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Pear Apple Butter a good idea and other ??

14 years ago

I have some ripe pears I need to use up, plus some apples and cider I'm wondering about mixing the two in a butter. I have a recipe for caramel pear cardamom butter and I'm wondering about mixing apples and pears in this recipe. You can make it either way, caramel pear or caramel apple. So I'm wondering about a mix of the two. Anyone ever mixed apple and pears in a butter? Best of both worlds or worst?

Also, I'm wondering about doing this in the crockpot with a splash guard over it. I hate to heat up the whole oven just for doing this small batch. Anyone ever done apple butter in the crockpot and have any tips? Ideally I'd like to do this overnight and can it up in the morning.

Thanks for the help.

Lpink

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Comments (6)

centralcacyclist
14 years ago
I've done peach butter several times in my crock pot with a splash guard. Works great. Take a spatula to the stuff that begins to get thick around the edge and stir it back in now and then. I set it on high and watched it. Overnight on low should be safe. I wish I could tell how long it takes but I can't recall and it depends on the amount of moisture in the fruit and how thick you want it anyway.
lpinkmountain
Original Author
14 years ago
I found some apricot brandy in the back of the fridge too, and I'm wondering about throwing that in. Too many flavors maybe? Maybe I'll skip the caramel part. Doesn't seem like it's really necessary with a butter that gets cooked for a long time. Seems like the sugar "caramels" anyway.
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annie1992
14 years ago
L, I have apple butter in the crockpot right now, uncovered and on high heat, it's thickening up nicely and I'll can it later tonight.

I've also mixed apples and pears for an apple/pear butter and I liked it a lot, so I say go for it. I'd skip either the brandy or the caramel part, I agree, it's too many flavors.

Apple pear butter is yummy, though...

Annie
lpinkmountain
Original Author
14 years ago
Oy, change of plan as usual. I have a friend coming over to help me with the yard tomorrow and I think I'll make pear ginger cake. A sansational friend sent me some candied ginger and it is calling to me. I may have a few pears left still which I will throw in with the apples. I think I am going to try this tonight. It will be my first time making apple butter in the crockpot, and I'm going to do it overnight. I like to live dangerously! It worked OK with bean soup so what the heck!
readinglady
14 years ago
If you're doing it overnight and the temp on your crockpot is low, you might take a tea towel and lay it over the top then put on the lid.

That will prevent condensation from dripping back into the apple (or apple-pear) butter and slowing down the cooking.

(Works well for steamed rice, too.)

Carol
lpinkmountain
Original Author
14 years ago
Well the best laid plans. First of all I DRANK the apricot brandy, and boy was it yummy! I combined it with a glass of dry white wine and a cinnamon stick and nuked it until warm. It was like exotic mulled wine. I have got to make some more apricot brandy!

And I was in serious denial about the shape of those pears. After making the cake (yum) and cutting out all of the brown spots from the rest, I had about one pear's worth. So I mixed it with apples and made apple sauce to can. I made that in the crockpot, easy peasy. Thanks for the tips!

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