Unsweetened berry sauce/jam recipe?

Went berry picking yesterday and came back with 3 pounds of lovely, very ripe mulberries. Can anyone help me with directions to make them into a sauce or jam? Basically I just want it to be a good consistency for spreading or dipping.

As the berries are plenty sweet on their own, I`d rather not add any extra sugar or sweeteners. From what I`ve read online, I understand that means I`ll be only able to keep it in the fridge or freezer, but I have no idea how long it`ll be good for in either one.

I`d also like not to add any jelly, sodas, preservatives or juices, like I`ve seen in most recipes. Just plain berries + water + lemon juice. So what are the correct ratios and cooking times/phases? Also, what`s the quantity that the process will yield? Different recipes say different things and I find it rather confusing, I`d just like one that`s been known to work. Help, please?

I'd just cook them down as you would cranberries.  A tiny bit of water in the bottom of the pot to get it started, then simmer slowly, uncovered, stirring once in a while until it's thick.  Keep it simple!  You could strain out the seeds if you want jelly (add pectin) or just leave it as preserves and store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Oooo...I love mulberry season! Clairelaine's advice is spot on. Just cook them until the consistency is right. A couple things I would add:

If you want it to have a "jelly-like" texture, you will need to add pectin. Some pectins requires additional sugar to work their magic, so you would have to, at the very least, add something like frozen juice concentrate for that. I use Pomona's Universal Pectin, which does not require added sugar and comes in a cute box with some great recipes.

Also, it is hard to know what quantity it will yield in advance, because it all depends on how long you cook the berries down for. A good rule of thumb is that it will yield less than you think! Mulberries in particular are kind of gristle-y, so if you strain the sauce/jam you will lose a lot of volume as you get rid of all the seeds and fibrous bits.

Thanks so much for the tips! I hope something edible will come out. And yes, I also love mulberry season, too bad it`s so, so short..

I didn't realize you could make homemade jams/jellies without all that sugar!! I will look for the brand pectin you mentioned. I love making my own jams/jellies.

I had no idea that you could make jelly so easly! :)

Strawberry season is almost here, I'll have to try this!

Thanks! :)

Ily, I saw pomona pectin is available in the health stores. have you tried it yet?

their recipe calls for 4 cups of juice fruit to make jelly.you can simmer the berries and strain them out but I don't know how much berries you would  need to get 4 cups of juice.

does anyone know how many calories are in the pectin? is it zero calorie?

What you get when you cook berries (or other fruit) down is more of a sauce than a preserve.  The thickness depends on how much water you are able to evaporate out of the batch, without scorching.

Don`t know if pectin is available in Romania, I didn`t get around to asking because I wasn`t planning on using it anyway.

I ended up doing it today, in the meanwhile some of the berries magically disappeared (), so I worked with just about 2 pounds. I put them in a large non-stick pot, with around half a cup of water, and about 2-3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice. Simmered for a good half hour and ended up with a thick sauce (about a pound or less, I think), which I didn`t strain because I love the slight crunch and fun texture the seeds add in berry jams.

Thanks, you guys, I`m quite pleased with the result. The sauce is just sweet enough for my liking - the berries were very ripe and mushy to begin with. Also, while the lemon juice wasn`t really necessary, I found it brought out the flavour a lot.