My love affair with Violet continues this year, and besides making Violet Syrup and up-gaming my Essence of Violet. I decided to make Violet Jam! The inspiration for this project was to use the jam hamantaschen recipe for the Jewish holiday of Purim, which was yesterday.
Making any treats with violets starts with a morning harvest on a (preferably) dry, sunny day. Though I'm fortunate to have a growing patch of violets in my backyard, I also am fortunate enough to have made a local friend who basically has fields of violets on their property, and allow me to forage as I please.
Violet Jam Recipe
Yield: Three 8 oz. Jars
Ingredients:
- 2 cups freshly picked violets
- 2 cups boiling water
- 2 cups sugar
- 1.5 tbsp. either lemon juice or citric acid
- 3 tbsp. pectin
Method:
Boil the two cups of water in a sauce-pan, wait five minutes and add the violets.
Cover, and let the infusion sit for 12-24 hours. 24 hours is ideal for strong flavor, but 12 works fine if you are in a hurry.
Strain the flowers from the water (you can use these to make ice cubes, or decorate your pastries later on!).
Add the sugar, lemon juice/citric acid, & pectin to the Violet water and bring to a soft boil. Stir for a few minutes to ensure all the pectin gets dissolved.
Skim any foam that might show up on the top away.
Fill your clean jars, close them tightly and store in the fridge.
Enjoy!
Special thanks to the Flower Cookery book by Mary MacNicol, which includes so many interesting recipes and information about how enjoying edible flowers is woven throughout history and folklore. I find the snippet from the following violet section so amusing, that I had to share it with you!
