Karadut Şerbeti (Black Mulberry Sherbet)
کارادوت شربتی (شہتوت کا شربت)
Black mulberries, *karadut* in Turkish, grow in gardens and along roadsides all over Turkey, and in early summer they're turned into a thick, dark sherbet. In Pakistan, the long black *shahtoot* appears in spring and early summer, and most of it gets eaten straight off the tree or stains children's hands. This sherbet is a good way to use a big bag of ripe shahtoot: tart, sweet and an amazing deep purple.
- ⏱ Total: 20 min
- Prep: 10 min
- Cook: 10 min
- Easy
- Serves 6
Method
Tap a step when it is done.
Rinse the mulberries gently and put them in a with the sugar and 1 cup water.
Bring to a boil and simmer for 8–10 minutes, crushing the berries with a spoon, until they collapse.
Cool, then press through a fine sieve. Stir in the lemon juice. This is your mulberry syrup.
Mix the syrup with the cold water in a jug, taste for sweetness and add ice.
Pour into glasses and serve cold.
Kitchen notes
Mulberry juice stains clothes and wooden boards. Wear an apron and use a steel or glass bowl.
Freeze ripe mulberries in season and make this sherbet any time of year.
The syrup keeps for a week in the fridge.
The black mulberry
Turkey has two kinds of mulberry trees: white, which are very sweet and often dried, and black, which are tart, juicy and much prized. Black mulberry sherbet is sold from street carts in summer, and in Anatolia the fruit is also cooked down into a thick molasses called pekmez.
Shahtoot in Pakistan
The long dark shahtoot sold in spring in Pakistani cities is the same kind of fruit. It’s fragile and spoils within a day or two, so a big bag is best turned into syrup. Cooking it briefly with sugar and pressing it through a sieve gives a smooth, deep purple syrup with no seeds.
Getting the balance right
Mulberries vary a lot in sweetness. Taste the syrup after adding the lemon: it should be strong, sweet and tart, because it will be diluted. If your berries are very ripe and sweet, add more lemon.
Serving
Serve over plenty of ice in summer. For another dark fruit sherbet, try sour cherry vişne şerbeti.
Questions people ask
Can I use white mulberries?
They're much sweeter and less tart, so the sherbet will be pale and sweet. Add more lemon.
Do I have to cook the berries?
No. You can blend raw mulberries with sugar and lemon and strain, but cooking gives a deeper colour and a syrup that keeps longer.
When are mulberries in season in Pakistan?
Usually from April to early June, depending on the region.
Nutrition (estimate, per serving)
- Calories
- 130
- Protein
- 1 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 32 g
