How to Make Haskap Jam in Canada (Honeyberry)

Haskap is about as Canadian as a berry gets. The modern varieties were bred at the University of Saskatchewan, the plants shrug off −40 °C winters, and the fruit ripens in late June — earlier than strawberries across much of the country, which makes it the first jam of the season for a lot of Prairie and northern gardeners.

This guide covers both routes: easy no-risk freezer jam, and shelf-stable water-bath jam. As always, we don’t invent processing times — for the water-bath number, use a tested berry-jam recipe (your Bernardin edition or the pectin box) and the altitude-adjustments guide.

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What haskap tastes like

Somewhere between blueberry, raspberry, and blackcurrant — sweet up front, distinctly tart on the finish. The berries are elongated and deep blue, softer than blueberries, and they stain like crazy (wear an apron). That natural tartness is good news for preserving: it means the fruit is acidic, and we still add bottled lemon juice to guarantee safe acidity for canning.

Start here: freezer jam (the easy, no-risk route)

If you’ve never made jam, do this one. There’s no canner and no botulism risk because nothing is shelf-stored at room temperature.

1. Crush about 5 cups of haskap.
2. Mix with sugar and freezer-jam pectin exactly per that pectin’s box (the ratios differ from regular pectin).
3. Ladle into clean freezer containers, leaving 1.5 cm headspace.
4. Rest as the box directs (usually 24 hours at room temperature to set), then freeze.

Keeps about 12 months frozen, 3 weeks in the fridge after thawing. Freezer jam keeps the bright fresh-berry colour and flavour that cooking dulls — and haskap’s flavour is worth keeping bright.

Water-bath haskap jam

For shelf-stable jars and gifting.

What you need

• About 5 cups crushed haskap (fresh or frozen — frozen works well)
• About 4 cups sugar (follow your pectin box if using pectin)
• 2 tbsp bottled lemon juice
• Optional pectin — Bernardin Original powder or Certo liquid, for a firmer set
• 5–6 × 250 mL Bernardin jars, fresh SNAP lids, bands

Method

1. Prep the canner and jars. Warm jars in simmering water.
2. Crush the berries to about 5 cups; stir in the bottled lemon juice.
3. Cook:
   • No-pectin path: add sugar, simmer 20–25 minutes until it passes the cold-plate set test.
   • Pectin path: add pectin, bring to a full rolling boil, add sugar, boil hard 1 minute (or per the box).
4. Jar: ladle into hot 250 mL jars leaving 6 mm headspace, wipe rims, apply fresh SNAP lids fingertip-tight.
5. Process in the boiling water bath for the time in a tested berry-jam recipe for 250 mL jars, adjusted for your altitude band.
6. Cool 12–24 hours; confirm each lid sealed.

Do I need pectin?

Haskap has some natural pectin but less than apples or crabapples, so:

• Want a firm, classic jam? Use commercial pectin and follow the box — most reliable.
• Want a softer, spoonable set? Skip pectin and cook to the cold-plate test.

Either is fine. If a no-pectin batch won’t set, see why didn’t my jam set — re-boil with a little pectin, or call it a gorgeous syrup.

Growing note

If you’re thinking of planting haskap, you need two compatible varieties for pollination, and the University of Saskatchewan’s releases (Aurora, Borealis, the Boreal series) are the Canadian benchmark. That’s a growing-season topic — our sister site GrowersGuide.ca is the place for variety selection and planting.

Lower-sugar and sugar-free options

Haskap is tart and boldly flavoured, so it shines with less sugar — a low-sugar batch tastes more like the berry and less like candy. Use Bernardin No-Sugar-Needed Pectin for a canned reduced- or no-sugar version, following the tested recipe on the box; the sugar in jam is for set and texture, not for the safety that acidity and processing provide. Haskap already skews soft-set, so expect a loose, spoonable jam with less sugar — lovely swirled into yogurt. The no-cook freezer route above works sugar-free too; see our freezer-jam guide for the full method.

Next steps

• How to make Saskatoon berry jam — the other great Prairie berry, same method
• How to make freezer jam — the no-canning route in detail
• Why didn’t my jam set? — the cold-plate test and salvage paths
• Canadian altitude adjustments — for your processing time
• Water-bath canning pillar — the full method