Wild Violet Jelly

1. Tell your kids that you are thinking of making wild violet jelly. In a flash, they will return with oodles of wild violets. Remove the stems and wash the petals thoroughly.

2. Place the clean petals in a glass bowl and pour 2 1/4 cups of boiling water over the petals. Place a lid on the bowl and let the mixture sit on the counter overnight or up to 24 hours.

3. Line a strainer with a paper towel and strain the infusion reserving the flower juice in a bowl and discarding the petals. Squeeze the petals into the paper towel to extract every bit of flower juice. The result is an electric blue liquid.

4. Take a minute to prepare your canning apparatus – follow manufacturers instructions for canning. Bring your boiling hot water bath (BWB) to a boil. Place five clean jelly jars into the BWB to keep them hot and sterile until you are ready to fill them. Bring a little bit of water to a boil in a small saucepan and place your jelly lids in the sauce pan – reduce this pan of water to a simmer and keep lids in the hot water until you need them. Now – back to the jelly. Add the 1/4 cup of lemon juice to the flower juice and watch it turn a beautiful violet color.

5. Into a pot, combine the flower water/ lemon juice mixture, 1/4 teaspoon of butter and the box of pectin. Bring the mixture to a boil stirring occasionally. Quickly add the 4 cups of sugar. Return the mixture to a hard boil stirring occasionally and boil one minute. Remove the mixture from the heat. Skim any foam off the top off the jelly and discard the foam.

6. Pour jelly into jelly jars leaving a 1/4 inch of head space at the top of each jar. Use a plastic utensil to remove air bubbles from each jar of jelly. You do this by inserting the utensil into each jar with an up and down motion. Wipe off the top of each jelly jar making sure there is no jelly there that might prevent a good seal. Place a hot lid on each jar and tighten down with a clean screw band. 

7. Place the jars into the BWB for ten minutes. The water should be boiling when you drop the jars into the BWB.

8. Remove the jars and leave undisturbed for twenty four hours so that they can gel properly.

Identifying Wild Violets – Wild violet is a low-growing clumping (simple) perennial with a dense, fibrous root system and heart-shaped leaves. Wild violets have waxy leaves. Wild violet is most often found in shaded, fertile sites and prefers moist soils. Flowers occur in mid-May; usually violet colored, but can vary from deep-blue-violet to completely white. Be sure to pick your flowers from a pesticide free area or purchase them at a specialty market.

For up close pictures of wild violets click on the related blog post.