LOL, Me too! I was thinking, I guess you could still make a cherry pie even if they were ground up. DuH!

I have made ground cherry compote and served it over vanilla yogurt or ice cream yuummmmm. I have also made pies out of them and put them in muffins.... nothing better. My relatives are French and the are very common in Quebec and are called des cerises de Terre.

I used to can ground cherries by combining the ground cherries with apple slices and a simple syrup that made a delicious sauce. The ground cherries remained whole. The Chinese Lantern is a decorative plant so I don't think they are edible.

https://nesfp.org/world-peas-food-hu...round-cherries

Apparently they are in the tomato family.

They look similar tomatillos when they're growing. They have a papery husk on the fruit. The fruit looks like a small, yellow tomatillo, but it's sweeter. It's not overly sweet and has a slight vegetable taste. They're easy to grow and come back each year. They don't need great soil and not too much water.

~ C

They are not cherries, in spite of their name. :D They also go by "cape gooseberries," but they are not gooseberries either.

How about a spiced ground cherry compote?

In a heavy saucepan combine 4 cups fresh ground cherries (husked and washed) , zest from 1/2 lemon and juice form 1 lemon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1 cup of sugar. Split 1 vanilla bean and scrape seeds into the mixture. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Cool & refrigerate.

My current fav thing is spiced jam on top of goat cheese spread over crackers or toast. This would work well like that too.