Apple Pear Butter (No Added Sugar)

Learn how to make some delicious spice infused apple and pear butter. An incredibly rich, silky smooth, sugar free and tasty fruit butter that's perfect for the fall.

Back in the day I used to shy away from making any type of fruit butter because it seemed so complicated.

However, as Autumn approached rather than shy away from making some fruit butter I decided to try my hand at it.

Ironically a family friend gave me an abundance of pears and apples which I knew I was going to consume so rather than let them rot I put them to good use.

What is fruit butter?

In short, fruit butter is a spread made from fruit, you can use almost any firm fruit, for example plum, cherry, peach, guava and so on.

The most common fruit that is used is either apple or pear, the fruit is cooked for several hours on low temperate with sugar, spices sometimes juice, water or cidar is added until the fruit is soft and then it is pureed into a smooth consistency.

Fruit butter isn't quite a jelly nor is it jam, it sits somewhere in between and has its own category.

The best apples to use and is sugar needed?

Not all apples are equal in terms of their sweetness and when making fruit butter, as a general rule of thumb, you will want to use apples that are naturally sweet.

Red apples are generally sweeter than green apples which tend to be more tart and not very sweet.

I like to use red apples, my favourite is gala, however they are other sweet apples such as fuji, honeycrisp, red delicious and braeburn.

There are lot of variations of red apples but these are the most common and accessible types.

In respect to pears, I like to use British pears (conference) which are sweet.

I personally don't add any sugar to my fruit butter despite having a sweet tooth. However, I feel that the end result is naturally sweet and doesn't need any additional sugar.

The key to great tasting apple and pear butter is to use fruit that is already sweet. Then there is no need to add copious amounts of sugar.

I honestly couldn't imagine adding cups of sugar, as some recipes do call for it. I feel that the fruit butter is highly sweet without adding any sugar.

If you don't care for any additional sugar in your fruit butter then this recipe won't disappont because it tastes great using its own natural fruit sugar (fructose).

Ways to use this fruit butter

• Eat it on its own
• Spread it on bread or toast
• Use it as a dip
• Mix it with vegetables i.e roasted/baked sweet potatoes
• Put it in glass jars and gift it to friends, family or neighbours

Ingredients that you will need

• Apples - I highly recommend using red apples such as gala, fuji or honeycrisp because these are sweet apples.
• Pears - Soft British conference pears work just fine.
• Nutmeg/cinnamon and mixed spice - These trio of spices enhance the taste.
• Vanilla - To enhance the taste.
• Water - Just a small amount of water is needed.

Recipe preparation

This recipe is super simple, you start by coring and chopping up the fruit. I prefer to keep the skin on because the skin contains a lot of fibre.

However, I will advise you to inspect the skin of your fruit first as you might need to peel it off.

Once the fruit is chopped, the next thing that you will need to do is place the apple and pear into your slow cooker along with your spices (cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice).

Don't skip any of these spices because they really enhance the taste of the butter. You will also need to add the water too.

Only a small amount of water is needed to help steam the chopped fruit before putting the lid on.

It is very important that you set your slow cooker on the "low" NOT HIGH setting or the fruit may burn.

I slow cook the fruit until the texture is extremely soft for roughly 3-4 hours. I typically don't go over 4 hours because there really isn't no need to.

Then I use my immersion stick blender to break down the fruit into a smooth pureed consistency.

Alternatively, you can transfer the contents into a blender and do it that way instead.

Which ever method you choose will depend on your preference and how smooth you want your fruit butter to be.

Once the consistency is smooth, if you have choosen the blender method then you will need to return it to the slow cooker, otherwise add the vanilla, put the lid partially on so there is a gap and cook for a further 2 hours.

No more than 2 hours should be needed to thicken the butter up, on the lowest setting, although you can leave it for longer if you wish.

The steps

• Roughly chop and core the apples and pears (you can leave the skin on)
• Place the apples and pears in the slow cooker.
• Add the cinnamon, nutmeg and mixed spice.
• Pour in the water.
• Put the lid on and cook on "low" for 3-4 hours until the fruit is extremely soft (check the readiness with a fork).

• Remove the lid, use an immersion stick blender to puree the contents until smooth you can also do this in your blender instead, if you do make sure to switch your slow cooker off so the bottom doesn't burn).
• Add the contents back into the slow cooker (switch on if necessary), if you used the blender method, if not move onto adding the vanilla then stir.
• Put the lid partially on, leaving a gap so air can escape.
• On the "low" setting slow cook for another 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, so it doesn't stick.
• Leave to completely cool before pouring into sterilised glass jar(s).
• Refrigerate and use accordingly.

Notes and tips

• Feel free to double or triple the batch, to make a larger quantity.
• For optimal levels of fibre, don't remove the peel of the fruit and keep it on.
• Make sure to wash and inspect the peel of each fruit, you may need to remove it if it is damaged etc..
• This is not a canning recipe, this recipe is for short term refrigerated storage for up to 5 days in sterilised jars (I haven't tested this recipe past 5 days).
• Alternatively, you can freeze the butter in a freezer friendly container for several months, make sure to thaw out (overnight/several hours) in the refrigerator before using.
• Once the fruit butter has been pureed, it is important NOT to put the lid completely on the slow cooker or it will generate excess liquid and thin the consistency.

More recipes to try

• Mango Jam
• Guava Jam
• Guava BBQ Sauce
• Mango Pineapple Sauce
• Jamaican Jerk BBQ Sauce

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