From Bess Halle : Basic flower jelly
Make an infusion from edible flowers.
1 pint of flowers to 1 pint of boiling water.
Most flowers have a bitter bit where the petal joins the flower so you must cut
that part off. I use scissors and just trim the petals of flowers,
leaving the points attached. (though once I actually snipped the
points off 2 quarts of rose petals.... tedious beyond belief!)
2 C flower infusion
1/4 C lemon juice
4 C sugar
6 oz liquid pectin
*optional; few drops food coloring
Mix infusion, lemon juice and sugar in stainless steel or enamelware pan. Bring to hard boil you can't stir down. Add liquid pectin and return to hard boil.
Boil at this temp. 2 minutes. Pour immediately into hot sterilized jars and seal.
Turn jars upside down for 5 minutes and revert [or process for 5 min
in water bath].
Makes 4-4.5 cups of jelly.
I've found liquid pectin works better with flowers (and herbs) than the powdered kind.
You CAN make jellies with flowers and juice and I often make an apple mint
jelly with apple juice and apple mint. My favorite herb combination,
though, is lemon mint, made with 1 cup lemon verbena infusion and 1
cup spearmint. I never use the food coloring because I like the pale
yellow and gold and pink and ruby colors.
P.S. The word from the wine making group (where I first got the idea
to make honeysuckle jelly) is to wash the blossoms first. This is
probably a good idea because I made a batch of honeysuckle jelly over
the weekend and there was an awful lot of pollen in the flowers. The
jelly tasted like honey, btw, and quite good...not at all lemony, but
not enough of the actual honeysuckle flavor I was aiming for. I'll
probably increase the proportions next time.
Here's another rose petal jelly recipe which makes more jelly.
2 quarts rose petals **see note below
2 quarts water
1/4 cup lemon juice
7 cups sugar
6 oz liquid pectin
Boil petals in 2 quarts of water with the lid on, till 1/2
liquid is gone. Measure out 3 cups liquid. (save the remaining cup!!)
mix with lemon juice and sugar. Bring to rolling boil. Add liquid
pectin (this will be 2 packages of the liquid certo brand) and bring
back to hard boil.
Boil 2 minutes and pour into hot sterilized
jars. Seal in preferred manner.
I use the little 4 oz jelly jars so that I can give away a lot. This makes about 15 little jars.
The remaining cup can be mixed with a 1 cup infusion of a favorite herb
like mint or lemon balm and used in the previous recipe.
I also boiled a cinnamon stick in with the jelly-making part (not the first boiling
of petals) I think because I heard of a restaurant called Cinnamon
Rose and the name stuck. Anyway, at first the cinnamon seemed a little
strong. A friend said the jelly tasted like the apple pie from
heaven. BUT after opening a sealed jar a few days later I DID detect
both the rose and the cinnamon flavor. Be sure to discard the cinnamon
stick before bottling.
**I've used less and I've used more, so the
exact proportions probably don't matter.
In fact, even when I pick them at night when I get home from work, and they have little scent,
cooking them brings it out a lot. Just remember, for a good red color
you will need some red roses and also remember.. ..the rose brew will
stain your hands, your sink, your clothes!!!
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