Mulberries, we have in the backyard, compliments of our large black mulberry tree. With it comes the mulberry mess. Well, you either frown or you make the best of the situation. In this case: mulberry sorbet.
It started as a sproutlet at the side of our house. I was unsure if it was actually a mulberry as there were 3 or 4 different types of leaves growing from the same plant. I thought it was, so transplanted it to a sunny location and waited 4 years until it started fruiting. It has been going strong ever since.
Disadvantages of a Mulberry Tree:
The first is the very large mess the tree makes when it fruits. If near a sidewalk it will turn the concrete purple/blue for a couple of months. Those who tread on the fruit will carry this colour into their house. When you pick mulberries they will stain your hands, face and clothes. The stain does wear off after a day.
The tree also grows very quickly and can get very large. You need to prune it every year, but know that next year’s fruit will come from this year’s sprouts. I tried to keep it low and tolerable but could not get high enough to cut the tallest sprouts. In the end the tree won.
Advantages of a Mulberry Tree:
This tree requires almost no care, if you do not want to do it. Reliable, it will fruit every year. The mulberries, while not super sweet, bear continually for quite a long time, allowing you to pick some now, and wait a couple days for the next batch to ripen.
You can cut it back and it will not complain. The tree grows straight, tall and strong. It provides great shade.
Mulberry Sorbet:
Ingredients:
- 3 cups/500ml/1 small tofu container of fresh black mulberries
- 1/3 cup brown sugar, more if you like it sweeter
- 1 lime
Equipment:
- blender
- sauce pan, stove
- fine mesh strainer, spoon
- lime press, citrus juicer, fork or you can use muscle
- grater, microplane for removing the skin of the lime (zesting)
- ice cream maker, Donvier
Making the Sorbet:
- Mash the Mulberries: Put the black mulberries, stems and all, into the blender
- Zest the lime, use the lime press or citrus juicer to get as much juice as possible out. You can also use a fork, insert into the lime and make like a propeller, then squeeze. The lime press is easier. Put zest and lime juice into blender with the mulberries, and puree.
- Put the pot on a dinner plate. This contains the mess and staining of your counter. In a large pot put the strainer over it and pour the mulberry mess into it. Use the spoon or spatula to squeeze the mess through. This will remove the seeds and anything else that is large. Transfer some of the juice, 1/2 cup, into a small pot.
- Dissolve sugar into some of the mulberry juice: Put the small pot with a bit of juice on the stove. Add the sugar and heat. Dissolve the sugar into the hot juice and stir. Sugar will take much longer or not dissolve at all without heat. You need not use much heat. Let the juice and sugar mixture cool down completely.
- Continue to filter your mulberry mixture until you have got all the juice you can out of the mixture.
- Prepare your ice cream maker. This varies with design and brand. I use a Donvier, so have the inner coolant container already in my freezer. Make sorbet for 30 minutes.
- I have found that using the ice cream maker has little effect. Once throughly filtered, put the juice and sugar mixture along with the rest of the juice into a dofu container, cover and freeze.
- Clean up your mess. The mulberry juice stains my off-white counter, so I get purple polka dots for a couple of days. This compliments the yellow polka dots from the curry days. After a while all the dots disappear.
- The sorbet may not set and may be too runny. Scoop the sorbet back into the dofu container, cover and freeze in the freezer.
You could dissolve the sugar into water, but this would dilute the mulberry flavour, so Big Weed recommended to simply use some of the mulberry juice instead.
If the mixture freezes solid like a rock, next time add more sugar. If it is too soft, watery or runny, then next time add less sugar. The more sugar you add reduces the freezing point of the sorbet, which means it will not freeze as solid with more sugar.
Once you have filtered all the juice you can you will be left with a mulberry mix of seeds and such. You can save this and add it to your banana sunday for extra flavour. It still tastes good.
Most of the hard work is getting on the ladder, picking the mulberries, all while trying to not fall off. The other work required is cleanup. Don’t leave a mess for someone else!
Happy mulberry sorbet eating.
