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!

It seems to be a spring thing that we begin doing a lot more events for local businesses. We love that! It's nice to feel the inspiration from what is blooming as we come up with drink ideas, and it's nice to feel the common sense of emerging to socialize within the community. 

Here are two drinks we recently did: one for the new brilliant barbershop, Morehouse Barbershop, and one for Solabee's one year anniversary in their stunning new space. Noteworthy also, is the fact that these are also businesses with whom we've become good friends with. Kale Chesney is now with Morehouse Barbershop, but has been our dear friend for a long time and also is the genius behind all of Roots & Crowns's branding. And Solabee is a group of beautiful women who have embraced Roots & Crowns in community, and is constantly an inspiration for jungle goals in home and heart! 

The Morehouse Buzz

1.5 oz. Dogwood Distilling Gin
.5 oz. Rosemary Simple Syrup
.25 oz. Lemon 
1 dropperful Roots & Crowns Blues Away Bitters

Purple Rain

1.5 oz. Dogwood Distilling Vodka
.5 oz. Violet Simple Syrup**
1/2 dropperful Roots & Crowns Detox Bitters
.5 oz. Lemon
1 dropperful Roots & Crowns Violet Essence 
top with 2 oz. fizzy water 

**The Violet Bundle has been totally sold out! So if you're trying to make your own Violet Syrup for this recipe, check out my blog post on Violets! 

There's something about catching a glimpse of a Violet patch amongst all the Spring green that becomes like a treasure hunt for me. Flashes of purple as I drive down busy streets, and the strength of their scent given how small they are. I love Violets! I started experimenting with violet infused honey a few years ago, and this year I created a little challenge for myself to go full-on violet with my menu and for an upcoming cocktail event that we'll be doing for Solabee Flowers here in Portland. 

What I came to realize, is that making violet syrups comes with a whole array of colors and alchemy! The ratio of Violets to water matters, as does your decision to add acid to the mix.

So play with the volume of violets, and play with the acid (like fresh lemon!) to come out with different potency and colors. It's a fun thing to play at, and the result is tasty!