Mulberries

The mulberry fruit is not a berry but a collective fruit
 in appearance like a swollen loganberry.

My parents have been growing mulberry trees for a while, both black and white mulberries. Every summer the trees offer us large, juicy, white and purple-black fruits which fall from the trees as soon as they are fully ripe. Once again I'm feeling quite lucky now that Milou and I have this great opportunity to eat them as much as we'd like with all purple stained hands. Let me tell you that black mulberries are my favourite species: Large and juicy, with a good balance of sweetness an tartness which makes them the best flavoured ones for me. I knew that mulberries have been extensively grown for raising silkworms for centuries, but I didn't know they have also a long history in medicine particularly in China and almost all parts of these trees are used in one way or another. I've just learnt they've been used for liver-kidney deficiency, ringing ears, dizziness, insmomnia, rheumatic pain, premature gray hair and even diabetes. Fantastic!

Well, having grabbed this unique opportunity, it would have been a pity not to share a quick and easy dessert recipe using mulberries. Below is the recipe of  super easy milk pudding accompanied by black mulberry sauce. Everyone in the house liked it well. Give it a try and enjoy it!

Super easy milk pudding with mulberry sauce

Mulberry Sauce

Ingredients
2 cups ripe fresh mulberries
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

You don't need much sugar as the berries have such a natural sweetness to them, so you can even avoid using sugar in this recipe at all. Strain through a sieve and reserve in a container for future use.

Method

1. In a medium saucepan heat the water and sugar until all the sugar is dissolved, bring to boil. 

2. When the sugar solution is boiling add the mulberries. 

3. Boil for another minute or two till it becomes slightly thick and take it off the heat and let it cool.

Easy Milk Pudding


Ingredients

1 litre milk

1 cup flour

1-1.5 cups granulated sugar

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Whisk well all the ingredients (except the vailin extract) in a pan. Stir fast constantly to prevent the mixture from getting lumpy. Keep stirring till the mixture boils. 

2. Boil for another minute or two until the mixture thickens. Add the vanilin extract, stir once more and remove from heat. If there are still lumps in the pudding in the end, stir with an electrical mixer for a few minutes until it becomes smooth. 

3. Pour the pudding into serving cups and let it cool down. Refrigerate after 1-2 hours. Serve cold.