When my husband and
I lived in Far Rockaway, NY we would go for an early
morning jog through the streets down by the bay, where we would pass a
vacant lot with several old mulberry trees growing on it. As soon as the
leaves came out in spring, we would begin to anticipate the day the fruit
would ripen on the tree so we could have an early morning snack on the
run.
Mulberries do not keep very well and must be used within a few days, the
sooner the better. The berries have a sugar content of about 9 per cent.
Besides eating them out of hand, or serving them fresh as a dessert for
supper with a little citrus juice sprinkled over them, they can be
preserved and used in numerous dishes. Dried mulberries are use like
raisins in cookies and muffins, while the fresh berries are part of many
recipes for tarts, pies, jams, jellies, wine, and other beverages. Here
are just a few possibilities.
Mulberry JAM
Wash the berries carefully, drain, and remove the caps and stems. To each
pound of prepared fruit allow an equal weight sugar. Crush the berries and
bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly. Add the sugar and boil until
the fruit mixture has thickened to jellylike consistency. Stir throughout
the cooking. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. If the seeds in
mulberries are objectionable, boil the fruit for a few minutes, then put
through a fine sieve to remove the seeds before weighing the fruit and
adding the sugar. This is a real delicacy.
Mulberry Muffins
¼ cup shortening 5 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar 1 teaspoon salt
2 beaten eggs 2/3 cup milk
2 cups flour ½ cup mulberries
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream shortening and sugar together. Add eggs
and mix well. Sift 1 ½ cups flout, baking powder, and salt together. Add
this mixture to egg and sugar mixture alternately with milk. Sprinkle
mulberries with remaining flour and stir lightly. Bake in grease muffin
pans for 25 to 30 minutes.
Mulberry Mousse
3 cups sugar 6 tablespoons lemon juice
1-½ quarts water 3 cups heavy cream
7 ½ cups mulberries, crushed
Boil sugar in 1 ½ quarts water 8 minutes. Force mulberry pulp and juice
through a sieve and add to syrup. Add lemon juice. Blend thoroughly. Place
in a freezing tray. Stir 3 times at 30-minute intervals. Remove and fold
in cream, beating 2 or 3 times if crystals are large. Return to freezing
tray 2 to 3 hours longer.
Rummy Mulberries
Dissolve sugar in potent rum, ½ cup sugar for each cup of rum used. Wash
and drain mulberries and place in jars, covering with the rum sugar
solution. Tightly seal and store in a dark closet for three months before
using. Especially good served over ice cream.