Simple Groundcherry Crumble for One

This gluten free groundcherry crumble (for one!) ticked a lot of boxes for me. For starters, sometimes you want dessert just for yourself. Although this recipe can be scaled up easily if you feel like sharing, it’s totally okay if you don’t want to!

Groundcherries are a unique member of the nightshade family which includes tomatoes and peppers. I will talk about these in more detail in the “Discover Something New!” section of the site in the next couple days. These wonderful fruits can have a tropical, tart, and sweet flavor that make them delicious to eat on their own. They can be a delicious dessert, too!

Although it might be tempting to unwrap these right away, groundcherries keep for a long time on your shelf if you leave them in the papery husk surrounding each fruit. If the fruit is still green, it isn’t ripe yet, so be sure top leave it alone for a little while.

To make this groundcherry crumble, all you need to do is remove the husk, wash the groundcherries thoroughly, and slice them in two. After that, zest a lemon and get some common baking necessities together – you’re good to go! See the substitutions section if you’re short an ingredient or two.

Preparation & Photos

Preheat your oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 6 oz ramekin. Butter, cooking spray, or coconut oil work fine.

Husk the groundcherries, wash thoroughly, and cut in half. Zest a lemon and set aside.

Prepare the filling by mixing the halved groundcherries, 1 tsp granulated sugar, ½ tbsp gluten free flour, ¼ tsp lemon zest, and a pinch of salt in a bowl and then transfer to the greased ramekin.

You can reuse the same bowl to make the crumble to save on dishes. I certainly did!

In the bowl, prepare the crumble topping by combining 1 tbsp of chilled butter, 1 tsp golden brown sugar, 1 tbsp gluten free flour, and ¼ tsp lemon zest using a fork until ingredients are mixed, but there are “crumbs” of butter remaining.

Top the filling in the ramekin with the crumble mixture. Do the best you can to evenly cover the filling.

You can either place the ramekin directly into the preheated oven, or set it on a baking sheet for easier handling.

Bake the assembled groundcherry crumble for 20 minutes and then remove from the oven. Serve after about 5 minutes, allowing the topping to set.

Substitutions

Can I use a different fruit?

You can do anything you want! Although I hope you give groundcherries a try someday, I admit I have used this recipe for some stray strawberries I picked up at a farmer’s market and accidentally smashed in my bag on the way home. Feel free to experiment! I made a few alterations, as follows:

• Omitted the lemon zest in the filling and the crumble topping (Didn’t have any fresh lemons!)
• Used 75 g of ripe strawberries before cutting off the leaves and stems and chopped into approximately half inch pieces.

The result? Tastes fine! Would have been better with the lemon zest. As a result, see my untested suggestions in the next section!

Alternatives to lemon zest

I don’t always have spare lemons on my counter. Or I have one, but it has desiccated and there’s no zest to be found. If you have other citrus sitting on the counter, I’d speculate lime, orange, and grapefruit zest would all work quite well!

Alternatively, you can try leaving out the lemon zest entirely and reduce the sugar a bit. When I was developing the recipe, I didn’t try this myself, but as a place to start I’d suggest dropping down to ¾ tsp of granulated sugar in the filling and ¾ tsp of golden brown sugar in the crumble if you omit the lemon zest.

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