Mulberry Yoghurt Ice Blocks
If you’re lucky enough to have a mulberry tree in your backyard – or know somebody who does – pick them before they disappear and make some frozen treats with this recipe.
It comes from the Cornersmith Cafe and Picklery, which was opened in the Sydney suburb of Marrickville in 2011 by husband and wife James Grant and Alex Elliott-Howery as a family business driven by seasonal produce from the local community. They collect excess fruit and vegetables from neighbours to create a fresh menu and inspired jams, pickles and preserves.
With its wholesome approach to food and classes in cheese-making, pickling and preserving, Cornersmith has attracted a big following. It also recently released a cookbook, Cornersmith: Recipes from the Cafe and Picklery, with recipes covering everything from breakfasts to desserts and instructions for making your own pickles, jams, compotes, chutneys, relishes and fermented foods.
Cornersmith: Recipes from the Cafe and Picklery by Alex Eliott-Howery and James Grant, $49.99, published by Murdoch Books.
“It was mulberry season when we first opened Cornersmith, and there are mulberry trees everywhere in Marrickville,” the owners write.
“They hang over fences and stain the footpaths purple. For a while there we’d pull over every time we saw a fruit-filled tree and make the kids stand on the roof of the car to fill up buckets. Eventually we took to keeping a ladder and buckets in the back of our van for the duration of the mulberry season!”
Here, they share their recipe for Mulberry Compote, which is the main ingredient for their Mulberry Yoghurt Ice Blocks.
Mulberry Compote
“We make mulberry compote for our milkshakes and serve it on top of muesli at the cafe. You can also spoon this over ice cream or use it as a sweet braise for pork or gamey meats. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.”
Ingredients
750g mulberries, stems removed
75g (¹⁄³ cup) caster or raw sugar
Juice and finely grated zest of 1 orange
2 tablespoons honey
Method
Put the mulberries into a non-reactive saucepan, lightly crushing them with your hands as you go. Sprinkle over the sugar and mix well, then leave to sit for at least 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
Add the orange juice and zest to the pan, along with the honey, then place over low heat. Stir until the honey and sugar have completely dissolved, then simmer for 20 minutes or until the berries have really broken down. Taste for sweetness, adding more sugar if necessary.
At this stage you can leave the compote as is or purée it with a stick blender for a smoother texture. We tend to blitz this one, as mulberry seeds can often be quite tough and they don’t break down during the cooking process.
Makes about 500ml (2 cups)
Mulberry Yoghurt Ice Blocks
“This is an easy recipe for the warmer months. We made these a lot for our kids when they were little, and now they make them on their own. You can do this with any kind of fruit compote.”
Ingredients
500ml (2 cups) mulberry compote (see recipe below)
520g (2 cups) natural yoghurt
honey, to taste – optional
Method
Stir the mulberry compote into the yoghurt. Taste and add honey if you think it needs it – the mulberry compote already has honey in it. Pour into ice-block moulds, then add paddle-pop sticks and freeze overnight.
Makes 12 ice blocks
