It’s the tail end of blueberry season here in Quebec.

These little navy pearls are from Lac St-Jean and have a much more intense flavour than their bloated, watery, cultivated brethren. Every year I freeze enough to last us through winter since they’re perfect for adding to oatmeal or pancakes. I snapped up a boat-sized basket last week and got to work freezing and jamming. The jam is based on a recipe from Blue Ribbon Preserves, with a little less sugar and an added lemony kick (juice+ zest).

To freeze: wash and dry, handling berries with care so as not to bruise or crush them. Spread them out in a single layer on a dry, non-stick cookie sheet (or put down a sheet of wax paper), freeze for about 30 minutes. Pour the frozen berries into some kind of plastic container. I tend to repeat this until I have about four or five big yogurt containers full, which generally last through spring.

As for the jam:

Lemony wild blueberry jam

5 cups crushed wild blueberries

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp lemon zest

5 cups sugar

1/2 tsp unsalted butter

2 packages liquid pectin

Combine berries, sugar, lemon juice and butter. Over medium-high heat, bring to a rolling boil, stirring continuously. Stir in the pectin and return to full rolling boil. Boil hard for one minute, stirring continuously. Remove from heat, allow to cool a little, skim off foam and stir to redistribute fruit bits. Ladle jam into hot, sterilized jars leaving 1 cm (1/4 inch) head space, remembering to wipe off any spilled jam from the rims with a clean cloth before putting hot lids and rings on. Process 250-ml jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Check out the colour: an incredibly deep purple, almost black. The berry flavour was intense enough to almost completely eclipse the citrus, but there’s still a little tang to be detected. The other night it made for a snappy sweet treat spooned over vanilla ice cream: