The first thing you need to do is find some violets from a spot that you know hasn’t been exposed to chemicals. A few years ago I transplanted a few violets around my little pond.
It is okay to mix in some of the white violets if you have those also. Next I fill mason jars with violets and then pour boiling water over them, seal and let steep 24 hours. If you want to be more precise than me use about 1 cup boiling water for each packed cup of violets.
assemble your canning tools. Make sure all your jars, lids and rings are sterilized.
You will need to then use a jelly bag and strain off your violet infusions. These are the proportions I use for my jelly
4 cups violet infusion
1/2 cup lemon juice or the juice of 2 lemons
8 cups sugar (less if you are using reduced sugar pectin)
1 package of dry pectin or use the liquid type if you prefer that
Pour 4 cups of violet infusion into a pan and then add the lemon juice. Enjoy the color change!
Stir 1 box of pectin into the infusion and bring to a boil. I put in 1/2 teaspoon of butter to reduce foaming.
After this comes to a full rolling boil, quickly add the sugar and return to a full boil for exactly 1 minute. Skim off any foam and then ladle into your jars, cap and process in the canner for 5 minutes. The yield is about 8 jelly jars
I have used the reduced sugar pectins and those work well also. This jelly keeps well. I just gave away for a birthday present my last jar of last years violet jelly in March, and it was still beautiful! Enjoy!
10 comments:
Your jelly looks great , I made 6 jars of violet jelly yesterday. I plan to make 6 more jars tomorrow. I noticed that you don't remove the petals from the green part , I need to try that. I've always pulled the petals off , that's a slow process :).
Thanks for donating the comfrey roots for the giveaway over at " Herbal Roots Zine ". I'm looking forward to learning more about comfrey.
~ Happy Herbal Blessings ~
Hi Leslie :)
Great post. I do have a question though. What do you use violet jelly for? Is it a dessert? Something you serve with meats? or put on a sandwich?
Stay Herbal
AnkeB
Just the most gorgeous looking jelly! Thank you so much for sharing this
Lorraine
xxx
that is great you got some made also joyceann:) it was my pleasure to donate the plants. was so thrilled when i saw you won!
anke, we just use ours for sandwiches with peanut butter mainly! lol i suppose you could use it anyway you wanted though. jelly rolls comes to mind;-)
it is pretty isn't it lorraine?
big herbal and honey hugs to all of you!
Those jelly's look almost to pretty to eat. The lavender color of the infusion is so so pretty! I've never seen any violets growing around here, maybe I could try and buy and plant some. Mmmh, bet they would look pretty around our pond as well...
I missed your posts,
Anke
awww anke i have so missed keeping up with posts for the last 7 weeks. just so busy with the granchildren lately and study. plus the beekeeping group as well as our herb study group! i would gladly send you some violets if you like my friend! just let me know:) i am heading over to try and catch up a bit with your posts. you are so wonderful about keeping up with your blog and i just love it so much:)
I spent part of this afternoon picking violets in a friend's yard to make this jelly. Thank you so much for the wonderful directions.
I have a question, tho. The violet patch I was able to pick from is *mostly* white flowers, with a few purple. Will that change the flavor/quality of the jam, do you know?
:) Sally
sally, i always have some white in my mix, but predominately purple ones. i don't know what to tell you but make the infusion and see what color it is! i guess just give it a go and please let us know your results:) thanks for visiting and do come back soon:)
Well, it turned out wonderfully. It's the same pretty pink/purple color as yours, despite the majority of white flowers. I like the way it tastes, but I like the frangrance more. I then ventured onto dandelion jelly, which I love, and have hopes to make lemon balm jelly as well. Thanks so much for helping me find this whole new world! Sally
that is wonderful sally! thank you for letting us know "hugs". good for you and the dandelion jelly:) awww you are welcome dear. we all just need to keep sharing the gift of learning about our natural world:) lots of love to you
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