My Mother's Mulberry Jam Recipe

The mulberries are getting ripe.

Several readers will probably disagree with me, but I have never been able to relate to people who consider mulberry trees to be nothing more than nuisances. The main complaint seems to be that they lead to purple bird poop on your windshield. I have asked why purple poop is worse than white poop. After all, the birds are going to poop on your car regardless of whether or not they have been eating mulberries. The answer that I get is usually something to the effect of, "It just is."

It seems to me that not enough people have tried my mother's mulberry jam. Perhaps a nice warm biscuit with mulberry jam on it would convince some people that mulberry trees have their advantages too.


My mother taught me to collect the berries by laying old sheets on the ground and shaking the tree. This doesn't work in the case of a wild tree that is not mowed underneath. That is OK, because I have easily picked enough berries for a batch of jam just from the lower branches of a large tree.

By the way, I have never understood why the children's nursery rhyme says, "here we go around the mulberry bush." After all, mulberries don't grow on bushes, they grow on trees.

I have always eaten mulberries stem and all.The first time I came across a mulberry jam recipe that was printed in a published cookbook(the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving), I was surprised to see that it said to stem the berries. It seems to me that taking the time to cut the stems off from all the berries would be far more bother than it is worth.


My Mother's Mulberry Jam Recipe

My mother's recipe relies on the natural pectin in the fruit. Mulberries are not particularly high in natural pectin, so you want to include some berries that still have a bit of a pinkish tinge to them

Wash, crush, and measure berries. For each cup of berries add 1 cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice. You may also add an optional 1/2 teaspoon of ginger. Cook to 220°F. Fill hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process for 10 minutes in a water bath.

High altitude instructions
1,001 - 3,000 feet : increase processing time by 5 minutes
3,001 - 6,000 feet : increase processing time by 10 minutes
6,001 - 8,000 feet : increase processing time by 15 minutes
8,001 - 10,000 feet : increase processing time by 20 minutes


Charlotte's Mulberry Jam Recipe
Yield is about 5 half-pint jars.

In case you like the shorter cooking time of jam with added pectin, I also will print my mulberry jam recipe. In order to get it to set, I had to increase the sugar, and lemon juice. When I decided that I wanted to convert my mothers recipe into one that uses added pectin, it was the first time that I tried experimenting with a jam recipe. It took me several tries to get it to work.

4 cups mulberries
1/2 cup lemon juice
6 cups sugar
1 pouch liquid pectin

Combine berries and lemon juice and sugar. Bring to rolling boil over high heat. Add pectin and boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam, if necessary. Fill hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Add lids and process 10 minutes in a water bath.

See high altitude instructions above.
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