Hmmm, I have a bazillion of these bushes, and never thought about them being edible. The birds sure like them.

The only thing I could find was they are a good substitute for allspice, so perhaps you could treat them like a spice and start out slow with adding them to your pear butter and kind of sneak up on the taste.

Sounds interesting. Sigh, another thing to try!

Here is a link that might be useful: Using Common Spicebush

Thank you for posting that, and thanks to the second poster for the link.

Now I know why my 20 year old spicebush plant has never had berries -- they are either male or female. I don't know which mine is, but I have only one, so even if female, no berries. I'll have to get several more plants to ensure I have fruit someday.

Hey, I do have another fun, native spice bearing plant, Prickly Ash, Xanthoxylum americanum. The Chinese version of this plant is the source of the spice Szechuan Peppercorns. The dry-ish berries of our native species are a bit smaller than those of the Chinese one, but taste exactly the same. I gathered about a cup of them last year from my six foot tall tree, dried them for a few days, then ground and bottled. Taste is like lemon-pepper, and, true to another common name, "Toothache Plant," it does leave you mouth and lips temporarily and superficially numb for a few minutes after eating (not at all unpleasant, sort of the same way hot pepper stays on the lips and palate for a bit). Very good in Asian dishes -- I found a recipe for a Chinese chicken salad called "Bang Bang Chicken" last year online that is very good, this is the predominant spice in the recipe.

Ever try alligator pepper also called Grains of Paradise?? Strong pepper taste, but mild as to any heat.

Interesting! I tried one of the spiceberries-- very pleasant flavor, not sweet at all. The seeds are rather soft and not unpleasant-tasting themselves-- I was worried that they'd be bitter, like a lemon seed or something, but no. Just a little tasty cruch. I can see how they would be equally good with fruit or meats. The guy I bought them from said people make a tea out of it, and that you can freeze them successfully too. I'll let y'all know how the pear butter turns out. Adding the spice gradually is a good idea. Might be good in applesauce, too.

Denninmi, the Prickly Ash spice sounds intriguing. I'll have to be on the lookout for the trees! If they're in SE Michigan, they probably grow in Indiana, too...

ksrogers, never heard of alligator pepper. You've got me curious now! Off to google...

I finally got around to making the pear butter with these-- I'd say it was a success! To about 4 1/2 lbs pears I added the juice of 1 lemon, about a tablespoon of chopped spicebush berries-- pureed these together, then added the zest of the lemon, 2 cups sugar, and 1 cup maple syrup. The result is highly tasty. The tablespoon of spiceberries was plenty-- any more and it definitely would have overpowered the whole thing.