Firstly I hope all my readers along the East Coast of America are staying safe, far out! Does anyone else feel like if that can happen to the New York city we are all doomed?! Scary stuff. Take care everyone.
Secondly thank you all so much for your excited well-wishes about my book announcement last week! It’s been so lovely to hear you are all as excited as I am about this little project. My days have been super busy over the past month, as you can imagine, but one thing I had to make time for over the weekend just gone was to take the kids mulberry picking! The trees are laden and mostly they seem to just go to waste, with people leaving them for the birds to eat. But not us, as I mentioned last year I know they do not have the same intense flavour of a blackberry nor the gorgeous sweet/sourness of a raspberry but to us they are still food, and free food at that!
A little walk around the neighbourhood reveals many a laden mulberry tree just waited to be raided. Our favourite tree towers high above the house it sits in front of, half of it’s branches contained in the yard while the other half casually drapes over the 6 foot-fence surrounding the property. No one ever picks them and everywhere you look the ground is stained red from squished berries.
There’s been way too much baking going on around this house lately (not something to really complain about I know!), so rather than using the mulberries to make a cake or tart, this time round I decided on a refreshing mulberry soda instead. It couldn’t be any easier, cook mulberries (or whatever berries you have) with a touch of water and lemon zest until soft, add honey (or sugar) and strain to form a lovely thick syrup. To serve pour a little syrup over ice and top with soda or sparkling mineral water. Yum.
Mulberry soda
If mulberries aren’t available where you live, I’m sure any other berry would be just fine in it’s place. And not that I drink all that often these days, but I’m thinking a splash or three of vodka would make for a lovely adult treat! The syrup is also lovely served over thick plain yoghurt or swirled into porridge and will keep in the fridge 1 week, or frozen for longer.
Makes approx 3 cups syrup
6 cups mulberries
2 cups (500ml) filtered water
The peeled zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup (125ml) honey (or 2/3 cup raw sugar), or to taste
The juice of 1 lemon
Soda or sparkling mineral water, to serve
Ice and fresh mint leaves, to serve, optional
Place berries, water and zest into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, discard lemon peel, then using a stick blender or food processor blend until smooth. Pass mixture through a fine sieve set over a clean saucepan and discard solids. Add honey and return to heat, simmer 5 minutes, remove from heat and add lemon juice. Cool and store in the fridge until needed.
To serve pour a little syrup into each glass, add ice and mint leaves and top up with soda or sparkling mineral water.
Recipe linked to: Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays @ Simply Sugar + Gluten-free
20 Responses
Perfect for those summers we are just getting a hint of here! What fun to able to forage for berries, there are a few secret spot around Muriwai but you wouldn't believe how secret everyone is about them.
Funny how people get like that aye… although I have to admit we are super secretive about our favourite chestnut tree back home in NZ! 🙂
Wowww. This actually sounds so refreshing and healthy too. 🙂
I've only met the mulberry in the nursery rhyme so I'll have to look out for them, we scrump wild cherries around here as they seem to a popular municipally planted tree. 🙂
Wild cherries! You lucky thing 🙂
I don't seem to see mulberries around very often here. They look so tasty though! Love how berry-licious the soda looks.
I'd not seen them until we moved over here to Western Australia either. Any berry will do in their place…
Emma, I love the simplicity of a natural soda – and don't your kids just adore it? So jealous of your mulberries – I bet they make for a very slurpy treat;)
xxoo
E
My Kye is very fond of anything with 'fizzy water' in it, so was one happy camper when I made this! xx
They look like big blackberries. I don't know if we have them growing in New Zealand or not. I haven't seen them growing in the wild at least.
I think they do grow in NZ, just not all that common to see them around. So many over these ways. Wild blackberries would be amazing prepared like this too, which I know there are loads of in NZ! xx
I love free food! Your mulberry soda looks lovely 🙂
Funny how free food tastes so much better for some reason aye?! 🙂
What a fantastic recipe indeed! I need to find me some mulberries 🙂
Any berry will do if you can't get your hands on some xx
Feeling the cold of the frosty mornings over here in the UK so needed a piece of Oz to warm me up. The berry soda looks scrumptious and whilst we haven't got mulberries, there are still a few blackberries about so may try it with those and then I can sit back and pretend that it's warm and sunny and not -2 degrees C outside :O) xx
I've never tried mulberries before… what do they taste like? They look like demented blackberries, but yummy! Love it! ~ nerdwithtaste.wordpress.com
I love that one… demented blackberries! Um, they are very mild in their berry flavour, sweet and juicy. Kinda like a meek demented blackberry really! Haha
I am desperate for a Mulberry tree but just can't source one here in NZ. Everyone seems out of stock and I love mulberries and want to add them to my backyard pantry. Will keep searching now I've seen this recipe.
This looks delicious! Perfect for summer days by the pool!