How To Make Lilac Jelly ~ Preserve The Taste Of Spring

Lilacs are the quintessential flower of spring. Once the lilacs are in bloom, everyone knows that spring has sprung. We relish in the delicious scent of this wonderful romantic flower. The blooms are short lived, but while they are in season you can use them to make numerous recipes, one of which is lilac jelly. Learn how to make lilac jelly to preserve the taste of spring!

When To Make Lilac Jelly

Lilac jelly is made when the lilacs are in bloom. There is a fairly short window of opportunity to get to the lilacs and make the jelly, and each year the bloom time can be slightly different.

This year I kept a very close eye on the lilac blooms, waiting to catch them at the perfect time to use in several lilac recipes, including lilac jelly, lilac sugar, and lilac simple syrup.

The process for making lilac jelly starts first with the harvest of the lilac blooms.

Since here in Nova Scotia the blooms are just about everywhere at this time of year, it's important to consider the location of where they will be harvested.

Make sure you harvest from a safe spot, free from chemicals and harmful sprays. I wouldn't harvest from a lilac bush close to the road, or one that is downhill from a neighbour who sprays or treats their lawn with herbicides.

We chose to harvest the lilacs from our organic lilac bush, and also went in search for more when we discovered that our own lilac was not blooming as profusely as usual.

We found a large lilac stand in the woods. Apparently there had been a farm at this location long ago.

The farm was long gone, however the lilacs remained and were blooming so wonderfully. It seemed as if we had found a secret lilac grove, and it felt almost magical in the middle of all the lilac scent.

What Is Lilac Jelly Made Of?

Lilac jelly consists of the following ingredients listed below.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of fresh lilac petals

• 4 cups of boiling water

• 2 tablespoon lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon butter

• 7.5 cups of sugar

• 2 packets of liquid pectin

A Note About The Pectin:

You can reduce the sugar content required if you use powdered pectin, such as Sure Jell Powdered Pectin.

Powdered pectin recipes are slightly different, with the pectin added at the beginning of the cooking process, and the sugar content greatly reduced.

How To Make Lilac Jelly

1. Harvest The Blossoms

• Harvest the lilac blossoms and keep them hydrated until you are ready to use them. Fresh petals make a difference with this recipe.

• Lilacs can wilt fairly quickly if not processed correctly. Once you know how to process your lilacs, you will have plump fresh lilac blossoms to use for days.

• The key to keeping the lilacs hydrated is to harvest them and put them immediately into a fresh clean container of water. Pull off any leaves so that the stems are not trying to hydrate the leaves as well.

• Set the lilacs and water aside for several hours. Place in a cool shady area allowing them to soak up the water and become conditioned and rehydrated.

• After the stems are rehydrated there is a further step that can be done to keep the lilacs from wilting.

• This step involves either cutting or smashing the ends of the lilac stems to allow for improved water uptake.

• Breaking the bottom inch of each woody stem with a hammer will allow for more moisture to be taken up by the stem.
• Alternatively, making several vertical cuts at the base of the stem will also allow for more water uptake.

The key is to keep your lilacs fresh, so you can enjoy them and use them.

2. Prepare the Petals

• The petals that are best for lilac jelly are those that are fresh and opening. Closed petals or older petals will not have as much aroma or flavour.

• Have you ever picked a handful of lilac blooms before they have opened up? Often they do not have any scent at all.

• So pick some fresh and open petals for the jelly. Make sure that you do not pull off parts of the woody stem if possible. If you do however it's okay, the petals and extras will be strained in a later step.

• For the lilac tea you will need about 4 cups of petals. I filled two 500 ml mason jars full of lilac petals, which is equivalent to 4 cups.

• This process took about 30 minutes to pick the petals off the blooms.

3. Make The Lilac Tea

• Make the lilac tea by pouring 4 cups of boiling hot water over the petals.

• This tea will be the base for the jelly.

• The petals may turn brown very quickly in the hot water, however that is okay and will not affect the flavour.

• Interestingly, when we made our lilac tea, one mason jar of petals turned brown and another turned slightly brown with turquoise. I did a little experiment with a third mason jar and cooled the boiling water slightly.

• These petals did not turn brown, and seemed to infuse well also.

• Allow the petals to steep in the water, infusing the lilac flavour into the water.

• Steeping time is different for different versions of lilac jelly recipes. Some recipes call for steeping 6 to 8 hours, and some steep for a shorter period. We steeped our lilac tea for two hours, and then proceeded to make the jelly.

4. Strain The Lilac Tea

• The next step is to strain all of the petals out of the tea. To do this you can use a strainer, a coffee filter, or cheesecloth.

• We used a coffee filter which works great. We placed the filter inside a funnel and filtered out all of the lilac petals.

5. Make The Jelly

• When all of the petals have been strained from the tea, it's time to make the jelly.

• On the stovetop add your 4 cups of lilac tea to 7.5 cups of sugar.

• Add 2 tablespoon of lemon juice, and a spoonful of butter to reduce foaming.

• When you add the lemon juice don't be surprised if the liquid turns pink. That is exactly what happened to our jelly!

• Bring the ingredients to a boil, and when in a rolling boil, time the boil for 1 minute.

• Remove from the heat and stir in the pectin. Stir for 5 minutes.

6. Pour Into Sterilized Jars

• We sterilize our jars according to the package insert from the pectin box.

• Our freshly cleaned mason jars are put into the oven at 225° F for 10 minutes, and then kept in the oven until the jelly is poured.

• The jar lids and canning utensils are sterilized in boiling water on the stove top at the same time.

• Now it's time to pour the jelly into the jars and cap.

7. Put Into A Hot Bath Canner For 10 Minutes

• A hot bath canner will further safety seal your jelly jars for safe storage.

• If using this method your jelly will be able to be safely stored for 12 months.

Setting Of The Lilac Jelly

Allow the jelly to set, and setting time will vary.

I've mentioned in a previous post on dandelion jelly that I have had some reservations with the amount of sugar that the recipe calls for with liquid pectin.

That being said, do not be tempted to reduce the amount of sugar on your own, as this may in fact reduce the setting of the jelly, and you will be left with a lilac syrup instead!

What Does Lilac Jelly Taste Like?

Lilac jelly tastes like spring in a bottle.

It also tastes lemony and slightly floral. I believe that steeping for longer than two hours would contribute more of a distinct lilac flavour.

Lilac definitely infuses it's flavour into liquids. Just try throwing a handful of fresh lilac petals into a glass of cold drinking water.

You will be pleasantly surprised, and realize how easy it is to infuse the beautiful flavour.

How Do You Use Lilac Jelly?

Lilac jelly can be used in many ways.

Put some on a bagel or toast with butter at breakfast. Or add it to your yogurt to give it a lilac zest.

Anywhere you would use jellies you can use lilac jelly.

I love how preserving certain foods brings you back to a time of new growth, and associated memories. In this case, it's the beginning of spring, school holidays, and spending time outdoors in the garden.

Every time we eat our lilac jelly it will remind us of these fond memories and associations.

Have you ever made Lilac jelly? If you have, be sure to leave a comment down below to tell us how you like it!

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