And then there were none

If you still have pears, you can chop them into small chunks and dehydrate them for later use. I use mine in my stuffing.



Traditional Pear Wine

1 gallon water
5 lbs very ripe pears
1 lb raisins
2 lbs ultra fine sugar
1 ½ teaspoons acid blend
½ teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 package wine yeast

In a large pot, boil the water. Chop the pears and place in your primary fermentation container. Add sugar and citric acid to the container. Pour boiled water over the pears and stir until sugar has dissolved. Allow it to cool to room temperature. Add the pectic enzyme and rest the liquid for 1 day.

Add yeast and yeast nutrient, cover, place in warm, dark location. Stir once a day for a full week. Rack in your secondary fermentation container. Seal with the airlock. Rack into your bottles after 3 months. Allow it to rest for 1 year.



Freezer Pear Pie

4 cups, washed, peeled and sliced pears
3 tablespoons tapioca
1 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon absorbic acid

Mix the absorbic acid with sugar. Mix all ingredients together.
Line an 8 inch pie plate with heavy foil, extending it 5 inches beyond the rim. Add the filling.
Loosely cover lining foil . Freeze until firm. Once firm, remove from pie plate and wrap tightly. Return frozen filling to freezer.
To prepare pie for baking; prepare a two crust pastry. Line a 9 inch pie plate with your pastry. Remove the freezer wrap from the frozen shaped pie filling. Place in your pastry . Dot with 1 tablespoon butter, sprinkle with cinnamon. Place top crust and finish pie as usual.

Bake at 350F for approximately 1 hour or until syrup boils with heavy bubbles.


Pear Bread
3 fresh pears
1/2 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F
Wash, pare, halve and core pears. Chop coarsely to make 1 cup. In large bowl, beat oil and sugar until well blended. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add the sour cream and the vanilla.
Sift together the flour, salt, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, beat into the oil-sugar mixture until well blended. Add the nuts and pears, mix well.
Spoon into well-greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Bake 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Pear Cupcakes

4 cups fresh pears (cored and roughly chopped)
1 cup walnuts (chopped)
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp kosher salt
3 eggs, beaten1
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp vanilla

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp melted butter
3-4 tbsp boiling water
1/8 tsp instant coffee crystals

Combine the pears, both sugars and walnuts in a medium sized bowl. Allow it to stand about an hour.
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Line cupcake pan with paper liner are, grease the cups very well.
In a separate bowl, sift together all the remaining dry ingredients. Add this to the pear mixture and stir until just combined. Add eggs, oil, and vanilla and stir until combined. Do not over mix.
Fill cups until even with the top.
Bake 30-35 minutes until tester inserted in center of cupcakes comes out with only a few crumbs stuck to it.
Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.
Whisk together all the glaze ingredients until smooth and shiny. Place a dollop of glaze on the tops of each cupcake.

I could go on and on, with what you can do for pears. But I think this is the end for now.