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Ground Cherry Jam

Ground Cherry Jam Recipe

Ground cherry jam is a delicious spread with a surprising tropical flavor. Also called Husk Cherries or Cape Gooseberries, these little garden fruits make an excellent jam.
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Servings: 16 servings
Course: Jam
Cuisine: American
Calories: 62
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups Ground Cherries (husked about 5 pints in husks, or 2 pounds)
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice (bottled)

Equipment

  • Water bath canner
  • Heavy-bottomed saucepan
  • Half-pint mason jars

Method
 

  1. Husk the fruit
    Peel the papery outer husks off all the ground cherries and add them to a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Discard any that feel mushy or look damaged under the husk.
  2. Simmer and pop
    Add the lemon juice to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the ground cherries pop and release their juice. This takes about five minutes. If a few resist popping, press them gently with the back of a wooden spoon to break the skin.
  3. Add the sugar and thicken
    Stir in the sugar and increase the heat to medium. Cook, stirring frequently, for about 15 minutes until the jam thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Stay at the stove during this stage. Boiling sugar moves fast and a sticky overflow on your stovetop is a deeply unpleasant cleanup job.
  4. Test for doneness
    Place a small plate in the freezer at the start of cooking. At the 15-minute mark, drop a teaspoon of hot jam onto the cold plate and push it with your finger after 30 seconds. If the surface wrinkles, the jam reached the gel stage. If it runs flat, cook for another three minutes and test again.
  5. Jar and store
    Pour the hot jam into clean half-pint mason jars, leaving ¼ inch of headspace at the top. For refrigerator storage, let the jars cool to room temperature, then seal and refrigerate. For shelf-stable storage, process the sealed jars in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes, then let them cool undisturbed on a towel for 12 hours before storing.

Recipe Notes

🌿Remove every bit of the papery husk before cooking.The husks taste bitter and leave a papery texture in the finished jam if any slip through. Peel each one completely and rinse the fruit quickly under cold water to remove any sticky residue. A bowl of husked cherries takes about five minutes to prep and it's the only tedious step in the whole recipe. ✅
🍋Use bottled lemon juice, not fresh.Fresh lemon juice varies in acidity from fruit to fruit, which makes the final acidity of the jam inconsistent. Bottled lemon juice has a standardized acid level, which matters for both food safety during canning and for the jam's ability to set properly. This is one case where the bottled version outperforms fresh. ✨
Leave ¼ inch headspace in every jar.Too little headspace traps air under the lid and prevents a proper vacuum seal during water bath processing. Too much headspace means the jar takes longer to seal and may not seal at all. A ¼ inch gap measured from the top of the jam to the rim of the jar produces a reliable seal every time. 🔧