Sugar-Free Ontario Mulberry Jam
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Sugar-free Ontario Mulberry Jam is made without pectin and is perfect for those on a Keto or low-carb diet or for diabetics.
I am harvesting juicy mulberries to simplify this sugar-free mulberry jam, with only a few steps from pot to jar.
At the start of July in Ontario, Canada, our Mulberry Tree is full of sweet, juicy black mulberries.
Black Mulberry Jam Is Delicious And Simple To Make
If we don’t harvest our mulberry tree of these beautiful fruits, the birds will feast on them for weeks.
The mulberry tree, also known as Morus, is a deciduous tree that grows in many temperatures worldwide.
When mulberries grow, they begin green, turn white, followed by red, and finally, a deep purple or black color when ripe.
Mulberries are sweet when ripe and often compared to blackberries, although they are nowhere near as tart.
Are Mulberries Edible?
Mulberries are edible and widely used in recipes such as pies, tarts, ice cream, wines, jams, and savory dishes.
Black, red, and white mulberry are widespread in southern Europe, the Middle East, northern Africa and Indian subcontinent, where the tree and the fruit have names under regional dialects. Jams and sherbets are often made from the fruit in this region. Source
When we moved into our home, the mulberry tree was planted; however, we never paid attention to it.
Our front garden was horrible and needed attention badly, but so did the inside of our house.
About five years ago, when my father-in-law was visiting, he started eating the berries from our mulberry tree.
He asked us why we weren’t harvesting the berries as they were full of nutrients and delicious.
Types of Mulberry Trees in North America
From my research, two types of mulberry trees grow in North America where we have the Morus Rubra on our property.
The Morus rubra, commonly known as the red mulberry, is a species of mulberry native to eastern and central North America.
It is found from Ontario, Minnesota, and Vermont south to southern Florida, and west as far as southeastern South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and central Texas.
When I make our mulberry jam, we use a mix of deep red and dark black Morus rubra mulberries.
This is because the red mulberries are just a bit tart,they are lovely but as they turn a deep purple or almost ovely.
Harvesting Mulberries For Mulberry Jam
Before the tree is left with long leaves for the season, mulberry picking generally lasts for about two weeks.
Although we’ve been harvesting mulberries for years, getting them off the tree has always been challenging.
Once you stick your hand into the leaves, you will hear many mulberries drop to the ground.
My father-in-law recommended a tarp, cut and slit it, then lay it around the tree’s base.
Once you’ve done that, you only need to gently shake the leaves or even the tree.
By doing this, the ripe mulberries will fall to the ground onto the tarp, which makes collecting them simple.
You can also pick mulberries from the tree without worrying you are leaving more for the birds on the ground.
This method of harvesting mulberries has worked wonderfully for us.
Mulberry Nutrition
In a 100 g (3.5-oz) serving, raw mulberries provide 180 kJ (43 kcal), 44% of the Daily Value (DV) for vitamin C, and 14% of the DV for iron; other nutrients are in insignificant quantity. Source
In 100 grams of mulberries, there are 9.8 grams of carbohydrates, 8.1 grams of sugar, and 1.7 grams of dietary fibre.
So, the net carbs would be 8.1 grams per 100 grams of raw mulberries.
Pruning A Mulberry Tree
We have a mature weeping mulberry tree meaning the leaves hang like long strands of hair.
Mulberry tree trimming is simple as we aim to keep the shaping even and a reasonable length.
The idea is to keep your mulberry tree looking trimmed and uniform so it doesn’t have long and short strands.
When trimming our mulberry tree, I also find that it helps produce bigger mulberries throughout the season.
I cut crossing branches to prevent disease and stimulate growth when the mulberry tree is dormant.
How To Make Easy Sugar-Free Mulberry Jam
Printable Recipe Below
- Recipe Type: Sugar-Free Jam
- Author: Mr.CBB
- Prep time: 5 mins
- Cook time: 15 mins
- Total time: 20 mins.
- Serves 1
Sugar-Free Mulberry Jam is ideal for toast, ice cream, milkshakes, and anything you desire, a sweet fruity taste such as roast beef, chicken, or pork dinner. Ingredients
Ingredients
- 3 cups of raw black mulberries
- Two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons of water
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional thickener)
- 1/2 cup of Swerve or Monk Fruit sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Wash your mulberries; if you want to pull the little stems off, you can, but I don’t.
- Add them to a pot with water, lemon juice, salt, sugar, and xanthan gum.
- Stir completely and let the mulberries simmer on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often.
- Using a hand blender or masher, gently mash the mulberries to the consistency you like for jam.
- Pour into a clean preserve jar and refrigerate when cool.
- Use in 15-20 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Easy Keto Sugar-Free Mulberry Jam Recipe
Sugar-Free Mulberry Jam is ideal for toast, ice cream, milkshakes, and anything you desire, a sweet fruity taste such as roast beef, chicken, or pork dinner.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of raw black mulberries
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3-4 tablespoons of water
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (optional thickener)
- 1/2 cup of Swerve or Monk Fruit sweetener (optional)
Instructions
- Wash your mulberries; if you want to pull the little stems off, you can, but I don’t.
- Add them to a pot with water, lemon juice, salt, sugar, and xanthan gum.
- Stir entirely and let the mulberries simmer on medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring often.
- Using a hand blender or masher, gently mash the mulberries to the consistency you like for jam.
- Pour into a clean preserve jar and refrigerate when cool.
- Use in 15-20 days or freeze for up to 6 months.
Other simple jam recipes on Canadian Budget Binder
How To Thicken Mulberry Jam with and Without Pectin
This mulberry jam recipe makes about 1 preserved jar of jam that you should eat within 20 days or freeze it.
If you don’t want to use sweetener, leave that step out of the recipe.
We’ve added a bit of xanthan gum, a stabilizing thickener that we use to make keto sauces, jam, gravies, etc.
Since mulberries don’t have natural pectin, leaving out the xanthan gum won’t be as thick.
You can add 1 1/2 tablespoons of powdered pectin to this recipe if you prefer not to use xanthan gum.
I hope you enjoy this simple mulberry jam recipe, and please leave me a comment below if you make it.
If you want to substitute mulberries for other berries in this recipe, you can do that.
Mr.CBB
