Lilac Jelly is a homemade edible flower jelly with a beautiful color and sweet floral flavor.
Lilac jelly recipe
This lilac jelly is a delightful sweet and floral jelly with a light flavor made with fresh lilacs while they are in season in early Spring. Edible flower jellies are a great way to preserve flowers while they are in bloom.
You can make floral jelly out of many different edible flowers like rose jelly, dandelion jelly, forsythia jelly, violet jelly, etc.
The method for all is basically the same. Steep flower blossoms with all their stems and greens removed in warm water to release their color, fragrance, and flavor. Then make a beautiful jelly from the flower infusion, sugar, and pectin. For flowers like pastel hued pale purple lilacs I like to add a few blueberries or blackberries with a splash of lemon juice to activate their anthocyanins and add a jewel toned color to the jelly.
Ingredients
- Lilac flowers – pick mature fully open lilacs in the early morning or late evening for the best fragrance and flavor.
- Water – to make the lilac infusion.
- Granulated sugar – the amount of sugar is not adjustable unless using a low sugar pectin.
- Pectin – standard pectin like Sure Jell original fruit pectin. There are typically 1.75 ounces of dry pectin in a box of pectin, or 49 grams of pectin. Which is equivalent to 4 tablespoons or ¼ cup of pectin per box. This results in a nice old fashioned loose jelly. But you can add up to 6 tablespoons of pectin to increase the thickness of the jelly. You can also use a liquid or low sugar pectin as instructed on the pectin box.
- Lemon juice – do not skip the lemon juice as it is not optional and this amount is required for the jelly to set and properly become shelf stable. Lemon juice also helps to add additional flavor and help balance the sweetness of the classic floral jelly.
Step by step instructions
- Pick several lilacs and remove all the blossoms from the stems, picking out any of the green parts. If the flowers are completely mature the lilac blossoms will easily separate when pulled.
- Rinse lilac blossoms in cool water to remove any dirt and debris and add to a large heat safe pitcher or bowl.
- Pour boiling water over lilacs and allow to steep for at least ten minutes, up to 24 hours. The flowers will lose color and turn an ashy grey while the water or ‘lilac tea’ will be varying shades of blue depending on the variety of lilac. If desired, add a handful of blueberries or blackberries to add a bit more color.
- Strain the flower blossoms out using a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth and pour into a large saucepan.
- Add lemon juice and pectin and bring mixture to a boil. Boil rapidly for 1 minute then stir in sugar.
- Return to a boil and boil hard for 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and skim foam if necessary.
- Fill hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars leaving ¼ inch headspace.
- Wipe rims with damp, clean towel and adjust the two piece metal canning lids into place.
- Immediately process in boiling water bath canner for shelf stable flower jelly. Or allow to cool and store refrigerated or in the freezer.
- Enjoy!
How to use
To use the lilac jelly serve on muffins, toast or scones. Add it to a cheese plate or dessert board for pairing with various cheeses and crackers. And you can even use it as a glaze for chicken or pork. Or as a dipping sauce for fried shrimp, spring rolls and more.
How to store
Water bath can the jelly for 10 minutes to make a shelf stable lilac jelly. Or skip the canning and simply store refrigerated for up to a month or frozen for up to 3 months.
Yield
This recipe using 4 cups of lilac tea and 4 cups of sugar will yield about 6 cups, or 48 ounces, of jelly.
Enough for roughly twelve 4 ounce jelly jars, six 8 ounce half pint jars, or three 16 ounce pint jars of jelly.
You can easily cut the recipe in half and use 2 cups flowers, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water and half a box of powdered pectin. Or increase the recipe in the recipe card below. Just do not exceed more than 6 cups liquid and 6 cups sugar in one batch or else the floral jelly may not properly set.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 cups lilac blossoms stems and greens removed
- 4 cups water
- 4 cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup powdered pectin
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
- Sterilize canning jars by boiling for 10 minutes at altitudes of less than 1,000 feet. At higher elevations, boil jars 1 additional minute for each additional 1,000 feet elevation.
- Add rinsed clean lilac blossoms to a heat safe pitcher or bowl. Bring water to a boil and pour boiling water over the lilacs. Allow to steep at least 10 minutes up to 24 hours. Then strain to remove all solids.4 cups lilac blossoms, 4 cups water
- Add to a large saucepan with lemon juice and pectin powder. And bring mixture to a boil and boil rapidly for 1 minute.3 tablespoons lemon juice, ¼ cup powdered pectin
- Add sugar and return to a boil. Boil hard for 2 minutes.4 cups granulated sugar
- Remove from the heat, skim foam if necessary
- Fill hot jelly into hot, sterilized jars, leaving ¼‐inch headspace. Wipe rims with a dampened clean paper towel and affix two piece metal canning lids.
- Process jars in a boiling water or atmospheric steam canner for 5 minutes at 0‐1,000 feet elevation, 10 minutes at 1,001‐6,000 feet, and 15 minutes above 6,000 feet.
Video
Nutrition
Tristin Rieken
I love this lilac jelly on toast but it’s also an amazing addition to cheese plates and can also be used as a glaze for pork or chicken.