hand beats technology.
- Return the smooth pulp to the pan and add the reduced apple juice that you set aside earlier.
- Bring to a boil and lower temperature to simmer for approximately 25-30 minutes until you have a thick creamy consistency.
- Spoon the spread into two small sterilised jars and pop on the lids.
- Your Sugar Free Pepper Pear And Lemon Spread will keep for up to 3 months, once opened store in the fridge and use within a couple of weeks.
I think we all have to keep things in perspective, if you think about the naturally occurring sugar that is present in the pears and the apple juice (especially the concentrated apple juice once you have reduced it) there is the same amount of sugar in this whether or not you actually pour any of the white stuff in.
If we eat all things in moderation, as you said this would be brilliant with cheese and crackers which then balances out the carbs, fats and sugars, we will do just fine.
I find eating super tasty foods like this spread with a couple of crackers and a small wedge of cheese much more fulfilling than scoffing my way through a large bag of Doritos, it’s more of a meal, less of a mindless snack and therefore in it’s own way a much healthier way to eat.
So you get my full marks for this one and I’ve already printed out the recipe, what a wonderful thing to have a jar of for Christmas 🙂
Thanks Sue,
I’m thrilled you like this one so much. I agree that the sugar sweetness content with the concentrated apple juice and pears is as high as it would be with the white stuff, but at least this is using just the natural fruit sugars and not the commercially produced stuff in the bag.
Like you I’d far rather have a bit of this on crackers with some really nice cheese instead of hoovering up the dreaded Doritos, or even worse, dare I say the P word – pringles!
Hope you enjoy making this one
K x