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I remember the first time I saw a ground cherry. They’re not something I’d seen, or even heard of, growing up on the west coast.
I was selling baked goods at a small rural farmers market and a young girl came up to my table and asked if I wanted to trade. She didn’t say what, but all she wanted was a cupcake. Sure, why not?
She ran home and came back with a pint of freshly picked ground cherries that completely blew my mind. How on earth did she grow something that tastes like a cross between a strawberry and a pineapple in her backyard in Vermont?
Since then, I’ve made a point of growing husk cherries every year. They’re productive, and take almost no tending to produce huge crops of ridiculously tasty fruit.
You can find ground cherries at farmers markets, especially on the east coast. Because of their novelty, they tend to be a bit expensive.
A single plant can produce as much as a gallon of fruit, so growing your own ground cherries is a much better bet. You can buy ground cherry seed online.
Ground cherries are often called husk cherries because they grow inside a papery husk, like tomatillos. Once picked, they’ll keep on the counter in the husk for months if you pick carefully and don’t bruise them. They’re magic that way.
Even though they keep well in the husk, I still like to make homemade ground cherry preserves. Not for the preservation, but for the flavor. Recipes vary in sugar, but as a rule, I try to add as little sugar as possible. I want to taste the fruit.
Some recipes have you add as much as 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of fruit. This one uses a much lower ratio, 1 cup of sugar to 3 cups of fruit, and it’s still very sweet, don’t worry.
Honestly, a full cup of sugar makes it a little too sweet for my tastes, so I often cut it to 1/2 cup. With a full cup, the tartness of the fruit just barely comes through. If you like tart jam as I do, the recipe card notes have the 1/2 cup version.
With ground cherries, in particular, I like to use turbinado or demerara sugar because the molasses in the sugar adds a caramel richness to the finished jam. Ground cherries thicken into a nice jam without any added pectin.
Ground cherries need a little water to get started, or they’ll scorch before they let go of their juice. Put the husked fruit in a pan with 1/2 cup of water and the lemon juice, and add a splash more water if they start to stick. Simmer them, mashing gently, until they pop and fall apart, about 10 minutes.
Then stir in the sugar, and keep it at a steady boil, stirring often. On an average stove, it takes 35 to 45 minutes in all to reach jam consistency or gel stage, so go by the signs below, not the clock.
If you’re an experienced jam-maker, you know what gel stage looks like. The consistency will change rather suddenly, and it’ll thicken to where it takes a moment for it to fill back in if you part the jam in the pan with a spoon. Generally, this happens at 220 degrees F at sea level.
Since I’m at 1,000 feet of elevation, gel stage is at roughly 218 degrees F. Adjust down about 1 degree F for every 500 feet of elevation gain.
For husk cherry jam though, I like the finished product to be a bit looser, and I finish it at about 216 degrees F. It’s all up to you, finish your jam however you like, thick or thin.
Ladle the hot jam into hot quarter pint or half pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Set the jars in a water bath canner with the water already hot, about 180 degrees F. Once it returns to a full boil, process quarter pints or half pints for 10 minutes. That time is for water bath canning at 0 to 6,000 feet. Above 6,000 feet, process them for 15 minutes.
When the time is up, turn off the heat, take the lid off the canner, and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes. Then lift them out to a towel on the counter to cool. That rest cuts down on siphoning, where jam seeps out of the jars.
If you have extra fruit, I’ve put together a collection of other ground cherry recipes, and I make ground cherry wine too.
Ground Cherry Jam
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups Ground Cherries, husked, see notes
- 1/2 cup Water, see notes
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice, bottled
- 1 cup Sugar
Instructions
- Heat the water in your water bath canner to about 180 degrees F, and keep the half pint or quarter pint jars hot.
- Husk the ground cherries and put them in a saucepan with the water and lemon juice.
- Simmer them over medium-low heat, stirring often and mashing gently, until they pop and fall apart, about 10 minutes. Add a splash more water if they start to stick.
- Stir in the sugar and keep the jam at a steady boil, stirring often, until it reaches gel stage, 35 to 45 minutes in all on an average stove. It thickens suddenly, and a spoon drawn through it leaves a path that fills in slowly. Gel stage is about 220 degrees F at sea level.
- Ladle the hot jam into the hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe the rims and add the lids and bands.
- Process quarter pints or half pints in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude (see notes).
- Turn off the heat, take the lid off the canner, and let the jars sit in the water for 5 minutes before lifting them out.
Notes
- 0 to 6,000 feet: 10 minutes
- Above 6,000 feet: 15 minutes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
More Fall Canning Recipes
Looking for more fun harvest time canning recipes? Here are a few for fall:
Do you ever double the recipe?
It’s a small batch, so it doubles fine. Use a wide pot and expect it to take a little longer to reach gel stage. I wouldn’t go past a double batch though, since bigger batches cook unevenly and have trouble setting. Happy canning!
Do you think putting it through a foodmill after cooking would matter? Just thinking about skins and seeds
I haven’t tried it that way, so I can’t promise how it’ll set. If you do, run them through after they’ve popped and softened but before adding the sugar, since finished jam is too thick to push through a mill. The seeds are tiny, so use your finest screen, and expect a softer set because the skins help it thicken. Hope this helps!
Haven’t tried the recipe yet but I’m curious about your instructions to can at the end. Do in you have to can these to preserve them? Or can I just keep them in the fridge for a while?
You don’t have to can it. The last step of the recipe gives you the option to store it in the refrigerator instead, and it’ll keep there for a few weeks. If you want it to last longer than that, freeze it or water bath can it. Enjoy!
Do you think you could add rhubarb to the recipe? I have both in the freezer that I would love to use and I think it would be a fun combo. Not sure if it messes with the canning process at all?
Adding rhubarb to this particular recipe would be just fine. Enjoy!