Easy Pear Refrigerator Jam

There are only two cities in the world that can rival my obsession with Madrid: New York (naturally) and Paris. Last fall’s visit already feels like a lifetime ago and I’m ready to go back. Like tomorrow. Sadly, my vacation days don’t kick in for months and the parental units have finally cut my purse strings, so it may be a long long time before I get to live la vie tres jolie again. At least in Europe.

To compensate, I’ve thrown myself full force into a French countryside fantasy. I’ve got my sister building me French country furniture (payback for the birthday cake I baked her), a full set of dishes and linens picked out for the apartment I don’t have yet, and most importantly, I’ve entered the world of jam-making for the first time.

Jam is one of those things that I always forget about. I’m not a big toast eater — or a breakfast eater, if we’re being honest — and I prefer my occasional slice of bread with peanut butter or Nutella. Or both. But when I do have it, usually slathered on top a thick swipe of sweet creamy butter, I always think that there could never be a better breakfast than this. But making jam at home scared me because I was terrified of killing people with my improper canning techniques. Then I discovered refrigerator jam. You don’t have to follow canning techniques because you keep it in the fridge, and while it has a much shorter shelf life than canned jam, if it’s good enough it probably won’t last that long anyway.

My first encounter with homemade jam was in Paris with Madame Nicolas, Keith’s homestay mom whom we were staying with for the week. She very generously gave us two jars of her homemade jam to take back with us, which were cruelly taken by security at the airport. The “make your own jam” bug niggled into my brain and wouldn’t leave, so I finally succumbed last week. We had some pears that were on their last legs, so I took it as my cue to turn them into something better.

I turned to Clotilde at Chocolate & Zucchini and David Lebovitz for help, though of course I made some changes. After reading around that pears are naturally very low in pectin, the gelling agent that helps jam set, I decided to add lemon zest in addition to lemon juice (lemons have lots of pectin). I probably could have cut the pears much smaller and/or cooked them longer, since they’re still very shapely, but the sugar was starting to reduce quickly so I pulled them off the heat. The end result was probably more like a compote than a jam per se, but it tastes delicious — very floral, which made me think of the French countryside even more.

Easy Pear Refrigerator Jam
Recipe adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini; technique adapted from David Lebovitz

I followed Clotilde’s recipe pretty closely, my only change being the addition of lemon zest. I’m not sure why she has you keep the pears in the fridge overnight, other than perhaps to meld the flavors, but make sure to squeeze a little extra lemon juice on them before storing them so that they don’t brown like mine did. She keeps the cans upside down in a cool, dark place for months in order to maintain them (this is what Madame did also, if I recall correctly), but David just sticks them in the refrigerator once they’ve cooled to room temperature. Since this allows for almost immediate eating, this is the route I chose.

Also, in my readings about making jam, I think the main thing that kept popping up was that you must use an equal weight of sugar to fruit. Sugar and pectin react when heated to set the jam, so many low-sugar jams add additional pectin to help it set (you can buy little packets in stores).

Makes about 6 ounces of jam

– 3/4 of a pound of pears (I used 3 Bosc pears), peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks

– 3/4 cup sugar

– zest of one lemon

– juice of half a lemon

1) Combine the chopped pears with the sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a large, heavy-bottomed pan. Cover and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Transfer the pears to a large heatproof dish and cover. Allow to come to room temperature and then chill overnight in the fridge.

2) The next morning, place a clean plate in the freezer. Wash the jars in which you’ll keep the jam thoroughly (you can also boil them for 10 minutes, but I didn’t do this). Return the fruit mixture to the pan and bring to a simmer. You can skim off any foam that rises for a clearer jam, though I didn’t do this.

3) When the jam has thickened slightly, take the plate out of the freezer and place a drop of the jam on the cold plate. Tilt it — if the jam runs, then continue to cook the pears until they are more set.

4) When the jam is ready, spoon it into your clean, dry jars and close them tightly. Let cool to room temperature before keeping them in the fridge to eat at your leisure.

[print recipe in PDF form]