Mark Diacono
LATIN NAME
Morus species
SEASONALITY
August–September
MORE RECIPES
Wineberries with peaches and custard; Raspberry almond streusel cake
Mulberries have a fantastic flavour – somewhere between blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and the deepest flavoured grapes. Find a tree and visit it in mid- to late August for a real treat.
At their perfect state of ripeness, mulberries can barely hold themselves together, which is why you never see them in the shops and why you can expect purple stains when picking (wear old clothes). Their short shelf-life – a day, two at best – means you should decide how you intend to use them before you pick.
They make an excellent ice cream, sorbet, jam, trifle or clafoutis. And, once you’ve tasted the results, you’ll believe vodka was invented for the sole purpose of transforming mulberries and sugar into the finest fireside drink there is. Mulberry vodka couldn’t be easier to make: quarter-fill a jar with sugar, tip it out into a bowl and half-fill the jar with fruit, return the sugar and fill up with vodka. Invert the jar a few times a week and try to leave it for at least 6 months – longer if you possibly can.
Search the internet and you’ll find websites listing locations of public mulberry trees across the country. They were a common sight in large nineteenth-century gardens, many of which are now open to the public, so a little light scrumping could be not too far from you.
Happily, mulberry trees are easy to grow. They rarely reach more than 3 metres in height and can always be kept at that size with a little pruning, though no ongoing pruning or training is actually required. Their heart-shaped leaves don’t arrive until well into spring – the definitive sign of winter being over – and tend to grow over the fruit, which keeps most hidden from the birds.
There are red, black and white mulberry species, though the name doesn’t necessarily correlate to the colour of their fruit. The trees are late developers, sometimes not fruiting for half a dozen years, so the key is to go for a variety that produces fruit relatively early in its life – ‘Illinois Everbearing’, ‘Carmen’ or ‘Ivory’, for example. For the same reason, get a tree that’s a few years old: it will cost a little more but you’ll be into delicious fruit that bit quicker.
This take on the traditional Scottish pudding, with some yoghurt stirred into the cream to make the whole thing less rich, makes stunning use of mulberries. Other soft fruit such as raspberries and loganberries are delicious alternatives. Serves 4
200g mulberries
3 tbsp clear honey
3 tbsp mulberry vodka (if you have made some) or whisky
50g medium oatmeal
40g walnuts, roughly chopped
150ml double cream
150g Greek-style yoghurt
Start by putting the mulberries into a bowl with 1 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp mulberry vodka or whisky. Give them a good mix, crushing the fruit a little so it starts to release its juices. Set aside.
Put a non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the oatmeal and walnuts and toast, stirring often, until they are golden and fragrant. Transfer to a plate to cool.
Whisk the cream together with the remaining honey and alcohol, until it forms soft peaks. Go gently: it’s important not to over-whip the cream as it will stiffen a little further as you put the pudding together. Gently fold the yoghurt into the cream.
Add the toasted oats and macerated mulberries and gently fold them in, so that you have a rippled effect. Spoon into glasses and serve straight away.