Salt Springs Pear Butter
Across the road from the Ocala NF’s Salt Springs campground (located in central Florida) was a produce stand. Boy, do we love produce stands! We haven’t found a grocery store anywhere that can touch the delicious produce you can buy at a roadside produce stand and the Salt Springs’ stand was no exception.
We got a small basket of peaches (candy cane sweet and so delightfully juicy) and a half dozen over-ripe Bartlett pears. The peaches were eaten as is but the pears were definitely pass that point. No problem. I pulled out my little crock pot (remember Salt Springs campground has full hookups) and made a batch of pear butter (same as apple butter but pears in place of apples.) Here’s what I did:
Salt Springs Pear Butter
Peel, core, cut pears into small pieces (no bigger than a shelled almond) and place in the crock pot. Add a splash of water (apple juice or apple cider can be used).
Turn crock pot to highest setting. When it starts to bubble around the edges, add 2 heaping tablespoons of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of ground cloves, 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger, a pinch of ground nutmeg, and a dash of salt. Stir well, mashing pear chunks in the process, to combine. Give it a taste to see if more sugar is necessary.
Reduce crock pot’s temperature to its lowest setting. Cover but leave a crack to allow steam to escape and let cook two or more hours. Test to see if butter is done by dropping a small dollop on the bottom of a glass or coffee cup. If no liquid separates out, forming a little moat around the dollop, it’s done. Allow to cool, fill glass jars with screw top lid, and store in refrigerator. Serve on some hot biscuits or toast.
