Add all of the ingredients for the base recipe plus whichever flavourings you choose into a heavy bottomed pan and bring to a rolling boil
Turn the heat down a little and let simmer for 1.5 - 2 hours until thickened, stirring often and skimming off the top as required
Mash the pear chunks down a little with a potato masher or use a stick blender to carefully puree 1/3 of the mixture
The jam is fine left like this and will be a pretty amber colour. To take it a step further, caramelize it by turning up the heat and watching it without stirring until it darkens. Be careful not to take it too far or it will be burnt jam rather than caramelized
Test the set by pouring a little onto a cool saucer and pushing the jam with your finger. If the surface wrinkles it's ready to jar. If not, keep simmering but test every 20 minutes
Pour into warm, sterilized jars, stopping 1/4 inch from the top. I use jars from old store bought jam, half pint sized jars
Put a wax paper or parchment paper disc on top as pictured above then screw the lids straight on and let sit on a tea towel or wire rack until cooled to room temperature. They will self seal as they cool
Keep in a cupboard until opened, then refrigerate and use within 6 weeks
Yields 6 x half pint jars so serving size noted is per jar
Delicious on toast and actually goes nicely with pork and ham
If you swap out some pears and add apple you get a lovely pear & apple preserves recipe. I use 70% pears to 30% apples and use apple juice instead of pear juice. That works out to 1750g pears and 750g apples and goes great with the spiced recipe and the vanilla one
