The Sunday Project: Pear Jam with Lavender & Vanilla Bean

I know, I know, the season for pears is in the fall of the year when the harvest is drooping from backyard trees and just waiting for the cooking pot, but I am in a bit of a jam here. Or at least I was until a recent Sunday afternoon.

When the Milwaukee District Director of the Wisconsin Garden Club Federation asked me to speak about cooking with lavender at their meeting on May 23, I wanted to wow them all with not only the lavender and blueberry dessert I am planning to make onstage, but also with this glorious jam. Lavender adds just the right floral touch to the sweetness of fruit and vanilla is also wonderful when paired with lavender and with pears, so I spent Sunday afternoon breathing in all the luscious, simmering scents coming from the Century Farmhouse kitchen. I am planning to give away several jars during my talk and I made sure to make enough to have on hand for special gifts. And for me.

I know you'd like the recipe too, so here you are:

Pear Jam with Lavender and Vanilla Bean

Ingredients:

3 lbs. pears, peeled and seeded, and chopped into small pieces
5 cups sugar
juice of 1 1/2 lemons (or 2 small lemons)
1 vanilla bean
1 package (4 ounces) liquid pectin
1 T. whiskey vanilla(or real vanilla flavoring of your choice)
1 t. dried lavender buds

1. Wash, peel, and seed the pears, and chop them into small pieces, about 1/2 inch in size. I used Bosc pears because they are my favorite grocery store pear, but any flavorful pear will be great in this recipe. I cannot wait until fall when I can use pears straight from the tree. Place the pears in a large, heavy pot.

2. Add the lemon juice to the pears and stir to prevent browning. I like to add the pears to the pot as I chop them one by one and stir the lemon juice into them as I go along. The pears stay more white in color that way.

3. Begin to cook the pears over medium heat until they are soft enough to mash with a potato masher into a sauce similar to a rough applesauce. Remove from the heat to mash them. If you wish, you can cool the pears a bit and whir them in a food processor to a smoother consistency, but I love the chunkiness of the pears in the jam.

4. Add the sugar and stir until the sugar is dissolved into the pear sauce.

5. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add the seeds and the vanilla bean to the pear mixture. Return the jam pot to the stove and continue to cook over medium heat - stir it! - until the mixture reaches a full boil (unable to stir the boiling down). I had extra vanilla bean pods that had been soaking in my whiskey vanilla jar, so I took two smaller ones out of the jar and used those. There were still some seeds in the pods, and I scraped those out and added them to the pot.

6. Allow the mixture to boil (that rolling boil) for about a minute, stirring constantly. Add the pectin, stir it well, and bring the pear mixture back to a rolling boil for another minute. Remove from the heat. Remove the vanilla beans, stir in the whiskey vanilla (or vanilla extract) and the lavender buds. I use the whole lavender buds, but you can chop them in a clean coffee grinder, if you'd like.

7. Ladle into clean, hot jars. Wipe the tops and add the lids, then process in boiling water for 15 minutes. Remove from the pot and allow to cool. Check that the jars have sealed, then store in a cool, dry cupboard.