Honeysuckle Jelly

One of my FB followers, Dee, who has recently started commenting and posting some of her work put up some amazing jars over the last few days and I was really excited to see her mint jelly and in particular her honeysuckle jelly.

The color is beautiful and the idea of using edible flowers as you may not know is one of my favorite things to write about. There is something about using parts of the beautiful plants that are edible in nature and turning them into something in a jar that makes me excited.  If you haven’t tried the Pansy Butter, Lavender jelly, or Dandelion jelly on my site you will love them.

Thank you Dee for sharing your recipe and the adaptations you did. I know that it will be a hit with those that are like me looking for a floral and delicate taste for our jellies.

Honeysuckle Jelly 

4 cups honeysuckle flowers

4 cups boiling water

1/4 c. lemon juice

4 cups sugar

1 package liquid pectin

Preparation: Prepare 7 half pint jars in hot water. You will need to make an infusion of the flowers with water. Snip the flowers and remove the green tip at the bottom of each blossom. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and add the honeysuckle blossoms. Cover the pot or container and allow steeping for 45 minutes gently stirring them occasionally.
Strain the flowers using a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer. You will need two cups of the liquid infusion for the recipe. 

Cooking: In a stainless steel pot combine the 2 cups of honeysuckle water with lemon juice and sugar and cook on medium high stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Once the recipe is at a boil add the pectin and continue to boil for 2 more minutes. You want the mixture to be boil so that you can’t stir it down. Note: Make sure you are using a tall enough saucepan so that the boil will not rise over the top during the boil.  Remove from heat.

Processing: Ladle jelly into hot, sterilized half pint canning jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Remove air bubbles and refill if necessary. Wipe rims, and add hot lids and rings. Place the jars in the water bath making sure that the water covers each of the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Add hot water to the canner if it doesn't measure up. Cover the pot and turn up the heat under the canner and wait for the water to start boiling. Once the water has come to a boil start your timer for 10 minutes. When complete turn off the heat and remove the cover and let the jars sit for another few minutes. Remove the jars and place them back on the dishtowel in a place that they will sit overnight to cool. Do not touch or move them till the next morning.

Sealing: Sometime in the next hour your jars will be making a "pinging" or "popping" noise. That is the glass cooling and the reaction of the lids being sucked into the jar for proper sealing. Some recipes may take overnight to seal. Check your lids and reprocess any jars that did not seal.

Dee's Honeysuckle Jelly!