Of course, when I say homemade honey, I don’t mean the type of honey that I would gather from not-so-friendly bees.   With the tail end of this year’s pear crop just screaming at me to be used, I was looking for something new and different.  I already had canned pears, pear chutney and pear butter.  Pear sauce was kind of a bust last year, but I wanted to do something with the last of the really ripe pears.  What I found was a recipe for something completely different to me, and since it also looked ridiculously easy, I set about making my own Pear Honey.

Four simple ingredients went into my cooking pot, and then I let it cook.  Finely chopped pears, sugar, lemon juice and crushed pineapple were all my recipe required, and I was really excited to see what this would produce.

I cooked the mixture for the full 40 minutes, and by then it had gotten a touch thicker than when it had started.  I dribbled out a little bit into a bowl to see how it tasted, and by golly, if the texture wasn’t a lot like honey!  Maybe not quite as sticky as the stuff from the jar, but it is extremely sweet and it has that tongue-coating property that honey has.  The pear and the pineapple blended together beautifully to create a flavor that was pretty much spot on with a Jelly Belly pear jelly bean. (The best bean they make, imo.) I put the honey into jars and gave them their hot water bath, and the very next day we were cracking open the first jar to see what we had.  This pear honey works everywhere you would you honey to eat.  I’ve eaten it drizzled on plain yogurt, I’ve eaten it on toast, cornbread and muffins. The stuff is delicious!  I think the golden color is really lovely to look at as well, and I really think this would make a fantastic addition to a gift basket at Christmas time.

Pear Honey is a fantastic addition to my repertoir, and if you have any extra pears lying around, I highly recommend this as a great way to put some to good use.  You won’t be disappointed!

Pear Honey

3                lbs  fresh pears — peeled,cored,and finely chopped
5 1/2           cups  sugar
1                can  crushed pineapple in juice — (8 ounce)
1         tablespoon  lemon juice

.In a 6 quart stainless steel kettle combine all ingredients.

Bring to boiling, stirring occasionally.

Simmer 40 mins.

Spoon into sterile jars, leaving a 1/2 inch head space.

Wipe jar rims, adjust lids.

Process in boiling water for 10 mins.

Makes 7 half pints