Wild Wineberry Topping
Discovering the Wineberry Patch
One day this past summer, I made a trip out to a local beach on the coast of Lake Ontario with the intention of gathering wild mullein. To my surprise, next to the 5 foot tall budding mullein stalks, I found massive bushes of mysterious berries! I carefully examined the plants--their reddish, hairy stalks and sepals, and the strikingly red berries that looked similar to raspberries had me wondering what sort of berry I had discovered.
After doing some research, I discovered that the berries in question were a relative of the raspberry known as wineberries, or dewberries. Having been brought to North America from Japan, the invasive species is now readily found throughout eastern USA. Wineberries are much juicier than raspberries but equally edible, and luckily for me there were dozens of bushes all along the hilly shoreline!
I was able to gather about two pounds of sticky red berries before the park ranger shooed me away from the cliff side--just enough to do something with! I just didn't know what, exactly. So I washed and froze the berries for a rainy day.
Initially, I had wanted to make wine with them, given their name and their tart, juicy nature. I have read folk legends claiming that wineberry juice has some anti-poison properties, so I planned to keep a vial of wineberry wine on hand in the event of any mild poisoning (yeah right, Emily...) In the end, being that Jack and I have never made wine before and don't drink much anyway, I finally decided to put my wineberry haul to another use.
Making Wild Wineberry Topping
Ingredients
Rather than making typical jam, I wanted to keep this recipe a little thin in order to use it as a topping for ice cream sundaes.
To begin, I thawed my stash of frozen berries and then mashed them through a strainer with a fork. I ended up with 11 ounces of bright red wineberry juice (by weight.) Pouring the juice into a little pot, I combined the sugar with the juice to simmer. Then I added the fruit pectin and butter and brought the mix to a roiling boil for about a minute.
Before taking it off of the heat, I added 2 tablespoons of the berry seeds/pulp left over in the strainer back into the mix to add texture to the topping. If you have any un-mashed berries left over, you can add them instead!
Finally, I took the pot off of the heat and poured the topping into jars. The amount I made filled two 8 ounce mason jars, but you can easily play with the ratios and adjust the final amount based on how much berry flesh you add back in at the end.
Once the jars cool, close them up and store them in the fridge. Pull them out any time you want to add a wild touch to your food! This topping works particularly well on vanilla ice cream (I looooove it on frozen yogurt!) or on top of cheesecake. Bonn appetite and happy hunting!
One day this past summer, I made a trip out to a local beach on the coast of Lake Ontario with the intention of gathering wild mullein. To my surprise, next to the 5 foot tall budding mullein stalks, I found massive bushes of mysterious berries! I carefully examined the plants--their reddish, hairy stalks and sepals, and the strikingly red berries that looked similar to raspberries had me wondering what sort of berry I had discovered.
After doing some research, I discovered that the berries in question were a relative of the raspberry known as wineberries, or dewberries. Having been brought to North America from Japan, the invasive species is now readily found throughout eastern USA. Wineberries are much juicier than raspberries but equally edible, and luckily for me there were dozens of bushes all along the hilly shoreline!
I was able to gather about two pounds of sticky red berries before the park ranger shooed me away from the cliff side--just enough to do something with! I just didn't know what, exactly. So I washed and froze the berries for a rainy day.
Initially, I had wanted to make wine with them, given their name and their tart, juicy nature. I have read folk legends claiming that wineberry juice has some anti-poison properties, so I planned to keep a vial of wineberry wine on hand in the event of any mild poisoning (yeah right, Emily...) In the end, being that Jack and I have never made wine before and don't drink much anyway, I finally decided to put my wineberry haul to another use.
Making Wild Wineberry Topping
Ingredients
- 11oz wineberry juice
- 8oz sugar
- 1 tbsp fruit pectin
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp wineberry seeds and pulp or a hand full of berries
To begin, I thawed my stash of frozen berries and then mashed them through a strainer with a fork. I ended up with 11 ounces of bright red wineberry juice (by weight.) Pouring the juice into a little pot, I combined the sugar with the juice to simmer. Then I added the fruit pectin and butter and brought the mix to a roiling boil for about a minute.
Before taking it off of the heat, I added 2 tablespoons of the berry seeds/pulp left over in the strainer back into the mix to add texture to the topping. If you have any un-mashed berries left over, you can add them instead!
Finally, I took the pot off of the heat and poured the topping into jars. The amount I made filled two 8 ounce mason jars, but you can easily play with the ratios and adjust the final amount based on how much berry flesh you add back in at the end.
Once the jars cool, close them up and store them in the fridge. Pull them out any time you want to add a wild touch to your food! This topping works particularly well on vanilla ice cream (I looooove it on frozen yogurt!) or on top of cheesecake. Bonn appetite and happy hunting!
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