Pear and cranberry compote

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 2 kg pear(s), fresh, firm, Klapps Liebling or Gute Luise or Gellerts Butterbirne
• 300 g cranberries, fresh, frozen if necessary
• 1 liter of water, or more
• 500 g sugar, or more
• 1 stalk(s) cinnamon
• 3 cloves
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 1 day; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 day 2 hours 30 minutes

old recipe from my father

Peel and core the fresh, firm pears, quarter them, or even better, cut them into eighths, and divide them between the twist-off jars. Distribute the cranberries evenly among the jars. In the meantime, make a sugar solution from the water, sugar, and spices. The amounts of sugar solution are approximate, as I always do it by guesswork. The preserves must be covered and not reach right up to the top of the jar, but about 1-2 cm below. The sugar solution should at least be boiling and the sugar should have dissolved. I then remove the spices, such as cinnamon and cloves, after boiling. The jars should be sterilized and still warm, and the hot sugar solution should be poured over the fruit. Then screw the clean, hot lid onto the jar, place the jars in the preserving pan, and simmer at 90°C for at least 30 minutes. Since I no longer have a preserving pan, but instead use a gas stove/oven for cooking, I place it in a pan with at least 2 cm of water in it and cook it there. Make sure the preserving containers/jars are the same size. Then let the jars cool slowly. Either in the stove or in a preserving pan, or remove them, place them on an old towel, cover with a tea towel, and let them stand until completely cool. If you use jars with rings and matching glass lids, make sure the clasps fit well and the ring sits properly. This compote can be kept for several years! My father sometimes had it decades old and it was still edible. The sweetness would then fade somewhat, and the fruitiness would diminish. But otherwise…