NOTE: I’ve updated this post (as of July 2017) – click here for TWO versions of my saskatoon berry drink mix!
The saskatoon berries are here! The saskatoon berries are here!
Last Saturday my hubby and I spent a VERY long time in the sweltering morning sun gathering saskatoons at a wonderful nearby U-Pick farm, Little Purple Apple. We may be the slowest berry pickers in the world…BUT I didn’t have to do much sorting when we got home. We snagged only (mostly?) the ripe ones, with barely any leaf litter or roving bugs. Saskatoon berries are easy to pick, and they don’t have the soft skins of blueberries or haskap, so they don’t bruise easily. We still came off of the field with stains on our hands, though!
I have big plans for our bounty! Some of the berries are already scrubbed, bagged whole, and set in the freezer for use in pies at a later date. Others were crushed and sent into the dye pot – saskatoon berries make a great dye in the red-purple range. A sizeable batch of jam is on my list of things to do this afternoon, and a quick assembly of a saskatoon and rhubarb cobbler is in the works for tonight’s dessert.
One of the workers at Little Purple Apple was telling me about some saskatoon syrup they had preserved for sale to the customers; she said if you weren’t inclined to put it on your pancakes, you could add a small amount to ice water for a refreshing summery drink. Of course, that got the ol’ gears grinding, and I thought perhaps I could create my own version of the recipe at home. Here is my take:
Saskatoon Berry Drink Mix
3 cups washed saskatoon berries, crushed with a mortar and pestle or a potato masher
1 1/2 cups water
Place in a large saucepan and heat to boiling. Boil hard for 5 minutes, then remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
While you’re waiting, make the simple syrup. Mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar and 3/4 cups of water together in a small saucepan and bring to a boil on the stove. Stir constantly to dissolve the sugar. Once the mixture is boiling, remove it from the heat and set aside to cool. (If you want to make your syrup thicker, you can step up the ratio of sugar:water).
Once your ingredients have cooled, run the berries and water through a metal sieve, reserving the liquid. Press the berries into the sieve with the back of a spoon to get all of the juice out. You will end up with some berry pulp in the sieve – don’t discard it! I put mine in the freezer for use in muffins or cake later on.
Run the saskatoon berry liquid through an even finer sieve if you have one (tightly-woven cheesecloth if you don’t). The idea is to make the syrup as clear as possible.
Combine the sugar and the berry juice together and process (if you’re canning it) and store in your usual way. This recipe makes about 3 cups of syrup. I’m just keeping my syrup in the fridge, as I know I’ll use it up fairly quickly. When you want to drink it, just place a few tablespoonsful in a tall glass and add chilled water, diluting the syrup to your taste. (I think a carbonated water would work very nicely, as well). You could probably add a couple of fresh mint leaves or a squeeze of lemon to your drink, but for me, the sweet nutty flavour of the berries is wonderful on its own!
If you don’t have saskatoons, I think this would work nicely using blueberries…or maybe, with the correct ratio of sugar, red currants.
What are your favourite saskatoon berry recipes?
Related articles
- Sunday spotlight: Saskatoon. (myfloweryprose.wordpress.com)
- Canada Day is Saskatoon Pie (letsbeamie.wordpress.com)
- Berry picking time (lovinglifeagreenjourney.wordpress.com)
Flowery Prose 
Yum! I love saskatoons. The juice sounds wonderful. I have two bushes growing in my yard here in BC but only got enough to eat. Hopefully more as time goes on.
They’re so delicious and pretty!
Sounds Heavenly… wish we had saskatoon berries here!
They are definitely wonderful! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!
I have serviceberries, but they ripen in June. I didn’t realize saskatoons ripened so much later.
Hi – thanks so much for stopping by! I checked your blog and it looks like you’re from Chicago – in your latest entry, I see you’re finishing up the elderberry harvest and ours here in Calgary haven’t even gotten started yet (some of our elders are actually still in bloom!). We’re a bit slower than you with our berry ripening, due to the cool northern climate. Serviceberries are called saskatoons here in the west, while eastern Canadians call them serviceberries, as you do. Your blog is great, by the way – I look forward to reading more of your posts!
Thanks so much. You must have a pretty short season, but on the other hand you have all those dramatic mountains to make up for that.
I have never heard of these berries. I will have to look for some
They are fantastic! I hope you can find some! 🙂
Picking Saskatoon berries is one of my favourite activities, closely followed by eating the resultant pie. I’m delighted to find another Calgary blogger.
I so agree, on all three counts! 🙂 Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!
I am in Saskatoon right now…love this city of bridges and the Saskatoon berries, of course.
Saskatoon berries are delightful and delicious! I haven’t yet been to Saskatoon, but I mean to go next year. I keep hearing about what a beautiful city it is and look forward to seeing it for myself.
I am a bit behind on reading blogs. I did put a link to this on my blog 🙂
Thanks so much for the mention – that’s wonderful of you to do that! 🙂
I love this sort of fruit syrup. In summer there is nothing more refreshing than a home made drink using fruit syrup.
I couldn’t agree more! I want to experiment a bit more, use some other kinds of berry and fruit and edible flowers…. 🙂
Can’t wait to see the results of your experiments.
Hi Sheryl. That looks fantastic. What a wonderful summer beverage! And you frozen berries will make wonderful pies filled with the goodness of summer
Summer has seemed to go by in a blink this year…I’m hoping to preserve as much of it as possible! 🙂
Have a wonderful weekend!
Hi Sheryl. Appreciate the visit and follow. I decided to comment on this post because it is a subject that I’ve been interested in for several years. Central New York was Zone 4 until recently, but we’re now experiencing Zone 5 winters. Still very cold and snowy, but not dipping below -20 degrees. Serviceberry (Amelanchier) thrives here in the wild and I am planning to establish a few cultivated plants near the house. A nursery in northern New York (close to the Canadian border) has recommended several varieties of Saskatoon and I’ll probably follow-up with an order in the spring.
Hi, Nick, thank you so much for your comment! I’m pleased to hear that you’re going to try growing some Saskatoons – they are certainly hardy, beautiful plants and the berries are delicious and versatile in baking and cooking. (Plus – they’re really good for you. I hear they’re being touted as a new superfruit). I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun growing them and using the berries.
hmmmm like it.Thanks for the tip
[…] too hot to bake, have your pie in milkshake form. Like a lot of fruits, it also makes a great syrup to use in homemade sodas, cocktails, and more. And of course, you can make wine with […]
Very nice, Sheryl..Where you been?
It’s been a crazy summer for me: we moved into a new home and transferred jobs. Everything is new and we’re just trying to get settled in. Hopefully I can finally catch up on everyone’s blogs – I’ve missed so much!
Enjoy your weekend, I hope it’s going great!
Sheryl: Thanks for your continuing interest in Elm Drive Images.
[…] bake, have your pie in milkshake form. Like a lot of fruits, it also makes a great syrup to use in homemade sodas, cocktails, and more. And of course, you can make wine with […]