This wonderful small batch pear jam is flavored with lavender and cardamom. The recipe makes three 8 ounce jars, does not require pectin, and takes around 30 minutes to prepare. Enjoy this mild-flavored jam on buttered toast or as a topping over Pfannkuchen!
I love pears, so I'm always looking for ways to incorporate them into new recipes. I've made pear pie, pear apple preserves, and even fermented a fantastic pear wine! So recently, when a friend offered me a bag of red pears, I decided to use them to make this lavender pear jam recipe.
I love the subtle flavor of lavender and cardamom that's infused into this jam, but I understand not everyone does. I won't be hurt if you decide not to include them, but I might question your judgement... just kidding, or am I? 😳
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🧐Why This Recipe Works
- This wonderful homemade pear jam recipe is about as easy as it gets, has a few ingredients, and only takes 30 minutes to prepare!
- You can easily double this recipe to make more jam.
- The flavor of the jam can be adjusted to suit your taste. You really only need 3 ingredients, pears, sugar, and acid in the form lime or lemon juice. If you don't like lavender or cardamom, it can be left out or replaced with other spices such as cinnamon or cloves.
🛒What You Need For This Recipe
🔖Recipe Ingredients & Substitutions
- Pears: Feel free to use your favorite variety of pears, including Bartlett pears, Bosc, Comice, and red Anjou pears.
- Sugar: Granulated sugar.
- Lime: Zest and juice of one lime. You can substitute a lemon if you prefer.
- Vanilla: One vanilla bean or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
- Lavender: Dried food grade lavender is added to this pear jam recipe to give the jam floral notes. If you don't like lavender, you can leave it out!
- Cardamom: Besides cardamom, you can try cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and freshly grated nutmeg. However, I don't recommend adding more than ¼ teaspoon of each.
🫙Tools Required
- Saucepan: A heavy bottomed sauce pan for cooking the jam.
- Mason Jar: Three half-pint jars or six 4-ounce jars.
- Canning equipment: Canning equipment make jam-making so much easier! This simple canning kit is a great starter kit, while this full canning kit has everything you need and is perfect for a more advanced canner.
🍐How to Make Pear Jam
Step 1: Peel and chop the pears into ½" cubes then add to a saucepan. Add vanilla bean and lime zest, then pour sugar over them. Place lavender and cardamom pods into a tea filter bag or a mesh tea ball strainer and add to the pot. Finally, sprinkle the mixture with lime juice.
Pro Tip: Make sure the bag/ball is submerged into the liquid. If using a tea bag, you may want to tie it to the handle of the pot to keep it in place.
Step 2: Bring the pear jam mixture to a rolling boil, over medium high heat, as you stir it occasionally with a wooden spoon. Simmer over low to medium heat for approximately 30 minutes until thickened. Remove vanilla bean, lavender, and cardamom pods.
Step 3: Use an immersion blender to blend the pears for a smoother texture or leave the pears whole if you prefer a chunky preserve texture. Pour or ladle the jam into sterilized jars, leaving ¼" headspace. Wipe the jar rims with a clean kitchen towel. Fit with sterilized lids, collars, and hand tighten.
Pro Tip: If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to mash the pears instead.
🍓How to Process Jam
Step 1: Place mason jars right side up on the rack of a water canner. Fill the canner with water, at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Boil for 10 minutes.
Step 2: Once the sterilized jars are filled with jam gently place the jars on the rack in the canner and boil for 15 minutes. Add a minute for each additional 1,000 feet in elevation above 3000 feet.
Step 3: Remove the jam jars and listen for the ping to make sure the jars seal properly. Sometimes the jars seal inside the canner so you can also test to see if they are sealed by pressing the center of the lid to make sure there is no give.
Pro Tip: If one or more jars did not seal, consume or refrigerate the jam in those jars first. Store the rest in the pantry or a cool, dark cupboard.
🤷🏻♀️Recipe FAQs
If you avoid cross contamination, homemade pear jam can easily last a month in the refrigerator if not longer. If you process the jars in a water bath canner, the sealed jars have a shelf life of a year or more.
Pears, similar to apples and quince have a large amount of pectin. This is why most pear jam recipes don't require pectin to be added for thickening the jam.
Pear jam does not require pectin to thicken because pears are high in pectin. If your pear jam needs to be thickened it probably needs to reduce further. Try simmering the jam over low heat until it reaches the desired consistency.
👩🏼🍳Pro Tips
- Pear jam can be thinned to make a pear glaze that can be used on cookies, muffins, and tarts.
- The lavender can be increased, decreased, or left out depending on whether or not you like the flavor of lavender.
- If a lot of foam forms on the surface of the pear jam you can either skim if off with a spoon or stir a teaspoon of butter into the jam.
- I like to use these labels to note the type of jam, and the date it was prepared.
🍋Related Recipes
📖 Recipe
Small Batch Pear Jam
Ingredients
- 2½ lbs pears
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 vanilla bean (or ½ teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 1 medium lime or lemon (juiced and zested)
- 1 tablespoon dried lavender
- 5 cardamom pods
Instructions
- Peel and chop the pears into ½" cubes then add to a saucepan. Add vanilla bean and lime zest, then pour sugar over them. Place lavender and cardamom pods into a tea filter bag or a mesh tea ball strainer and add to the pot. Finally, sprinkle the mixture with lime juice.
- Bring the pear jam mixture to a rolling boil, over medium high heat, as you stir it occasionally with a wooden spoon. Simmer over low to medium heat for approximately 30 minutes until thickened. Remove vanilla bean, lavender, and cardamom pods.
- Use an immersion blender to blend the pears for a smoother texture or leave the pears whole if you prefer a chunky preserve texture. Pour or ladle the jam into sterilized jars, leaving ¼" headspace. Wipe the jar rims with a clean kitchen towel. Fit with sterilized lids, collars, and hand tighten.
How to Process Jam
- Place mason jars right side up on the rack of a water canner. Fill the canner with water, at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Boil for 10 minutes.
- Once the sterilized jars are filled with jam gently place the jars on the rack in the canner and boil for 15 minutes. Add a minute for each additional 1,000 feet in elevation above 3000 feet.
- Remove the jam jars and listen for the ping to make sure the jars seal properly. Sometimes the jars seal inside the canner so you can also test to see if they are sealed by pressing the center of the lid to make sure there is no give.
Notes
- Make sure the lavender bag/ball is submerged into the liquid. If using a tea bag, you may want to tie it to the handle of the pot to keep it in place.
- If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a potato masher or the back of a wooden spoon to mash the pears instead.
- If one or more jars did not seal, consume or refrigerate the jam in those jars first. Store the rest in the pantry or a cool, dark cupboard.
- Pear jam can be thinned to make a pear glaze that can be used to ice cookies, muffins, and tarts.
- The lavender can be increased, decreased, or left out depending on whether or not you like the flavor of lavender.
- If a lot of foam forms on the surface of the pear jam you can either skim if off with a spoon or stir a teaspoon of butter into the jam.
- I like to use these labels to note the type of jam, and the date it was prepared.
Barbara says
Can I use honey instead of sugar in this recipe?
Hilda Sterner says
Hi Barbara,
I've never tried making it with honey before so I really can't say.