Ground Cherry Jam
I won!! Last fall I entered preserves in the local fall fair for the first time and won first place in the Wild Berry Jam category. I was thrilled! Finally a sport I can win at!! It’s a sport right?! Ha-ha!
I come from a family of athletes as I have mentioned here before. I was the only nerdy one taking vocal lessons singing in a band.
My younger siblings have won many awards, scholarships, trophies, played for Team Canada Lacrosse (brothers and younger sister). Now, the boys play professional lacrosse in the NLL. I have often wondered where my talent lies and what do ya know; it is right here in Food! We are a group of free spirited and creative individuals, who can really do anything creative, but finding that one niche, where we can really excel, is the best feeling!
Ok, so this is silly; I mean really, beaming with pride over a local small town fair win?
YES I AM! I am going to take this little nugget of positive encouragement and use it! I am still beaming a year later! Creating recipes, playing with food, and writing this blog has brought me such joy. Finally, I feel like I’m doing what I was meant to be doing. I am excited about some changes coming to Fresh4five in the very near future!
Ok, so back to this Award Winning Jam! My hubby and I have nicked named it *Natures Caramel* the combination of maple syrup and ground cherries is A-MA-ZING!
This recipe is really simple. We tested it a number of times with 1/4c to 1c maple syrup and 3/4 cups is really the best ratio.
Ground Cherry Jam
Ingredients
4 cups sliced and mashed ground cherries
¾ cup pure maple syrup
2tsp Pomona’s Universal Pectin
2tsp calcium water
Instructions
Sterilize your jars (Aprox. 7-125ml Jars)
Remove husks, wash and slice and mash ground cherries.
Combine the maple syrup and pectin with a whisk and set aside
In a medium saucepan combine the mashed cherries and calcium water and bring to a boil, stirring well.
Add the maple syrup mixture and stir well for 1-2 minutes, until the pectin is dissolved. Return to boil and remove from heat.
Fill your jars leaving a 1/4in space at the top.
Process in a water bath for 10 minutes.
Check seals, and store in a cool dark area.
Last 3 week Once Open.
I shared this recipe with: Pennywise Platter, The Wellness Weekend, Whole Food Fridays, Keep It Real Thursday, Slight Indulgent Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Allergy Free Wednesdays, Gluten Free Wednesday
Congrats on your win–that is awesome! (And wow, what a talented family you have!). I've heard about ground cherries but never tried them. Would love to, now! Thanks for linking up to WW this week.
Thank you Ricki! We love Ground cherries so much. My kids favourite thing we grow. They do try their best to take over the garden though. I have been pulling of random baby plants all over the place in our yard!
This looks awesome and versatile. Ground cherries sound like I might could grow them. I need plants with enthusiasm, invasive even! Thanks for sharing.
Congratulations, Danielle, on finding YOUR sport and excelling in it! Thanks for the ground cherry recipe. I have one Aunt Molly Ground Cherry growing this year, which I got from SeedSaver's Exchange; and I'm eager to try a ground cherry jam. One question, though — What is “Calcium Water” and how do I make some? Looking forward to reading more of your blogs.
Thanks Beth
The calcium water comes with the Pomona's Pectin..It is a little powder packet you add to water. I like this Pectin as it allows you to use alternative sweeteners without fear of it not setting or preserving properly…It is also Vegan.
I plan to try making this…thank you for posting the recipe and congrats on your win at the fair! That is fantastic!
We’ve got 8 ground cherry plants that are starting to produce fruit, and I was Googling recipes for jams and jellies, and yours sounds like the best one I’ve come across. I am wondering…is it necessary to use the Pomona’s Universal Pectin, or can I use any brand of pectin? I prefer to just buy pectin in local stores rather than order it over the internet, and I’ve never heard of this brand before. Is it a powder or liquid pectin? And can I use Sure-Gel or Ball brand pectin in place of it?
Hi Gina,
I have not used any other type of pectin for this recipe. I buy it a our health food store. Pomona’s has specific instructions and is suitable for less sugar or liquid sweeteners like Maple Syrup. I am not sure what I would recommend, I wouldn’t want it to fail. Maybe one of those pectins’ that allow for low sugar would work. The maple syrup is SOOO good with Ground Cherries (although I have not tried it with sugar)
I was wondering what the “biscuit” was you have it spread on in the second picture and if you have a recipe for that.
Hi Isla,
Opps should have added that! The biscuits are from my Strawberry Shortcake Recipe, you can find it here: https://fresh4five.com/2012/06/vegan-grain-free-strawberry-shortcake-push-pops/
I’ve read other recipes that say to safely can ground cherries you need to use a lot of lemon juice. Yours doesn’t use any. I like the idea of not using it, but is your recipe safe?
Honestly, I have no idea if it is “safe” use at your own risk as with any recipe you find online. I made this recipe as per the instruction on the package for Gooseberry type fruit and adjusted the sugar to my liking. It did not suggest lemon.