Lilac Jelly
Lilacs are my favorite flower. I love the look, sight, and smell of them. Several years ago, I discovered they were edible and that I even like the taste of them...but only as jelly.
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| Lilac Jelly, June 2020 |
I first made Lilac Jelly back in 2013...7 years ago! Wow, where does the time go? I didn't have the proper canning equipment and reversed the numbers in the directions and cooked it for way too long, ending up with more of a candy than a jelly, but it was still yummy, albeit hard to spread, lol. You can read about it here Lilac Jelly, take 1, 2013
This year, I was better prepared because I bought the Bernadin Home Canning Starter Kit, for 49.99 at Canadian Tire.
It came with everything you see in the photo above, except my canning utensils are bright green, not blue. It's a nice starter kit, with everything I needed.
I used a different recipe this time; one that I found online at Homestead Acres. I chose this one because it had plenty of good reviews (43), and because it called for 4 cups of liquid instead of 2 cups of liquid, like the last recipe. I made Dandelion Jelly a few weeks ago and it also called for 4 cups of liquid and it came out great, so I wanted to keep the same basic jelly recipe.
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If you just want the recipe that I used, it's very simple.
1 litre of lilac petals (no green)
Pour 4 cups boiling water over petals. Let cool, then place in fridge for 24 hours. This makes a lilac tea. I added more than 4 cups of boiling water to the mason jar; I completely filled it.
The next day, strain the liquid from the petals using a strainer and a coffee filter. If you don't end up with 4 cups of lilac tea, top it off with water until you get 4 cups. (I ended up with 3.5 cups of lilac tea so had to add half a cup of water).
Place the lilac tea into a sturdy pot, big enough that it won't boil over. Add a quarter cup of lemon juice (I used Real lemon) and 1 package of powdered pectin (I used Bernadin pectin).
Bring to a boil, stirring. When it comes to a boil, Add 4 cups of sugar. Keep stirring and bring back to a boil. Cook for 1-2 minutes. (I cooked for 3 minutes).
Remove from heat, skim foam and throw it away.
Pour into sterilized mason jars. Wipe rims and add lids.
Put in water bath canner. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes.
Remove from canner. Done.
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OK, now for those of you who might be interested in my photos, read on, lol.
First I picked the lilacs.
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| Our backyard, with lilac trees |
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| lilacs |
Then I pulled the petals off and put them in a litre mason jar.
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| Lilacs in my yard, used to make lilac jelly |
I sat on the swing to do this and enjoyed relaxing in the sunshine. Every bird in area plus one black squirrel watched me with interest, lol.
It took several hours to get a full jar of lilac petals.
The entire process was relaxing, and it smelled heavenly. Just amazing. I was watched by birds and a squirrel the entire time, lol.
Next, I went inside and boiled a pot of water (about 5 cups). I poured as much as I possibly could into the litre sized mason jar, which ended up being just over 4 cups.
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| Lilac tea/infusion |
This is how we make lilac tea or lilac infusion, which is used in the jelly making process. I let it cool and once cool, put the lid on the jar and put the lilac tea in the fridge to steep for 24 hours.
It turned a very dark purple. I felt kind of bad pouring boiling water over the petals.
The next day, I prepared my canning supplies, and sterilized the jars and lids. I had to sterilize the jars in boiling water, but the lids in only hot or simmering water, as per the instructions online.
Then I strained the lilac tea so that no flowers were left; only a clear liquid. Sorry I didn't get photos of that step. I poured it into a measuring cup and had just over 3.5 cups of lilac tea. I added hot water to the tea to bring it up to 4 cups.
I put the 4 cups of lilac tea into a heavy stainless steel pot and added a quarter cup of lemon juice, which instantly turned the tea a bright pink. Then I added the package of pectin, which turned it a more muted pink. I felt like an alchemist, lol.
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| Making lilac jelly |
I stirred and brought this up to a boil. Then I added 4 cups of white sugar.
I brought that up to a boil, stirring constantly. I used a wooden spoon to stir because I wasn't sure what else to use. Once it came to a boil, I asked Alexa to set the timer for 2 minutes. After the timer went off, it still seemed very thin so I cooked it for 1 more minute (for a total of 3 minutes).
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| Making lilac jelly and feeling like an alchemist, lol |
I turned off the heat and fished the mason jars out of the canner and placed them on a towel.
Then I used the funnel and a scoop to fill the jars, leaving a quarter inch breathing space. I used tiny jam jars (250 ml jars) and ended up with 12 full jars, and had some left over. I quickly sterilized 2 bigger 500 ml jars and was able to get 1 full jar, and about 1/3 of the other jar.
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| Beautiful lilac jelly, before being put in the canner for processing |
I put the 12 little jars into the water bath canner and left the 2 bigger jars out to be refigerated and eaten first. I'm glad I did as I learned something.
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| water bath canning lilac jelly |
*The jars that were NOT processed in a water bath canner stayed a pretty pink color. The jars that were processed for 10 minutes in the water bath canner turned almost clear (indoors). When I took the jars outside for photos, they looked yellow.
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| Lilac jelly, the little clear jars have been processed in a water bath canner for 10 minutes; the larger pink jars have not. |
I don't know how you would keep the pink color if you want to water bath can and preserve the jelly, aside from maybe using food coloring. I don't know if you can make freezer jelly; maybe that is an option? I don't know.
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| Lilac Jelly outside in the sun to see the colors. The yellow has been processed in a water bath canner and can be safely kept on a shelf until opened. The larger pink jar was not processed and has to be refrigerated and eaten first. |
Anyway, I ended up with 12 little clear (or yellow) jelly jars (depending on the light), and 2 pink jars.
I haven't tasted the yellow jars yet, but the pink one is delish! Absolutely gorgeous.
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| Delicious pink lilac jelly |
The jelly is nice and jiggly and not too firm, just perfect. It tastes light, slightly floral, and slightly citrusy. It reminds me of candy apples. This batch is not as sweet as the last batch I made, which used only half of the liquid. I'm glad about that. It's still very sweet, but so yummy.
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| The lilac jelly looks pink in the jar, but in the spoon you can see the light lilac hue. It is really gorgeous. |
I really love this jelly and will definitely make it again!
If you make it yourself, let me know how it turns out.
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| Lilac Jelly |
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