The Naturalist at Pfeiffer Nature Center gave me a terrific idea, one that I decided to use to get a major head start on Christmas presents. Yes, I fully realize that it’s only May, but you have to do things as the Muse inspires and the season allows.
So on Thursday evening I walked around my yard and nipped the biggest yellow heads I could find from all the dandelions in my yard. I came into the house and twisted the blossoms from the stem end, then made dandelion blossom tea. After going to the grocery store on Saturday morning for some needed supplies, I made 2 batches of dandelion blossom jelly. You can get the recipe at the Nature Center’s blog.
I must say, it is quite a delicate flavor that is very reminiscent of honey.
Once I decided to make the dandelion jelly, I wanted to make another flower jelly, too. So while I was walking around my yard mowing the lawn Thursday afternoon, I was tasting the various blossoms. I decided my pink-flowering crabapple would be great.
Friday evening I picked lots of crabapple blossoms & made the tea. I made two batches of this jelly Saturday morning as well. Here’s the recipe I used for this one.
My taste buds prefer the slightly tangy crabapple jelly.
These two recipes jelled differently. The crabapple is a more typical jelly consistency; the dandelion is softer. I can’t say if it’s because the crabapple recipe used less flower tea, because the dandelion recipe had you add the pectin up front (not standard jelly-making procedure), because one used liquid pectin and one powered, or perhaps crabapple flowers contain some of the natural pectin that’s in the fruits themselves. I will say that for both recipes I used some more tea than the recipe called for and of boiled it liquid down some, as I feared I’d make my tea too weak; that I’d poured too much boiling water over the flowers.
When I was all done, I had 40 jars of beautiful homemade jelly sitting on my counter, dazzling in the afternoon sun.
Of course, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using edible flower blossoms. Most are, but some are not. If you’re not sure, do some research. Here’s a place that has some info about both edible and toxic plants; there are many other sites you could go to. Always err on the side of caution when you’re using plants you’re not familiar with.
Your turn: what’s shining in your kitchen, or brightening your yard?
My favorite floral jellies are violet and rose. They make beautiful colored jelly!
Mmmmmmm. They sound yummy!
What’s shining in MY kitchen?? Nothing, but soon it will be “Better Homes and Gardens!” The Crab jelly is beautiful and the ‘production line’ shot is impressive.
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