Filled with Vitamin C and iron, mulberries are little powerhouses of nutrients. Harness their goodness with this simple and delicious homemade mulberry jam recipe.
Growing in my front yard is a beautiful mulberry tree. When I first moved into this new house, I loved the look of the tree; but I had no idea that it also produced delicious mulberries. It was such a sweet surprise when I first discovered the bountiful berries. At first glance, they look a lot like blackberries but are sweeter and more slender.
Mulberries are often used for making jam, desserts and wine and they blend well with other fruits, especially pears and apples. They don’t ripen all at once, but when they are ready they drop from the tree. They can be gathered by covering the ground with a sheet and shaking the tree or although time consuming, by hand-picking each berry.
Mulberries are packed full of vitamins and nutrients. In a 100 gram serving (which is less than a ½ cup), raw mulberries provide 61% of the Daily Value for vitamin C and 23% of the DV for iron.
I was excited to make a batch of mulberry jam this year and I absolutely love how it turned out. My family goes through a lot of jam so you can imagine my delight to be able to make a jam using free fruit from my yard!
How to make Mulberry Jam:
- 2 cups fresh picked, ripe mulberries
- juice from ½ squeezed lemon
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- 1 packet Certo liquid pectin
- 6 small Mason jars with lids
This mulberry jam recipe works for other types of jams by simply substituting the mulberries with other types of berries.
After thoroughly washing the berries and removing the small green stems, put them in a medium sized saucepan. Heat it over a medium heat, pressing down on the berries to release the juices.
Bring to a boil then add the sugars and lemon juice. Reduce the heat and stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves.
Bring back to a boil again. Add 1 packet of liquid pectin and continue to stir often. Put on simmer and leave it to thicken up a bit.
In the meantime, sterilize your jars in a large pot on the stove. When jars are ready and your jam has been brought back up to a boil for a few minutes, bottle and seal the jam tightly.
The jam should last up to 2 years if sealed properly and stored in a cool, dark place.
For a lower-sugar option (as with our strawberry jam), swap out 1 cup of the granulated sugar with 1 cup of Stevia.
That’s it! Perfectly delicious mulberry jam to spread over soft homemade bread, or use in our kiflice cookies recipe.
I also made a batch of delicious mulberry-strawberry-blueberry sauce; which we enjoyed with vanilla ice cream.
Grandma’s Mulberry Jam Recipe
Equipment
- 6 4oz Mason jars with lids
Ingredients
- 2 cups ripe mulberries
- 1/2 juice from lemon
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- 1 packet Certo liquid pectin
Instructions
- After thoroughly washing the berries and removing the small green stems, put them in a medium sized saucepan. Heat it over a medium heat, pressing down on the berries to release the juices.
- Bring to a boil then add the sugars and lemon juice. Reduce the heat and stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves.
- Bring back to a boil again. Add 1 packet of liquid pectin and continue to stir often. Put on simmer and leave it to thicken up a bit.
- In the meantime, sterilize your jars in a large pot on the stove. When jars are ready and your jam has been brought back up to a boil for a few minutes, bottle and seal the jam tightly.
Yummy! I don’t believe I’ve ever had a mulberry. This recipe looks tasty.
It’s been great co-hosting the #homemattersparty with you. I’ve learned a lot. 🙂
Thank you Amanda. The recipe also would work well with any other berries you have.
Looks like a great recipe. I find the time to can/make jam once every 5 years or so but if I ever run across any mulberries… 😉
I’ve been having fun co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you this month. Can’t believe we are hitting the end of July already.
Thanks Alayna! We are really enjoying our time at the #HomeMattersParty with you and following all of your interesting posts on your blog.
Mulberries aren’t very common where I live, but it seems like this recipe could be used just as successfully with blackberries or raspberries. It looks so yummy! Love co-hosting the #HomeMattersParty with you!
Absolutely Sarena! Thank you so much for stopping by and being such a great co-host at the #HomeMattersParty.
Amazing blog and very interesting stuff you got here! I definitely learned a lot from reading through some of your earlier posts as well and decided to drop a comment on this one!
Okay, but what is vanilla sugar?
Hi Carli. It’s a finely granulated sugar that’s been infused with vanilla. We use it alot for our European style baking. You can usually find it in the baking section at the grocery store. This is what it looks like (our Amazon affiliate link): https://amzn.to/2RSISkJ . If you don’t have it, you can use 8g (about 1.5tsp) regular sugar with a 1/4 tsp vanilla. Hope that helps!
Jane
Thank you for this conversation!
How much in grams or ounces is one packet of vanilla sugar?
Hi Brenda. One packet is 8g or .28oz .
Have a great night!
Jane
Does this not need to be processed in water bath?
What if you don’t want to use vanilla sugar? Can you just leave it out – not sure if I want the slight taste of vanilla.
Hi Jacqueline. You can definitely leave it out. It equates to about 1.5tsp (8g) or granulated sugar.
Enjoy!
Jane
Great recipe! I liked the Splenda substitute to cut the sugar in half- was a little too sweet for me with two cups of granulated sugar so might cut that in half or try the Splenda next time. Otherwise- worked perfectly!
Can I store them in the refrigerator or freezer? and there is no processing involved, correct? I’ve never made jam before.
Hi Cindy. Yes, you can definitely refrigerate up to 4 weeks with no problem and no special steps/processing. If you use a sterilized container (ie. straight out of the dishwasher and no finger marks inside) then it’ll stay in the fridge even longer. You can also absolutely freeze in a freezer-safe bag or container for several months.
If you want to keep them on a shelf in jars, then you’d need to go through the proper canning steps (sterilizing jars and lids, making sure there’s a proper seal).
Hope that helps!
Jane
Thank you for the information! I just shook a branch and gathered my mulberries so can’t I wait to try this.
This jam was sooo good. Thank you for this recipe. I have already gone through all of it!!!
Yay! So happy to hear that Cindy. You’ll have to collect more branches next year!
How delicious, tried for the first time as we have a mulberry tree, I’m addicted I used actual vanilla as I did not understand vanilla sugar but so good, I’m making a 4 the batch as we speak, I’m thinking of adding cinnamon this batch.
So happy to hear this Carol-lynne! You have to let us know how the cinnamon variety tastes. Thanks so much for the kind comment.
Jane