What fruits do you grow yourself and enjoy to eat processed even though they aren’t really any good fresh?
Although it’s not actually a fruit, I was just enjoying a bowl of yogurt with roselle (mock cranberry) sauce, thinking about how reliable this sour fruit substitute is and wondering if other sour fruits (or fruits that are otherwise unappealing eaten fresh) might also be easier to grow.
I also made a batch of ice cream with cooked and strained elderberry juice very recently that I really enjoyed, the first time I’ve ever done anything with elderberries. There was an interesting flavor that almost reminded me of the bitterness of chocolate, very unappealing by itself, but very nice after sweetening.
Sour cherries for pies, etc. are a common example of the kind of fruit I’m asking about. There are some sour cherries that I like to eat fresh, but I have one sour cherry tree with fruit that I find totally unappealing fresh but that still is great for pies and other baked goods. Unfortunately the birds still love them even though I think they’re no good fresh.
Sour plums for plum jar are similar. I don’t know if any jam is better than plum jam. I haven’t successfully grown my own sour plums, though.
I like Aronia in juice but cut 40:1 with apple juice. It tastes like grape juice and makes you feel like Popeye the sailor after eating his spinach. Aronia are completely unpalatable fresh.
Magnolia vine berries. They are mealy and sort of like eating ginger fresh. They make a great tea. The syrup is often combined with elderberry for medicinal purposes. I second black currants. I made a syrup and I can’t get enough of it. It is so good!
Cornelian Cherry comes close,at least the one I have.Very tart,unless left to whither on the tree and even then,there is only a hint of sweetness.
Some of the best frozen dessert was made from them,though.Also,a lady once said,they make a great sauce for lamb. Brady
My daughter and I really like some varieties of black currant fresh, and both like the jam. It takes an incredible amount of added sugar to make the jam nice. Don’t really like half-sweetened black currants.
Ripe black currants have a much higher brix than many more popular berries.
Back on topic, honeyberry/haskap aren’t great fresh but make exceptional jam. We prefer the blueberries fresh, but haskap hands down for jam.
I’ve yet to find a way to process aronia such that they are better than other options. If they are very ripe and well watered I like to eat them fresh. They are pleasant, not something sought after. They taste a lot better than gummy vitamins, that’s for sure.
Back in the 1980’s Costco sold Aronia berry juice cocktail, a similar formula to Ocean Spray cranberry cocktails. My family prefered the Aronia. I don’t know what they did to it to make it taste so nice (aside from the sugar). Maybe it was adding some acid balance as well. The Aronia juice I’ve had from trader Joe’s and other sources isn’t nearly as good as I remember, even if heavily sweetened.