Mulberry Jelly Recipe

“This is what the Sovereign Lord showed me: a basket of ripe fruit. ‘What do you see, Amos?’ he asked. ‘A basket of ripe fruit,’ I answered.” Amos 8:1-2

Happy Memorial Day everyone! Hope you’re spending some time with the fam and remembering those who gave us our freedom.

My hub wanted to take the kids to the lake today to throw rocks in the water or fish, but my 5YO said he wanted to stay home because it was too hot (he’s related to me). I secretly think he just wanted to talk my leg off, but our staying home gave me time enough to finish my mulberry jelly, round 2. I thought since my mulberry expeditions have generated a lot of mulberry memories amongst my friends, that I would share my recipe here, in case you feel adventurous.

Oh, and I personally would stick with jelly since the seeds turn a weird shade of brown and the fruit/stem mixture really doesn’t look too appetizing.

Mulberry Jelly

Ingredients:

1 gallon sized zipper bag full of well-rinsed mulberries (approx. 3 lbs.)*

¾ cup lemon juice

4 ½ cup sugar

1 box pectin

Water

Jars (7 half-pint or equivalent), lids, rings for canning, plus any tools of the trade like jar grabber, magnet stick, and funnel

Directions:

Cook mulberries over high heat, just barely covered with water, until a full boil is reached. Lower heat and continue to simmer for approximately 15 minutes. Then use a potato masher to squash all the berries down into the pan. (This is an imprecise art, so if you get the berries pretty well mashed up, you’re good.)

Place a colander over a pot that is big enough to cover all the holes on the bottom of the colander. Line colander with two layers of cheesecloth or other cloth to use for straining that you don’t mind throwing away. An old t-shirt could be used, since this is hick cooking. Pour the berry soup through the cloth in the colander. Then gather up the cloth and close with a zip tie. Let the bag sit until it is cool enough for you to handle. Then, wearing latex gloves unless you really like the color purple, squeeze said bag until you’re happy with how much juice you’ve extracted. At this point, I suggest throwing the bag of mulberry goo away. My chickens would not eat it and it didn’t really smell all that good anyway.

You should have approximately three cups of juice or more at this point.

Place 3 cups of mulberry juice in a pot with the lemon juice and one box of pectin. Bring to full rolling boil. (While this is occurring, you should be getting your jars, rings and lids ready.) When the mixture comes to a complete boil, add all the sugar at once. Stir sugar until fully dissolved and wait for mixture to return to boiling. (Once it does this, I suggest taking your jars, lids, rings out of the hot water and get ready to fill them.) Boil for one full minute. Remove from heat, ladle or pour into hot jars. Cover with hot lids, and seal with hot rings. Then, process full jelly jars for at least 10 minutes in hot water bath to ensure they seal properly. Remove from hot water bath and place on countertop. Listen for that distinctive POP that tells you all is right with the world.

Do not move the jars until fully cool, usually 6 or 8 hours. By this time, your jelly should have properly set. Tighten down the rings, and label for future reference.

Now you have to decide who is worthy to share your creation, or if you will keep it all to yourself. This recipe makes approximately 7 ½ half-pint jars of jelly, so you really should share. Unless you really like jelly…

*Note: mulberries can be quickly and easily collected by placing a tarp on the ground and having your hub, or other coordinated person, climb the tree and give it a good shake over the tarp. You should also taste the mulberries prior to using them to ensure they have good flavor. We have three small trees that are really tasty, but our neighbors’ trees taste like grass.

Happy Mulberrying!

“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God…” Collosians 1:10