Violet jelly is a wonderful spring treat! With a taste reminiscent of grape it is sure to be a household hit. The greatest part is that it is super easy to make as long as you have a big patch of violets nearby.
This evening I spent about 30 minutes and collected four cups of violets for a double batch. If you have help it goes even faster.
Violet Jelly
2 Cups Violet Flowers
2 Cups Boiling Water
1/4 Lemon juice (about 1 regular lemon, juiced)
4 Cups of Sugar
1 Package Sure-Jell
Pour 2 cups of boiling water over the violets. Cover and store in the fridge overnight. Strain off the violet liquid and discard the flowers. The liquid will be blue in color. In a non-reactive pan combine the violet juice, lemon juice and pectin. Stir and bring to a boil. Add sugar and stir. Bring to a boil and boil for at least one minute. Skim off any foam and ladle into hot sterilized jars. Seal and process jars in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Check that all jars have sealed. Once opened store in the fridge and consume within three weeks. This recipe will make about 4 8oz. jars of jelly.
Beautiful jelly!
Could I use less sugar?
Mark – excellent question!Pectin (the thickener used to make jelly) is actually derived from fruit and requires the recipe to contain anywhere from 55 to 80 percent sugar in order for all the scientific magic to happen that will make the jelly “set”. You could certainly try making the jelly with less sugar but should be aware that it is possible that the jelly would not set. Fortunately this is a small batch recipe so if it did not set a lot of time and money would not be lost. That being said, there is a pectin available called Pomona’s Universal Pectin that can be effectively used with less or even no sugar. You may have more luck with this type of pectin.