Juicy information for berry pickers

It’s huckleberry season in western Montana. Though nearly all hucks grow in the state’s northwestern region, picking is a statewide calling. Picking berries is easy, but it helps to know where to look.

Here are some tips:

  • Huckleberries are most abundant between 3,500 and 7,000 feet.
  • Look for conifer forests with roughly 50 percent tree cover. The berries ripen in open or semi-open areas of old burns, old clear-cuts and avalanche chutes.
  • Collect on south-facing slopes at lower elevations starting around mid-summer, then move to other slopes and higher elevations as the season progresses.
  • Try not to encroach on other pickers territory.
  • As you pick, put the berries in a 1-quart plastic container with a U-shaped flap cut in the lid. Picking is often on hillsides. If you slip or stumble, your hard-earned hucks won’t spill onto the ground.
  • Keep in mind that humans aren’t the only ones looking for huckleberries. Watch out for grizzlies, make noise and carry bear pepper spray.


RECIPE: Wild Montana Huckleberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients
Streusel

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons butter, softened

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk
1 cup wild Montana huckleberries, fresh or frozen

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9” square or 9” round cake pan.

  1. Streusel topping: In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients then cut in the butter until it reaches a crumbly state. Setaside.
  2. To make the cake: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk togetherthe flour, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together thesugar, butter, egg, and vanilla.
  4. Alternately add the milk and the flour mixture to the sugar/buttermixture, ending with flour. Add huckleberries. Stir only enough to blend.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the streusel topping over the batter.
  6. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean.
  7. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Source: Montana FWP

Photo: National Park Service, public domain via Flickr

Topics
Hunt in Montana