I opened the envelope from my aunt to find a yellowed newspaper clipping with a recipe for Queen Anne's Lace Jelly. I love old-timey recipes, so I had to make it. It is has a very light lemony flavor and is the palest of pink. Everytime I see these flowers I think of her and this recipe.2C. very firmly packed flower heads cut from the stems.
4 3/4 C boiling water
3 1/2 C sugar divided
1 Pkg powdered pectin (SureJell)
4 1/2 T strained lemon juice
Slosh the flowers through cold water to remove all of the bugs. (There will be lots. I ended up letting the flower heads soak in cold water.) Drain and cover with boiling water. Cover the container and let steep for 15-30 minutes. Strain. (You are basically making a tea.)
Measure 4 1/2 C of the strained infusion into a large kettle. Mix 1/4 C sugar with pectin and stir in remaining sugar. Boil 1 minute.
Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. skim the foam from the top of the jelly with a metal spoon. Immediately pour into hot, clean jars and cover with lids. Cool, then refrigerate.
To make the jelly shelf-stable process the jars for 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.
The jelly is very soft, so the last time I made it I used 2 pkgs of SureJell instead of one.
8 comments:
I'm sure I wouldn't have done well as an "old timer" because I would never say to myself, "gee, I wonder if I can make jelly of out these flower?"
I see Queen Anne's lace sliced from the roadsides every day. Can't bear the thought of picking what's left of them and destroying the homes of the insects that need them.
What a curious recipe. Makes me sad we don't have much QAL here in the Bay Area.
Thanks you so much for this amazing recipe!! I had so much fun making it this summer and now I'm excited to give it as gifts for the holidays. I pass it along with a jar of scone mix- yummy!!!
T.J.
Great way to clip those flowers before they go to seed! I must try this, it might be great with a little added white wine to the recipe.
I add blueberries to mine while boiling the tea with the pectin and sugar. It makes the jelly a really pretty purple!
What does it taste like? I saw a woman on our road the other day picking the flower heads and she said she was making this...never heard of this before.
It tastes sort of lemony.
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