Thursday, September 30, 2010

Frumpin' up the Jam

... with ground cherries! The corn/jam/raspberry guy at the farmers' market had ground cherries for sale this week. New to me, but he said they make the best pies ever and great jam. I bought $3 worth, which amounted to 2 cups hulled. A quick internet search gave me some guidance for jam-making and the misleading impression that ground cherries would taste delightfully tart. I ate one and found it tasted like three-day-old dark meat chicken. My eldest tried one and came to the same conclusion. Discouraged, but reasoning that the addition of sugar and the application of heat couldn't make the ground cherries taste any worse, I threw them in a saucepan with 1 cup of sugar and 3/4 cup water and boiled them. One recipe suggested boiling them for 5 minutes or so (I boiled them for 10) and then refrigerating the jelly overnight (two nights passed before I got back to my project) and then simmering them another 15 minutes until they become translucent (never happened) and then pouring them into a sterilized jar (which I did).

The result? Delicious!

Resoundingly slapped with a seal of approval by two kids and me. (husband: indifferent). The seeds look like they would make for a miserable eating experience, but they don't effect the texture at all. The color is unappealing. The taste takes me back to the fig jam Nanny Ray used to make. Marvelous!

No comments:

Post a Comment