Thursday, September 10, 2009

Ground Cherry Pie

One of our farm share items has been husk cherries, aka ground cherries. My niece and my sister-in-law love them. We haven't been so enamored with them - tried them plain, in salads, just couldn't get used to the taste. Until I found this recipe for PIE. Everything is better when it's baked in a pie!


  1. I'm a first time visitor to your blog, but I'll be back! i love canning too! I googled 'canning ground cherries' and was directed to your blog. My Grandma used to have ground cherries for me everytime I visited her when I was a small child. (many many many years ago)I just came from the farmer's market and found ground cherries! Now I have to figure out a recipe on how to can them like Grandma used to do! Any ideas?

  2. Hi and welcome! I found a few recipies for jam on the internet, but nothing that left them whole. I doubt they would stay whole if you tried to can them anyway. Try searching for "ground cherry jam" and see what you get.

  3. Yes, I googled ground cherry jam. I didn't find what i wanted, so I struck out on my own and cold-packed the ground cherries, added a light syrup to them and then processed them. It worked! The ground cherries stayed whole. But they weren't the same as Grandma's. I'm going to keep trying to find the taste she had....maybe she added cinnamon?...but all of my living aunts and uncles don't remember how she made them. Ah well, I love a challenge!


  4. I found this, maybe it's more like your Grandma's?

    Spiced Gooseberries
    8 cups gooseberries
    4 1/2 cups brown sugar
    1 cup cider vinegar
    1 stick cinnamon
    8 cloves
    1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    2 whole allspice

    Wash berries, remove stems and blossom ends. Place sugar, vinegar, and spices together in a large saucepan, add 1/2 cup of water and boil for 5 minutes. Add gooseberries and simmer for 30-40 minutes. When the berries are tender and the syrup is thick, turn into hot sterile jars and seal.

    from this page:

  5. They say that the gooseberries in this recipe are "cape gooseberries," which are another name for ground cherries.

  6. You ARE the Canning Doctor!!!! :-) I will certainly try this recipe! Now I hope I can find more ground cherries at the farmers market!

    Thanks from Wisconsin!