Preserving the Northern Jewel: A Comprehensive Guide to Canning Saskatoon Berries and Crafting Delicious Saskatoon-Peach Preserves

If you’re fortunate enough to have a generous bounty of saskatoons, whether picked from the wild or harvested from your own garden, you’ll undoubtedly want to save some of these unique sweet berries to savor throughout the colder months. This comprehensive guide will walk you through delightful recipes and essential tips for canning saskatoons and creating an exquisite saskatoon-peach preserve, ensuring you can enjoy the taste of summer all year long. Jump straight to the recipes here.

Returning home to a thriving saskatoon season has been a truly therapeutic experience. For weeks, my life revolved around these remarkable Northern berries – picking, cleaning, and preserving. The sheer volume of this delightful task, culminating in 133 jars of preserved goodness, kept my mind and hands blissfully occupied. Each night, I fell into bed with a sense of accomplishment, my dreams filled with the sweet, purple-hued berries just beyond my grasp.

Whether you know them as juneberries, serviceberries, pigeon berries, or their most common name, saskatoons, describing their flavor to someone who’s never tasted them can be quite a challenge. Their unique taste is complex and elusive: they are sweet, dense, and rich, with a slightly seedy texture. There’s a hint of blueberry, a more pronounced almond-like note, a touch of apple, and an overall dusky, deep berry essence. It’s truly a flavor you must experience for yourself, if you’re lucky enough to find them.

My earliest memories of saskatoon picking as a child are vivid. We would gather pails upon pails of them from the wild, always accompanied by a thrill of slight danger. My mother would point out tell-tale signs of recent bear activity – seedy piles of purple-tinted bear scat or large, flattened grassy areas where a berry-feasting bear had paused for a nap. Saskatoon picking, for me, is eternally intertwined with the warmth of summer, sticky juice-stained fingers, and the profound silence of the vast prairie sky. It’s an experience that truly defines summer.

Today, I have my own saskatoon bushes, which means I no longer have to contend with bears for these delectable berries. Instead, the friendly competition is now with my husband, children, and even our dog, Pippa, who also adores them!

This year, I embarked on a creative journey, experimenting with various methods to capture that vibrant “purple summer” in jars. My preserving adventures included making juice, jelly, and syrup, canning the berries with lemon, creating a luscious saskatoon-peach preserve, and developing several variations of chutney. While the chutney recipe is still a work in progress, I’m hopeful it will be perfected by next saskatoon season!

More Delicious Saskatoon Recipes to Explore:

• Saskatoon Juice (And How to Easily Clean Your Saskatoon Berries)
• Saskatoon Roll or Saskatoon Cobbler (And How to Freeze Your Saskatoon Berries)
• Old Fashioned Saskatoon Pie
• Saskatoon Jelly
• Prairie Mess (Eton Mess with Saskatoons and Rhubarb)
• Gluten Free Saskatoon Scones
• Saskatoon Muffins
• Saskatoon Slump
• Saskatoon Ice Cream Made with Homemade Saskatoon Jelly
• Pork Chops with Saskatoon and Green Apple Chutney
• Saskatoon Pickle (A Unique & Delicious Berry Chutney)

Saskatoon-Peach Preserve: A Tangy Sweet Delight

Saskatoons, while inherently sweet, tend to be low in acidity. This characteristic means they truly shine when paired with a tangy flavor enhancer. Combining them with ingredients like rhubarb, raspberries, or citrus, as I often do, unlocks their full potential. I’ve found great success making refreshing juices with these combinations using my steam juicer. The resulting deep purple hue is not only visually appealing but also a strong indicator of their high antioxidant content – a delightful bonus!

If saskatoons are hard to come by in your region, this recipe might also work with blueberries. However, keep in mind that blueberries are much juicier, so you may need to extend the cooking time to achieve the desired saucy consistency. The addition of orange flower water (or rose water) imparts a wonderfully subtle and complex flavor that I adore, elevating the preserve to something truly special. These fragrant waters are often found in ethnic markets, but if unavailable, the preserve is still incredibly delicious without them.

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds (2.25 kg) saskatoon berries, carefully picked over, rinsed, and thoroughly drained
• 12 medium-sized peaches (approximately 5 pounds or 2.25 kg)
• Juice of 2 large, fresh lemons
• 1 cup (250ml) high-quality honey
• 2 teaspoons orange flower water (or rose water for a slightly different but equally lovely aroma)

Instructions:

1. Prepare the Peaches: Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Carefully dip the peaches into the boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes, or just until their skins begin to loosen. Immediately transfer them to a bowl of ice-cold water to cool, then easily slip off their skins. Cut the peeled peaches into uniform wedges, then further slice each wedge into about 4 smaller pieces.
2. Combine and Cook Fruit: In a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, combine the prepared saskatoons, diced peaches, and fresh lemon juice. Bring the mixture to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low, add the honey, and stir until fully dissolved.
3. Simmer to Desired Consistency: Allow the fruit mixture to simmer gently, stirring frequently to ensure even cooking and prevent scorching. Continue simmering for approximately 15 to 30 minutes. The goal is a “saucy” consistency, not a thick jam. The saskatoon berries should remain relatively whole, while the peach chunks should be nicely softened and begin to break apart, releasing their juices and flavors.
4. Jar and Seal: Ladle the hot saskatoon-peach preserve into hot, sterilized canning jars. Fill the jars to within ½ inch of the rim. Wipe the rims clean, then seal immediately with hot, sterilized lids and bands.
5. Process (Optional but Recommended for Shelf Stability): For extended shelf stability and peace of mind, process the sealed jars in a boiling water bath canner for 10 minutes (adjusting for altitude if necessary). After processing, carefully remove the jars from the canner and place them on a clean towel on your countertop to cool completely. You will hear the satisfying “pop” as the seals engage.
6. Alternative Storage: If you prefer not to can, allow the mixture to cool completely. Ladle it into freezer-safe containers, leaving adequate headspace for expansion, then freeze for future enjoyment. This method is excellent for shorter-term storage (up to 6 months).

This preserve is incredibly versatile! Serve it chilled as a simple fruit dessert, spoon it over creamy ice cream, plain yogurt, pancakes, waffles, cheesecake, or even rice pudding. Let your culinary imagination guide you!

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Canning Saskatoons with a Zesty Twist

For many years during my childhood, canned saskatoons were a staple fruit dessert, but I often found their flavor a little understated. This year, through a simple experiment, I discovered the missing link: lemon! The addition of lemon slices transformed them, providing a vibrant zing that my kids simply can’t get enough of. It’s crucial to use organic lemons for this recipe, as you’ll be including the peel directly in the jars, and we certainly want to avoid preserving any unwanted chemicals alongside our delicious berries.

Ingredients:

• Fresh saskatoon berries, picked over, rinsed, and thoroughly drained
• Organic lemons, thinly sliced (aim for uniform slices)
• High-quality honey
• Water

Instructions:

1. Prepare the Simple Syrup: Create a honey simple syrup by combining 1 cup of honey with 4 cups of water in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring until the honey is fully dissolved. Keep this syrup hot on a low simmer. You’ll need approximately 1 to 1-½ cups of syrup for each quart jar of berries you plan to can. Any leftover syrup can be stored in the refrigerator and makes a fantastic natural sweetener for summer beverages.
2. Prepare the Jars: Into each clean, sterilized quart jar, place 2 thin slices of organic lemon. Lay one slice flat at the bottom of the jar. Begin filling the jar with saskatoons, covering the bottom lemon slice. As you add more berries, gently tilt the jar and position the second lemon slice against the side of the jar, ensuring it’s visible from the outside. Continue filling the jar with berries to within ¾ inch of the top, keeping the lemon slice pressed against the glass for an appealing presentation. (While aesthetics are nice, don’t overstress if the lemon moves a little; the flavor will still be fantastic!) If using pint jars, you’ll only need 1 lemon slice per jar, placed against the outside.
3. Add Syrup and Seal: Carefully pour the hot honey syrup over the berries and lemon slices in each jar, filling to within ½ inch of the top rim. Ensure the berries are fully submerged in the syrup. Remove any air bubbles by gently tapping the jar or running a clean utensil along the inside edge. Wipe the jar rims clean with a damp cloth, then apply sterilized lids and screw bands until finger-tight.
4. Process in a Water Bath: Process the sealed jars in a boiling water bath canner for 20 minutes for quart jars, or 15 minutes for pint jars (remember to adjust processing time for higher altitudes). Once processing is complete, turn off the heat, carefully remove the canner lid, and let the jars rest in the hot water for 5 minutes before removing them.
5. Cool and Store: Carefully remove the hot jars from the canner using a jar lifter and place them on a clean towel or cooling rack on your counter, ensuring they are not touching. Allow them to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Check for seals; lids should be concave and not flex when pressed. Store properly sealed jars in a cool, dark place.

A little secret: the lemon slice at the end is often the best part! You might find yourself fighting over it, so be warned!

Guten Appetit!

I hope these recipes inspire you to capture the essence of saskatoon season in your own kitchen. There’s truly nothing like opening a jar of homemade preserves in the middle of winter and being transported back to the warmth and sweetness of summer.

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You might also like these related posts:

Essential Tips: How to Clean Your Saskatoon Berries

Mastering Berry Storage: How to Freeze Saskatoons for Later

Rhubarb Curd: A Luscious and Tangy Treat

Sour Cherry Cobbler with a Crumbly Almond Biscuit Topping: A Perfect Dessert