Eating Seasonally and Locally - Wild Violet Jelly

This is the first post in a series about eating seasonally and eating locally. Once a week I'll be sharing a recipe that uses a seasonal local ingredient.

This particular recipe is being widely shared around the blogosphere. I first found out about by reading Grammy K's blog, Heritage Homestead Ramblings.

Here's my version and tutorial.

Wild Violet Jelly


2 heaping cups of wild violet flowers

2 cups boiling water

4 cups cane sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 - 3oz. container of liquid fruit pectin


Your first step, after picking your flowers, is to put the flowers into a heat resistant bowl or container. Next you'll pour 2 cups of boiling water over the flowers.

Then you wait. The recipe that I read said to wait at least two hours, but I found it easier to pick the flowers one day and make the infusion. Then I left the infusion in the refrigerator overnight.


wild violet flower infusion after soaking overnight

The next morning I took the infusion out of the refrigerator and strained the flowers out.




almost two cups of wild violet infusion, strained

It made a very bright blue liquid.



The next step is cooking up the jelly. Before I cook up jelly, though, I always get my jars ready and bring out any equipment I'll need.

I filled a large water bath canner about 3/4 full with hot water. Then I put in five 6oz. jelly jars.


jars heating up in the water bath canner

I put the lid on the canner and turned the heat up to high. It's very important that you heat your jars (to prevent breakage when filling them with the hot jelly) and also to sterilize them. The jars heated up and were eventually boiled while I made the jelly.



I also laid out my jar lifter, magnetic lid lifter, five rings, a canning funnel, a clean cloth (to wipe off the jars after filling them), and a ladle.

I then filled a small saucepan with hot water and put in five canning jar lids. I put them on the stovetop to heat up on a low burner. I just needed them warm, not boiled. The warming process is to allow the lids to seal more effectively on the jars.


jar lids warming on the stovetop

After beginning to heat up the jars and lids and arranging all of my equipment I began to cook up the jelly. To cook the jelly I poured the 2 cups of wild violet infusion into a large pot. I chose my Revereware pot because it's important that you use a non-reactive pot. Next I added 4 cups of cane sugar. I turned the burner on medium heat and warmed the ingredients up. I simmered them for a while and then added in 1/4 cup of lemon juice.


jelly mixture after adding the lemon juice - it changes from a bright blue liquid to a pinkish purple liquid

Then I brought the liquid up to a full rolling boil.


jelly mixture at a full rolling boil

You want to cook it at least a minute at a full rolling boil that will not be broken by stirring. After the mixture had been at a full rolling boil for a minute I added in the liquid fruit pectin.

I continued to keep the mixture at a boil for another five minutes. Then I turned off the heat and skimmed off as much of the foam as I could.


jelly just prior to filling jars

Then I took a jar out of the water bath canner, using my jar lifting tongs. At this point they had been boiling for at least five minutes and were thoroughly sterilized. I emptied the water out into the sink and put the canning funnel in the jar. I ladled hot jelly into the jar and filled it to about an inch of the top of the jar. I wiped down the rim and lifted a warmed lid out of the saucepan using my magnetic lid lifter. I placed the lid on the rim of the jar and screwed on a ring.


jar filled and lid on - ready to go back in the canner for processing

Then I used my jar lifting tongs to place the filled jar into the water bath canner. I repeated this step with four more jars.


jars all filled with jelly and placed back in the water bath canner

When all the jars were filled with hot jelly I put the lid back on the water bath canner and turned the heat back up to high. When the water was at a full rolling boil I set a timer for ten minutes. I processed the jars for ten minutes. Then I turned off the heat and removed the lid. I set a timer for five minutes.


water bath canner with lid off - leave jars in canner for five minutes

After five minutes I removed the jars from the water bath canner using my jar lifting tongs and set them on a piece of cardboard set on my hoosier countertop.


Four and a half 6oz. jars of wild violet jelly

After the jars had cooled off I checked the lids to make sure the jars had sealed properly. Then I removed the rings, wiped down the jars, and wrote the contents - wild violet jelly - on the jar lid along with the month and year.

I stored the jelly on shelves in my basement. It's important to select a cool, dry, and dark space for storing your home canned jellies.


Do you prepare harvest wild foods for use by your family? What are your favorite methods to prepare wild foods?