Wildflower Jelly (Queen Anne's Lace or Wild Bergamot)
Native wildflowers make for unique, attractive jellies with a wide range of uses. Queen Anne's Lace jelly is sweet with a subtle fruity/floral flavor that is ideal for spreading on toast or biscuits, mixing with yogurt, or adding to sweet snacks and desserts. Wild Bergamot boasts a richer color and a stronger, herbal flavor that lends itself to both sweet and savory applications (and pairs exceptionally well with stronger meats, such as lamb or duck).
Servings: 6 cups
Ingredients
- 2 cups Queen Anne's Lace blossoms OR Wild Bergamot blossoms ,tightly packed
- 4 cups water
- 1 package pectin (such as Sure-Jell)
- 3 Tbs lemon juice
- 3 cups sugar
Instructions
- Rinse flowers in cold water, and carefully inspect for any bugs or debris (especially if using Queen Anne's Lace). Trim stems, and then lay out flowers on paper towels to drain.
- Boil water in a medium pot. Remove from heat and add flowers, being sure to fully submerge them. Allow to steep for 30 minutes. Strain through cheesecloth into a large bowl. Reserve liquid and discard flowers.
- Measure out 3 cups of the reserved wildflower "tea" and add to a large, non-reactive pot (we use our large non-stick braising dish for our jelly making). Add lemon juice and pectin. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring continuously.
- As soon as the mixture reaches a full rolling boil, add the sugar. Continue to stir constantly, and return to a full boil. Continue boiling for 1 minute longer, then remove from heat. Skim off any foam/skin that has formed on the surface.
- Pour jelly into sterile, preheated jars, leaving approximately ΒΌ" of space from the top lip. Carefully wipe down the lips of the jars with a damp paper towel or cloth. Put lids in place and tighten as firmly as possible by hand.
- Prepare a boiling water bath (ideally, you should set this up ahead of time so it is ready to go as soon as you are finished filling your jars), and process jars for 5 minutes.
- Leave jars out to cool at room temperature. Once lids pop, they may be safely stored. Any that do not pop should be refrigerated immediately and used promptly.
Notes
- Both flowers used here bloom in mid to late summer (starting in mid to late July through late August here in the Chicago area).
- When preparing the Queen Anne's Lace blossoms, be sure to completely remove the stem from the base of the flower to ensure the best flavor and color. Also be sure to check them thoroughly for insects and spiders - their lacy, branching structure tends to be a haven for all sorts of things that would rather not end up in your jelly.
- For Wild Bergamot, we snip the stem directly off the base of the flowerhead, but leave the green, leaf-like structures on the lower surface. Removing these might reduce the herbal flavor - whether that is a good or bad thing is a matter of personal preference. Alternately, you could pick out the individual purple "petals" (each one is actually a complete flower), and only use those. This would like give the jelly a much milder, sweeter flavor (again a matter of preference), but would also be very time consuming and require you to collect a larger number of flowers.
- The leaves of the Wild Bergamot plant are superb in their own right. When collecting the flowers, we recommend cutting the stems several inches below the base of the blossom in order to create sprigs of this fantastic herb. After you've snipped the flowerheads off to make your jelly, store the springs of fresh leaves in a plastic storage bag in the refrigerator for later use (the leaves will hold up perfectly for weeks). You can (and should) also dry some of the sprigs. The dried leaves can then be stored in an airtight container for use in your pantry. You can expect to see both fresh and dry Wild Bergamot leaves in future recipes here on Gastricurious.