Cape Gooseberry Jam

I first tasted a cape gooseberry while I was in Germany. It was served as the crowning jewel of a dessert and none of my group knew what it was. Our first thought was that it was a small tomato, but when I bit into it, I knew that wasn't the case. It was such a revelation of flavor. It was a heavenly bite of goodness. I had a new favorite fruit. Of course, it took several people that our server had to consult with to give it an English name: Cape Gooseberry. And when I got back to the US, I looked up this lovely fruit and my what names it is called: husk cherry, tomatillo (but not the type one makes Mexican salsa verde from), ground cherry, and a few others besides.

Well, fortunately for me, my CSA last year gave us so many that I couldn't eat all of them and decided to jam some. Oh, what wonder! Unfortunately, I didn't record my recipe, but I have found another with which I have jammed this year's crop; which this time are some I picked myself, though it was indeed from the farm I have this year's CSA.

Cape Gooseberry Jam
yields 6 cups

2 pounds fruit, husked and washed
2 pounds sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 box pectin

1. Pierce the fruit with a fork and cover with sugar and store in fridge overnight

2. In the morning, blend at least 3/4 of the fruit and sugar into a puree and add back into the pot

3. Add the pectin and lemon juice

4. Bring to a full rolling boil and hold for a minute, or until a thermometer shows at least 220°F (jell point) and/or a drop on a cold plate shows jelling

5. Jar as usual

old jam/jelly recipes

As long as I'm thinking of my ginger peach jam, there are a couple of old jam and jelly recipes, I'd like to share.

Ginger Peach Jam

4 1/2 c. prepared fruit + ginger infusion (I did 3 1/2 c. peaches, 1 c. infusion)
6 c. sugar
1 box pectin

The best way that I've so far encountered to get delicious ginger infusion is by blending peeled ginger root with just enough added water to allow the blender to puree it. I've not measured how much ginger root I usually use, but on a guess, I'd say 1/2 pound. If you end up needing more ginger infusion, add the extra volume you need in boiling water and let it steep at least 10 minutes. Other than that, I'm a Sure-Jell (R) fan, so my one box pectin is almost always going to be one regular (not sugar-free) box of powdered Sure-Jell (R) pectin, and I just follow the generic directions for jamming.

Ginger Jelly

3 1/2 c. ginger infusion
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
5 1/2 c. sugar
1 box pectin

This recipe isn't actually completely confirmed. The first (and only) time I made ginger jelly, I used 4 c. infusion, and it turned out a bit liquidy. I haven't had a chance to try the new recipe simply because I'm still working through my first batch, as I'm the only one that likes it on pb&j's (and I think it's simply amazing with almond butter, too). Oh, incidentally, I also used about half brown sugar, as I didn't realize that I had run so low on white and didn't want to run to the store.

Brandied Apricot Jam

Recently, I was searching for fruit to jam (I no longer had fresh fruit), so I entered the depths of my Grandmother's cold storage (aka, her freezer down in the cellar) and pulled out what looked to be mashed up peaches. I was excited, as earlier this year I learned the wonders of ginger peach jam, but as I got the mush thawed, I couldn't quite place the taste (apricots have, unfortunately, not been a mainstay in my family's fruit selection). However, I had someone at hand that placed it quite quickly: Apricots! And then I was on the search...which yielded a comment on the Simply Recipes page about Apricots! singing the praises of Brandied Apricot Jam as the absolute best the commenter had tasted in her life--good enough for me, I thought, I'm sold. So I followed the directions on my Sure-Jell (R) pectin for apricot jam, with unflavored brandy to taste:

5 cups prepared apricot (mine were quite mushed)

1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh)

7/8 cup brandy (I added by the ounce until I was happy with the taste)

1 box pectin

7 cups sugar

While I may not put it as the best I've ever had, I think that's because I love almost all jams, jellies, etc. that I've ever tasted. The result, though, was very tasty. The unflavored brandy is subtle, but does lend a distinct difference to the taste of the apricot jam. I am curious as to whether the reviewer on Simply Recipes had the jam with unflavored brandy or, say, apricot brandy (that might be something to test next time), but I'm going to call this a success either way.