Gooseberries, Golden Berries, Ground Cherries – A Study and A Cape Gooseberry Cream Cheese Danish Recipe
I discovered these via someone’s Instagram – insert eye roll here. It was this woman gardener in Australia who had found these random leaves all fallen on the ground and was about to throw them out when she discovered they were ground cherries! Ground cherries? What on earth? I had never heard of them.
I was immediately intrigued and did some light research. Then I started seeing more gardeners with them in their beds and honestly liked the whole thing – the color, their weird husks, and that they fall off their vines. The delight of finding a ground cherry fallen and ready for immediate eating really seemed magical and scavenger hunty, which we all love, amiright?
I went to the local garden center and they had zero starts or seeds, and hadn’t heard of these ground cherries. That’s when I realized some people call them Cape Gooseberries. And some people call them Golden Berries. It’s a regional thing. More to love about these Ground Cherries in my opinion – multiple names creates mystery and intrigue – I’m IN.
However, they were not going in my garden, so I sort of wrote them off as a someday thing.
Thennnn (the plot thickens – I know you’re on the edge of your seat) I saw them in the grocery store and lost my mind. MY GROUND CHERRIES (labeled Gooseberries on the package)!!!
I snatched up two boxes and ran home to give a taste.
I’ll be honest – they didn’t grab me immediately. I could live without them. But now I was emotionally invested in them and wanted to make something, so I hit up Pinterest for some inspo. Surely other people have been solving the mystery of the sacred Ground Cherries and are whipping up Michelin Star dishes.
Welp, no. A few jam recipes and that’s about all I remember. Womp womp. I resumed life and decided to let them sit on the counter for a while.
THEN! Struck by inspiration and truly what else could it be other than fate, I came up with the idea of a cheese danish with ground cherries on top! I must have seen a regular cherry danish, mixed with my pregnancy cream cheese cravings. Who cares – we had a plan.
So, there you have it. That is how the Goose Berry Cheese Danish recipe came to be. And now these, THESE were not lackluster, nor ignorable on the counter. These were delicious.
Further, for those of you looking to add these to your garden, I found a great article on that here via Good Housekeeping.
Cape Gooseberry Cream Cheese Danish Recipe
I used a cherry danish recipe and a cherry pie filling recipe to create this – worked out perfectly.
Gooseberry Filling
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup ground cherries sliced into, but not through
- 1/3 cup water
- Juice from half a squeezed lemon
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder (my substitute for cornstarch)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine all ingredients in saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce to low and stir frequently for about 10 mins.
- Let cool and set aside as you make danishes.
Cream Cheese Danish
INGREDIENTS
1 sheet puff pastry thawed
8 ounces cream cheese softened or at room temp
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups gooseberry filling (I used all of what I made above)
1 egg with 2 tablespoons of water for egg wash
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place parchment on a baking sheet.
- Roll thawed puff pastry out into a 12”x9” rectangle.
- Cut in half and then into thirds, creating six rectangles.
- Using a knife, score a 1/2” border around the edges (this is where the pastry will puff around the filling).
- Prick the center of the dough with a fork about 4-5 times (to keep it from rising).
- In a bowl combine cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons into the center of each piece of dough without getting any across the border, and while making a little bit of a well in the center – just a very shallow well.
- Add your goose berry filling into the center of the cream cheese mixture.
- Use a brush to brush the pastry edges with egg wash.
- Bake for 20 mins and then cool on a wire rack.
- Enjoy!