Recipe: Mulberry Yogurt Custard

Mulberries: Food For Thought

The Mulberry: a much-maligned fruit. Its tree has a reputation for being messy and unwelcome. Kids love it. Most adults hate it. Truth be told, I have been among its biggest detractors. However, lately I've noticed that some people over the age of ten actually eat mulberries and seem to enjoy doing so.

This shocked me.

It rocked my world.

Could I have been wrong about them? Do the cloying sweetness and undetachable stems mask culinary gems? I really want to like mulberries; they are cheap as free if you have a mulberry tree in your backyard like we do. Add a big dose of fiber and nutrients, plus easy picking, and you seem to have a winner. The only thing holding me back so far has been the flavor. I'm just not a big fan. Someone said they are better cooked? I had my doubts...

Blurry mulberries. Note all the stems.

But the allure of free food won out.

So, the other day I set out with a bucket and collected a few cups of purplish-black ripe mulberries with the help of my two-year-old son. (He for one is not shy about his love of mulberries.) Then I scoured the internet for several minutes in search of interesting yet easy recipes that wouldn't involve a ton of added sugar. I settled on a variation on this blueberry yogurt pie, eliminating the crust and reducing the sugar. Without further ado, The Recipe:

Mulberry Yogurt Custard

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 dash cinnamon
• 2 cups ripe mulberries, washed and drained

All the ingredients, or so I thought.

Almost forgot my Watkins cinnamon!

Instructions

Mix together all ingredients except for mulberries.

Just add whisk!

Line one pie pan or several oven-safe ramekins with mulberries.

Pour mixture over the mulberries so that they are coated and almost covered.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-50 minutes or until custard is set. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving. 

I think I slightly over-baked it. But I added a garnish, so it's all good.

Cold Brew Coffee is Saving My Life Right Now

Confession: I've never been a big coffee person. At all. But that suddenly changed when I had my second child almost five months ago and now I absolutely can't get enough of the stuff.

My favorite way to prepare coffee is called cold brew and it is as easy as it is tasty. Coffee prepared in this manner doesn't have all the acid and bitterness of hot brewed coffee but actually contains more caffeine. A win-win!

Seriously, this stuff is amazing. Picture yourself on a sweltering summer afternoon pulling this miraculous java out of the fridge and enjoying a smooth, refreshing iced coffee. Just writing that made me feel cooler.

It is, of course, equally delicious served hot.

Cold Brewed Coffee

Ingredients:

• 1 cup ground coffee
• 1/2 gallon water

(This is the coffee:water ratio that I use, but it can be adjusted according to your taste. You can also dilute the final product if it's too strong for you.)

Equipment:

• Two 1/2-gallon pitchers or jars
• Coffee filter
• Sieve
• Funnel (optional but recommended)

I only included one pitcher in this pic to confuse you.

Method:

Put the ground coffee in a pitcher or jar. Fill the rest of the way with water. Stir to thoroughly wet the grounds.

It will look gross like this. It's okay.

Cover and refrigerate for about twelve hours. Then strain out the grounds by pouring the mixture through a sieve lined with a coffee filter into a clean pitcher. I recommending using a funnel under the strainer so you don't lose any of your liquid gold. It will drain through the sieve sloooooowly. Sorry, there is no way around this. (FYI, the coffee grounds that remain in the filter can be composted but it's not recommended that you put them directly in your garden because of the extremely high acidity.)

Voila! You have a delicious brew that can be served hot or cold, diluted with water or cream if desired, and even sweetened to taste. Store it in the fridge for best flavor. Enjoy!

Serving suggestion.