Ground Cherry Jam is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jam made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups of mashed ground cherries
- 4 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ½ cup lemon juice this fruit requires extra lemon juice for canning safety
- ½ cup up to 1 cup honey or ¾ cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 3 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- Measure mashed ground cherries into sauce pan.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice and mix well.
- Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
- Bring fruit mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
April
Can this recipe be doubled and/or tripled? I have about 50 plants this year just to make this jam!
Shelby Collings
It sure can! Happy jamming 😊
Alocia
Do you have any other ground cherry recipes? I can’t find any from reliable sources except this one!
Monica
I’ve never seen red ground cherries. I’m not sure that is an accurate picture but I could be wrong. Do you have tips or a recipe for making a ground cherry jelly?
Shelby Collings
Hello Monica,
For Ground Cherry Jelly you will use 4 cups of juice, and then double the calcium water and the pectin. Everything else will stay the same.
Happy jamming!
Monica
Thank you! I will try that today.
Monica
I do have another question. Should I add water to the cherries and mash them to soften before juicing? The recipes all have different guidelines on adding water or not, and how much. Does it not matter?
Shelby Collings
We would recommend not using more than 1/2 cup water to your cherries.
Brent Case
These look exactly like my bush cherries.
Jessica Miller
I don’t see on any of these recipes the amount of jars it makes…am I overlooking it?
Shelby Collings
Hello Jessica,
You can find the estimated Serving Size just under the description of the recipe (has a little fork and knife next to it) 😊