Husk tomatoes, or ground cherries, are short, lanky shrubs that bear tiny, tomato-like fruits in papery husks. This recipe is a traditional Mennonite dish with a crumb topping.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Total Time: | 55 mins |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Yield: | 1 to 9 – inch pie |
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups ground cherries
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 (9 inch) pie shell
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons white sugar
- 2 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
- Wash ground cherries and place in unbaked pie shell. Mix brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour and sprinkle over cherries. Sprinkle water over top. Mix together 3 tablespoons flour and 3 tablespoons sugar. Cut butter in until crumbly. Top cherry mixture with crumbs.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and continue to bake for 25 minutes.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 214 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 34 g |
| Cholesterol | 8 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 0 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 127 mg |
| Sugars | 19 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Filling needed more flour. I used 3 tablespoons with the brown sugar.
YUM!
We made this with the ground cherries we grew in our garden and had frozen. A definite keeper…it tastes something like a caramel apple pie.
I cut the sugar by a third. It was wonderful and you could really taste the Ground Cherries.
Used 4 cups ground cherries. Turned out great, just like moms when I was a kid. Will absolutely be making this again. Thanks
I made this pie yesterday and it was tasty but a little bit too sweet and runny so will decrease the sugar and increase the flour.
got a couple of pints of ground cherries from my CSA and didn’t know what to do with them. this recipe was enjoyed by the whole family. really delicious — reminds me of a peach cobbler almost and it was very easy. i did follow another reviewer’s advice and cut the brown sugar to 1/3 of a cup and it was perfect! Will definitely make again if I get some more ground cherries. thank you for sharing this recipe!
Good. I like them better in a pie than fresh. Easy pie.
WAY TOO SWEET! Got the ground cherries at the farmers market, they are delicious. I wanted a traditional recipe but the fruit is too sweet on its own for the amount of sugar in the recipe. I’ll get more ground cherries if they have them next week but only for snacking.
First time with Ground Cherries in my garden and this was a good start for finding a good recipe to work with, but I had problems with it. The sugar/sweetness wasn’t a major concern, I’m sure the sugar levels for ground cherries vary like any other fruit, and you can use lemon juice and/or less sugar to adjust to your tastes, but 2 1/2 cups seems way to little fruit to fill a 9 inch pie. I ended up with a pie that looks half empty. Most 9inch pies use 4-6 cups of fruit.
I received some ground cherries in my CSA box and had no clue what to do with them. All Recipes to the rescue! This recipe was AMAZING!! I can’t wait to get more ground cherries, so I can make this again.
use 1/3 cup brown sugar.
Very Good. I have been needing a recipe to utilize the yield of my ground cherries. I cut the sugar back, made a pie crust with a criss-cross top, and added some lemon juice to give it some extra tartness. Makes an excellent presentation. I think the original crumb topping would be fantastic as well.
You should just add about the amount of sugar you like to this recipe. And it turns out great. You can make it as sweet as you want. It is delicious and I was eating a piece of it at work the other day and all the guys were like “wow” will you make me some of that? So I’m making two pies tonight. I’ve used this recipe multiple times so far. It turns out great every time but I do use less sugar.
too sweet, don’t make again
A little too sweet for me, eating raw ground cherries as is was much more satisfying.
I sure was happy to find a recipe for these neat little fruit. My neighbour gave me some plants and now i have tons but did not know what to do with them!! This pie was very good and i will plant more ground cherries next year just to make more pies!!
This was fantastic! Really interesting taste and easy to do (especially by cheating with a store-bought crust). This recipe is a keeper! There are only two difficulties: ground cherries are only available at our farmer’s market occasionally, and it takes quite a lot of work to remove all those husks. But definitely worthwhile
I purchased ground cherries at the near by Mennonite produce auction. I found this recipe and it was great.I used 4 cups of ground cherries for a larger pie. I did increase the flour in the pie. It was so easy and is sooooooo delicious. I did not increase the sugar. The cherries become more sweet when they cook.
I bought these ground cherries in Mennonite country in Pennsylvania, while visiting my son. I was told they make a great pie, but I had no recipe. Luckily, thru “all recipes”, I found this recipe. It was delicious. I might cut down on the sugar if I’m lucky enough to get any more of these ground cherries – but it was a treat.
I was so glad to find this recipe. I have been looking for it for some time. This is a great tasting pie and is a real treat!!!!