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Haskap berries are tart treats in the early summer, and homemade haskap berry jam is one of the first jams I make each year in my canning kitchen.
Haskap berries, also known as honeyberries by those who know a thing or two about marketing, grow on a perennial berry bush that’s similar to blueberries. They get big, sometimes 8 feet tall at maturity, and the produce ample crops of oblong berries that taste like a cross between a blueberry and a grape.
The best part? They’re the very first crop to ripen up here in the north country. In central Vermont (zone 4), our last frost usually happens around Memorial Day. That’s also when the haskaps ripen, about 2-3 weeks before the first strawberries.
We grow mostly tart varieties, but that doesn’t stop the little ones from stripping the bushes bare to enjoy the first fruit of the season. It takes a bit of convincing, but I managed to bribe my 4-year-old to save me a small bowl of honeyberries for jam.
Our berry bushes are 4 years old, and they’re already about 5 feet tall, so even if she wasn’t willing to share I’ll still get those top berries far out of her reach. The siren’s song of jam is sweet music to her ears….bowl in hand she went to work collecting fruit for honeyberry jam.
Honeyberries are naturally high in pectin, and you can make a simple honeyberry jam with just fruit and a bit of sugar. I say “a bit” of sugar, really I mean quite a bit.
They can be very tart, and a few of our bushes are some of the tartest varieties. All that tart actually makes for a much better jam in the end, and there’s no need to add lemon juice.
Start by bringing equal parts of honeyberries and sugar (by volume) to a boil in a small saucepan. It’ll take a few minutes for the fruit to release their juices, but once it gets going the mixture will foam up. Be careful, and stir it down at the beginning to avoid overflows.
Towards the end, the bubbles will take on a glossy look and the texture will change. That’s the jam reaching “gel stage.”
You can test for gel stage on a plate placed in the freezer, or watch to see if it sheets off a spoon (also from the freezer). The simplest method is to use a cooking thermometer though, and simmer the honeyberry jam until it reaches 220 degrees.
If you’re an experienced jam maker though, you’ll know what gel stage looks like and there’s no need to test it. Once the bubbles make their characteristic change and the jam suddenly thickens up, it’s time to get it into jars.
This happens relatively quickly, even though the berries themselves are quite soft. My haskap jam reached gel stage in about 8-10 minutes of cooking.
Haskap Berry Jam (Honeyberry Jam)
Ingredients
- 2 cups haskap berries, honeyberries, washed and de-stemmed
- 2 cups sugar
Instructions
- Add the haskap berries and sugar to a saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium heat (stirring frequently).
- Simmer until the jam reaches gel stage, as tested on a plate in the freezer or with a kitchen thermometer (220 degrees F).
- Pack into canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace and seal with 2 part lids.
- Store jars in the fridge for immediate use or process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes for a shelf stable honeyberry jam.
Jam Canning Recipes
Looking for more easy canning recipes? Try any of these tasty jams this summer!
- Peach Jam
- Cornelian Cherry Jam
- Blackberry Jam without Pectin
- Low Sugar Strawberry Jam
- Old Fashioned Grape Jam
Can you use frozen Haskap Berries to make the jam? If so, do they need to be thawed first?
Yes, you should be able to make it with frozen berries. You do not want to thaw them first. The faster they thaw the less juice they will lose.
Great recipe! I had 5 cups of haskaps and used 4 cups of sugar. After it had mostly cooked, I pulled about 12 ounces aside and added some finely chopped jalapeño. (Maybe 1/2 tablespoon? Including seeds and membranes). Wowza!). Cooked that pan a bit more and water bathed all for 20 minutes. Set up nicely with less sugar-next time I might even use less sugar so more tartness can shine through.
Thank you. We’re so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
My jam is runny. Boiled until it reached 220. What did I do wrong.
Thank you for this recipe!
I made 1/2 a batch, and put it in the fridge in a pie pan to cool quickly so we could have it on fresh biscuits.
My 13yo said it was his new favorite jam. 😉
Wonderful, so glad you enjoyed it!
I froze my honey berries because I didn’t have time to make my jam when the berries were ripe. Do I still use one to one ratio to make my jam? Should I include the juice that comes from the thawed berries? I am ready to do my jam now – thawed and ready to go.
How did your jam turn out?
What is the yield for this recipe (so that I can make sure I have the required jars prepped and ready to go)?
The yield for this recipe is 3 half-pint jars.
Have you adapted to make jelly instead of jam? Trying to figure out how much sugar to juice.
I haven’t made jelly with them yet actually, I should try that this year!
Have you tried to make Haskap Jelly this year? My kids don’t like the skins in the jam but would love a haskap jelly! If you have, could you email me the recipe or let me know when you post it? Thanks!
Do you know if this recipe would work with some sugar substitute, say 1 cup sugar and 1 cup splenda? Thanks so much:)
You could definitely try it and see how it works. It may affect the cook time required to get a gel since there is no pectin in this recipe.
I make freezer jam using packets for that I buy at Metro although other stores must have them. YOu freeze the jam instead of storing it like preserves but it has much less sugar. I would taste it for hascaps to be sure they are sweet enough. I freeze it in small jars so it gets used up quickly once it is thawed and kept in the fridge.
Can I use less sugar
Yes you can. Yield will be lower and it’ll require a longer cook time, but you should be fine using less sugar.
You don’t need to use pectin (sure jell) for this jam?
Nope. This is recipe is made without pectin.
I don’t need to add any water ?
Nope. They release their juices on their own quickly. You can put a tablespoon or two in at the beginning to help them get started if you’d like, but that’s optional.
Can you use honey berries for a freezer jam?
I haven’t tried it, but I don’t see why not.
YES!! You can make freezer jam from haskaps,..I do all the time!! It’s delish!!
do you have a recipe for honeyberry/blueberry jelly….
I don’t yet…but I may put one out this year.
Do you have a recipe to can honeyberry pie filling?
I don’t, but I’d suggest using a recipe for blueberry pie filling and increasing the sugar by 20-30%.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Enjoy your summer.
Cyndi