Violets, Violet Jelly, and More

Common Violets - Photo Credit

In early spring violets grows in abundance here in southwest Missouri and our backyard is full of them! 

Cyndi's Candied Violets

A friend of mine, Cyndi Cogbill, of Pawpaw Patch Productions, inspired me this year when she tried her hand at making violet syrup and shared pictures of the candied violets she made and the sugar cookies that she featured them on. Wow! Absolutely beautiful! 

Cyndi's Sugar Cookies Featuring Candied Violets

Cyndi also shared the link to a great article on the virtues of violets from Eat The Weeds and Other Things, Too and that is where I got the original recipe for violet jelly, which I will be sharing my slightly tweaked version of in this post.

Like I said, in early spring our backyard is full of violets! After looking at Cyndi's pictures and reading the article that she posted the link for, I decided to gather my supplies and try my hand at making violet jelly...and I'm so glad I did! Not only is it beautiful, but it tastes delicious! It's sure to be an annual treat in this household from now on! 

The first thing I did, was to gather two cups of violet heads (no stems...no leaves...just heads) and put them in a jar.

Two Cups of Loosely-Packed Violet Heads

 Next, I made an infusion by pouring two cups of boiling water over the violet heads, covering them with a lid, and letting them sit for several hours.

An Infusion of Violets and Water

Immediately after covering the violets, the water started turning a pretty shade of turquoise blue. 

An Infusion of Violets and Water

The longer the violets sat, the darker the color became. I don't have a picture of it, but the water eventually turned an almost dark blue.

After sitting for several hours, I used a coffee filter inside a strainer to strain the flower heads from the infusion. Then, I squeezed the juice from one whole lemon and added it to the liquid.

Upon adding the juice from the lemon, a chemical reaction took place and the liquid in the jar turned a beautiful shade of pink.

After that, using the liquid in the jar, and following the instructions below, I went ahead and made the jelly. One recipe yielded five half-pint jars.

Violet Jelly

VIOLET JELLY

2 cups fresh violets

2 cups boiling water

Juice of one lemon

1 package of pectin (I used Sure-Jell)

4 cups sugar

Place the violet blossoms in a glass jar and cover them with the boiling water. Place a lid on the jar and allow infusion to make for anywhere between 2 and 24 hours (I let mine make for about six hours). The water will turn various shades of blue as times goes on. Strain and discard the spent flowers. Add the lemon juice. Mix will change to a pretty pink. Place liquid in a large stainless steel pan, stir in pectin, and bring to a boil. Add the sugar all at once and bring to a boil again. Boil vigorously for one minute. Skim if necessary. Pour into sterile jars and seal. (I hot-water bathed mine for 15 minutes in a hot-water bather.) Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups jelly.  

That's all there really was to it. The process was simple and the reward sweet. 

Be sure to click on the links throughout this article to learn more about violets and different ways of using them.

Until next time...

~Rebecca

Recent and related posts that you might enjoy reading...

Revisiting Mesothelioma Survivor Heather Von St. James

Happy Homemaker Monday - April 30, 2018

Recipe For Cherry Jelly