ohhh brilliant post, I love the tip about the vinegar in the pate sablee! and the new fruit is quite interesting, thanks for sharing! :)

looks lovely (and cute story too!) i've never tried saskatoon berries, though i'm canadaian but it makes me want to seek them out. and... you're warming me to the idea of making my own pasty crust again... "no rolling" you say...

There are other Amelanchier species native to other parts of North America. Here in Maryland, I have two wild Amelanchier arborea, known locally as shadbush, since they bloom about the same time as the shad swim into the rivers. The fruit are similar to the Saskatoon, but the birds usually beat me to them.

Growing up in Manitoba, saskatoons are a staple and my favourite berry. I used to turn my nose up at wild blueberries in favour of this fruit! Now that I live in Toronto, I miss it and my mother's wonderful wild saskatoon pies. Oh those pies!!! If you can get your hands on wild ones they are much better than the cultivated berries. You can use them like you would blueberries: muffins, pancakes, etc. but you did the right thing by making a pie. Try putting some cinnamon and nutmeg with the berries in your next pie. You won't regret it. Lovely post, thank you so much!

Pourquoi pas de la glace?

I'm with Pamela, add some sweet based spices and you'll find these berries will taste even better. Great to see one of my country's national food treasures traveling to new places!

I think I might have just figured out what "those weird blueberries" in my Seattle yard are! Now if they're still alive when I get back there in a year, I'll know what to do with them :-)

ohhhh yummmy!! want that pie so bad!

Hi Clotilde,
This sounds lovely. When you say "lightly grease" what exactly would you do? Do you use spray, or rub with shortening, or rub with butter? Or use a liquid oil?

I suspect the frozen berries would be great in a smoothie!

Along with McGee's On Food and Cooking, another great resouce for bakers is titled In the sweet kitchen by Canadian chef and baker Regan Daley (it's basically a chemistry book for bakers).

Thanks for the great recipes!

Ma mère récolte les fruits d'amélanchier dans son fossé pour faire de la confiture. Elle utilise la confiture avec des plats salés comme un rôti de porc ou une épaule d'agneau. C'est super délicieux. Les amélanchier sont des arbustes indigènes au Québec, il existe aussi des boissons alcoolisées (exemple des crèmes) faites à partir du fruit.

Like Pamela, I grew up in Manitoba and saskatoons are a staple. I agree - pie is a great way to go. However, the muffins are also delicious - just substitute the saskatoons for blueberries.

My mom would also make a 'crisp' with them - also known as a crumble. You'd make a topping of oats, flour, brown sugar and butter and put it on top of berries or other fruit mixed with sugar and a bit of flour to form a sauce - delicious!

My mum is Canadian and loves to use them in pies. They grow like crazy near our cottage in Manitoba and are good raw, like blueberries, too.

In the US, they are sometimes called "service berries". Most people don't know that they are even edible, much less how amazingly delicious they are!

I just made some delicious blueberry buttermilk sherbert that I'm sure would work well with your frozen berries. And it's a great way to use up leftover buttermilk from baking! I pureed 3 cups of blueberries with about half a cup of sugar, and then stirred 2 cups of buttermilk into the mixture. Since I don't have an ice cream machine, I just gave the sherbert a good stir every 30 minutes or so while it froze.

This morning I blended a cup of the sherbert with a scoop of whey protein powder for a breakfast shake. It was a bit too sweet but otherwise very good.

i love june berries! the tart looks beautiful. there are june berry trees all over new york city and i've even picked some from central park. they're also delicious when scattered over a salad.

We always use frozen berries to make sorbet in the summer time and dial back the sugar a good bit, so the inherent sweetness of the berry shines through. That tart looks fantastic!

I moved into a new apartment in Brooklyn this May and was thrilled when the tree in the garden started producing tons of juneberries! It's fast becoming my favorite berry.

My first attempt at baking them was actually using your yogurt cake recipe, so this post brings things full circle. Thanks, Clotilde!

I live in Saskatoon! And yes, these berries are wonderful. I most often use the frozen ones in smoothies or pancakes. For pancakes, I defrost them on a little plate while I'm making the batter, then once I drop the batter onto the pan, I scatter the berries on top. Then one flip, and you're done! Enjoy!

Mm, can't wait to try this. I have lots of frozen saskatoons leftover from last year.

Saskatoon berries make great jam. I have many happy childhood memories of eating this. It's delicious.

I severely miss Saskatoon berries. I grew up in Alberta and they were everywhere! I like them best either fresh or in a jam. I'm also seen them dried and put in granola mixes. But all in all a Saskatoon pie is a food staple of the Prairies.

I've been seeing this berry all over Seattle - maybe you're right about its status as a soon-to-be "superfood"!

Bonjour Clotilde,
un peu tard si tu as déjà congelé tes baies mais j'ai lu qu'elles peuvent etre séchées comme des raisins secs. Pourquoi ne pas essayer ensuite des cookies amélanchier / amandes ?

Wow, this is so neat. A new fruit! The tart looks delicious, and I love the tip about vinnegar in the crust. I am still learning how to make good crusts and I will certainly give this a try.

We're all laughing here! We call these berries chicken berries, because we planted quite a few of these bushes in our yard, and all the berries go straight to the chickens! None of us can stand them one bit, 'though we do all love blueberries.

YEAH! Thanks for bringing attention to this neat little fruit.
However, I am curious about the texture of your tart. The Saskatoon berries that grow wild where I grew up are about 50% seed, making them unpleasant to eat unless they are seeded first. When we were kids, our dad would try to cajole me and my brother into picking enough Saskatoon berries for a pie - copious amounts because they needed to be seeded before going into the pie. Perhaps when cultivated they have smaller or fewer seeds?

I never really warmed up to Saskatoons, even though it's one of my father's favourite berries and I couldn't escape them in Saskatoon.
I did kind of like the sweet perogies the mennonites made out of them, I think with sugar and cottage cheese in the filling

Also, Saskatoon berry jam is pretty good, but they remind of sala'al berries from my home on the west coast of Canada - they taste better after they're cooked and a little sugar is added.

I vastly prefer huckleberries. The real, tart, bright pink ones.

I add frozen Saskatoon berries to scones, they are great. My boyfriend and I also make a Saskatoon berry compote to serve over pancakes with vanilla yogurt. Take the berries (fresh or frozen) and cook with honey, lemon juice and zest, chai spice or cinnamon. Add a cornstarch and water mixture to thicken.

saskatoon? wow, i've never even heard of them before

I also grew up in Manitoba and have memories, both good and bad, associated with saskatoon berries. They grow wild among the trees in the Interlake region and we'd pull over to the side of the road, scramble over the ditch, and pick and pick and pick until we filled up our plastic 4-litre ice cream buckets. Although the skins are thicker than blueberries, they still stained our fingers but they're infinitely easier to pick since they grow on shrubs instead of close to the ground. We never ate them raw. Rather, my mom would begin a jarring spree, gently heating the berries with a bit of water, some sugar and spices, then seal them up in jars and pressure treat them. We employed this method with raspberries as strawberries as well and ate them, preferably chilled, as a dessert...sort of a fruit compote...throughout the winter. If we were lucky, the stewed fruit was spooned on top of ice cream. We grew sick of them by Spring, by which time we started the cycle once more and picked them by the bucketful.

Oh my gosh, will you please let me eat your leftover crumbs?! This post has my mouth watering, but the only thing I can manage with any berries is rinsing and popping them directly into my mouth. *sigh* Perhaps someday I'll have the courage to follow your delightful recipe. For now, I'll just gaze longingly at the picture.

I've never heard of these before... Learned something new today! I doubt I can get them in Austria, but I might get lucky and get some blueberries from a friend. Then I can try your pie, it sounds heavenly. Now if only all the rain would stop and let the sun through... No good weather for berries this year at all... sigh.
About the dough and the tip with the vinegar - I suppose I could use some lemon juice instead? I hate vinegar, alone the smell is awfull to me. Except the real aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena, which technically speaking isn't a vinegar and should never be cooked ;-)

Honestly, I've never heard of these berries before. So I've learned something new once again - thank you!
Your tart looks delicious. I'm sure these berries would make a good jam. I'd also add them to bread pudding or pie - I made one with red & black currants the other day, yummy!

We live in rural Oregon and inherited massive bushes of saskatoon berries when we bought our house. The first year I left them for the birds, who were quite happy with my gesture, but the subsequent years, I race out there as fast I can to pick the berries and make jam before the birdies get them. In this area they are also called service berries, and since I began sharing my jam with friends, I learned that there is quite a good sized group of devotees in this region.

This is a fascinating post, Clotilde! All sorts of tidbits.

Just commenting because you reminded me that I tried and loved your clafoutis recipe - months ago - and introduced my extended family to the concept as well. Thanks for all your informative descriptions; I appreciate hearing the creative process.

I thought I would add what we've observed on our farm ...
We grow 5 different cultivars from which we get fruit that is pretty different in size and taste.
Some like Lee#8 and Smoky are small so the seeds are quite present when you eat them and others like Thiessen are huge and so you feel the seeds less.
You can see a picture of the different sizes here.
So cultivar plays a role but also weather, a year with little rain will yield also smaller, drier fruit.
The almond taste of the Saskatoon is mostly found in the seeds so a smaller fruit will generally be more flavourful. We use the smaller fruit to make
seedless jam (through a food mill), as well as Saskatoon eau de vie. The larger fruit is easier to eat fresh, or in pies as well as whole fruit jam.
I find the skin and flower end of the saskatoon to be more difficult to eat than the seeds, but it is all a matter of personal taste. My french grandmother
wouldn't eat a saskatoon even if she was paid to, and my eldest son will shovel handfuls into his mouth from our picking buckets and he is a picky eater.

I'd probably throw some of the frozen berries in muffins or scones. Or pancakes. Or simmer them with a little sweetener and lemon juice to make a compote. Or just toss them into a fruit crumble.

Of course, I haven't actually eaten this particular berry, but that's what I tend to do with other berries!

Clotilde,

the cultivar I sent you is called Northline. It is our favourite one to pick, the fruit is good sized (like the berry that is third from left on the photo).
Another idea for the Saskatoons is mixed into a bread stuffing to serve with guinea hen, for example.
Merci à toi !

And the Saskatoon berry is also in Slow Food's Ark of Taste as a Canadian native product worth preserving as it is historically meaningful also.

Je suis bien heureuse de savoir qu'une compatriote fait connaître ce fruit en France. Les gens de Slow Food seraient sans doute heureux de savoir que ce fruit est disponible en Europe!

I grow tons of Juneberries. My dad went on a planting spree a few years ago and now I and my daughter reap the benefits. This year a local resort offered to pay her for them if she picked them as they featuer juneberry pie on their menu.

I personally like them best covered w/ cream fresh off the bush. They also are wonderful in ice cream and cheesecake. Clafouti is yummy as you've already tried and so are muffins, breads. They also make a wonderful sauce to accompany roast venison.

As Peter said, they are also called service berry in the Western US. But they are pronounced "sarvice" berry. They were a favorite of the pioneers travelling West on the Oregon Trail. When we lived in Idaho we picked and ate them while deer hunting. Now that we live in Michigan we have planted some in the back yard, but the berries aren't ripe yet.

Pies are the most "traditional" way to go in Canada (usually with cinnamon and pecans if you have them). Jams are good too, but I've had my share in cobbler, muffins, scones and even in cinnamon buns (in place of raisins)!

One of my favourite things to do with frozen saskatoons is make a sauce with them to serve over pancakes. I was once told by a farmer that almond extract hightens the flavour and so does a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. I add one cup of water and two cups of frozen berries. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Mix 1/4 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch together and then mix into the berry mixture, stirring lots. When thickened, squeeze in the lemon juice (about 1 tablespoon) and a few drops of almond extract (about 1/4 tsp). Mix in and remove from heat immediately.

PS I was in Paris last month and took your book along with me. It was well used. Thank you for all those great tips! From falafels to Vietnamese sandwiches! The best!

I grew up with Saskatoons at my grandparents' cabin up near Athabasca in the north of Alberta, and our love for them was so strong that we still have two giant bushes in our back yard. It was quite a shock to find out that they're not universally known, since they're so ubiquitous here in Edmonton that local grocery store chains sell pre-made saskatoon pies. Thanks for giving one of my favourite fruits a bit of love and attention.

Dear Clotilde,
I live in Toronto ON now and miss Saskatoon Berries so much. I grew up in Saskatchewan and would go with my family to pick them. These little charms are my favourite and make me a bit homesick. My family even brings them when they come visit.

On Monday, I found ornamental trees planted along a newer area. At closer look, I realized they were my beloved berries. I returned to the office and told my other prairie refugee friend. The next morning you posted this recipe. So, at lunch he and I took containers and picked enough for two pies. All the while strangers would stop and ask us what they were. We would politely explain to eat the deep purple ones. We must have looked so strange in an urban area picking "poisonous" berries, but we were in our glory.

I made the pie for Canada Day and it was a grand hit.

Thanks so much,

Heather

Clotilde, next time you come to Montreal, you should try the blueberry ice cream from Point G on Mont-Royal St. It‘s actually like taking a bite of a huge frozen blueberry, it’s so refreshing!

Greetings to Delphine from her home town, Calgary!

Saskatoon berries are so good! My families farm, growing up (near Sudbury, Ontario) had them in plenty every year! We never really knew what to do with them, except eat them plain. If only I knew about this wondrous tart!

I didn't read all of the comments above, but I've been enhaling juneberries (also called huckleberries) for about 15 years, and still alive I like to tell passers-by. In many cities, the small trees are used as foliage around predominantly bank buildings, or in water-side parks. I don't know if they grow fast or just the limited height, but very popular. I usually manage to eat a pint a day and pick an extra pint when I go, either enough to give or freeze. The frozen ones are fabulous in the summer as straight eating, but also effective in smoothies, where the seeds add a pleasant crunch. I love the process, april is strawberries, june is these, july has wineberries, late july has blackberries. If I eat the fresh in season and pick extra for the freezer, I can usually accumulate a gallon of each, which is enough for smoothies and out-of-hand eating for the rest of the year. Juneberries defrost the best of these, holding their shape - plain, at a potluck in November, prized addition.

The tart was brilliant! As was your indomitable performance of American Pie. I'm still trying to understand how a hillbilly from Kansas could be defeated on that song by a (freakishly talented) Parisienne...

Thanks for a great night!

Thank you, Clotilde, for sharing your crust recipe for fruit tarts. I live in Kansas in the US, and I'm almost certain that Saskatoon berries are not available here. However, there is a nice mulberry tree in my back yard that's about to bear fruit!

Thank goodness for the local fruits of summer!

Kate

If you still have any of those berries on hand, you could bake muffins. Here is my recipe.

I had never heard of saskatoon berries before reading this post! I feel as if I want to get to know them now. Of course even if I'm not able to find them here in seattle, I think that marionberries would work beautifully with this recipe too!

Where I live (St. John's, Newfoundland), they are called chuckley pears, and they grow in abundance along the many walking trails throughout the city. I had never eaten them until last year when a friend of mine, who grew up in rural north Ontario, told me how prized they are in the rest of Canada. One of my goals for this season is to fill my freezer with them, and maybe preserve some in syrup. They are quite delicious, although I too found that a few of the bushes yielded particularly seedy, tasteless fruit. Interestingly, I found last year that older people walking the trails would always stop to confess their love for the out-of-fashion fruit, and to share recipes. I'm looking forward to picking up some more traditional knowledge from passers-by when I go picking this year!

Wonderful as always, Clotilde! I can't wait to get started... Thanks for the inspiration!

mmm I miss Saskatoons! I haven't had them since I moved away from home.

We used to put them in pies and perogies and jam and my grandma would make a syrup out of them. She also made a syrup out of chokecherries which is amazing.

I'm late to this conversation, but I wanted to add that back when I had access to Saskatoons, I would freeze them and then add a little handful to my cooked cereal just a couple of minutes before it was done. I does turn the cereal a bit purple, but is very tasty.

And as others have mentioned, they are very good in muffins and pancakes.

I must say that I miss them, as well as the chokecherries and highbush cranberries that we used to pick north of my home in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I grew up in North Dakota, and to my family juneberries were the height of delicacy. Imagine my delight when I moved to Chicago and found that they are planted in all sorts of public places! And I also saw a bush in Zurich when I visited there last year. I understand they're sort of difficult to cultivate, but they can be found in all sorts of places. Frozen berries are wonderful in muffins, scones, pancakes, pies, cheesecakes, anything you like like berries in. They make great jam, too.

@RG: Juneberries and huckleberries are not actually the same thing; huckleberries belong to the Ericaceaea family.

I have just been picking Saskatoons for the past 2 days, so I will have enough to freeze for pies and to make pancake syrup. My son and both prefer fruit syrup rather than Maple syrup on pancakes and waffles. So we make choke cherry, saskatoon syrup and huckleberry syrup now too. I make them all as if to make jelly with enough pectin to thicken it slightly and can them in jars for the coming year. I grew up in Northern Ontario where wild blueberries and Saskatoons are both plentiful. I always viewed saskatoons as a second rate blueberry and never appreciated when my grandmothers blueberry perogies turned out to saskatoon filled because she ran out of blueberries. My husband however has an obsessive craving for saskatoon pie and now, as an adult, I would now have to agree with him that the flavour of a good saskatoon beats that of a good blueberry any day. Having discovered Huckleberries for the first time last season, I'd have to say that their more intense flavour has won me over, and I prefer them over blue berries when eatten fresh. June berries or Saskatoons or Service Berries which ever you like to call them are definitely not the same as Saskatoons. Your tart looks lovely! Thanks for sharing:)

I love Saskatoon berries (having grown up in Canada) and can fully recommend making them into a sauce to pour over pancakes, along with a generous drizzle of maple syrup and whipped cream. Mmmmm

My husband and I own Blue Sky Farm in Saskatoon Saskatchewan and we can supply fresh (in season) and frozen (all year)saskatoon berries.
My husband is an expert on the Saskatoon Berry and propagates the trees which we sell across North America.

Anyone want small order up to 10,000lbs. frozen Saskatoon fruit and/or 50 to 30,000 small trees for commercial production. A very good business to enter as there is strong international interest in the "new" fruit.

We are preparing a program for a Saskatoon Fruit Workshop which will show how to plant and care for the trees and what to cook with the fruit.

Emily

I cannot imagine all the excitment about saskatoon berries, Wow. I guess we in Manitoba, take these berries for granted, tis the season for saskatoon pies and jam at our house, as it is every July. They also make good fruit, I remember my Mom doing quarts of them, I stick to making jam and pies.

This is an increasingly popular landscape plant in the US. Lovely white flowers in the spring, attractive foliage in the fall, and smallish leaves that don't create a big raking problem. I have three of them, but can never seem to get to the berries before the birds do.

Nikki, I would be very interested in purchasing some plants to put in the ground this spring. Would also like information on their cultivation.