Violet Jelly-Kitchen Magic

I don't make violet jelly every year.  It's an on-again, off-again project for me.

But I've been asked to speak at a large gathering and bring 'pretty' foods.  Violet jelly certainly qualifies.

It's a straight forward and easy recipe.  I gather the violets over a week or so and store them in my freezer in a ziplock until I;m ready to make jelly.  Decoct the violets in boiling water, add sugar and lemon juice and 'Presto-Chango', the color changes from violet blue to lavender pink.

Well, that's the theory anyway.

The lemon juice should alter the pH so that the anthocyanins (the color that's in things like violets and red cabbage) should change.  If you keep the pH fairly neutral, you'll keep the blue-violet color.  Go more to the acid side of the scale and you get a lavender, tip the scale to the alkaline side and you flatten the anthocyanins and get a yellow-ish green color.

I wanted a least a few jars to stay the dark violet-blue, so I opted not to add lemon juice.

Here's what I got:

No blue at all.  That's when I realized that both my water and sugar are mildly acidic.

(sigh)  No blue for me.

My friend Holly lives in an area where the water is very alkaline.  Her jelly turned yellow.  Tasted delicious  but still yellow.

But I have to admit, they are still beautiful.

Here's the recipe.  The intensity of the color of the jelly depends on how many violets you start with.  Although the recipe called for 2 cups (which have resulted in a pink color), I amped it up to almost 4 cups of flowers.

Here's the recipe:

Pour 2 cups boiling water over 2 cups of violet flowers (I used almost 4 cups of flowers).  Allow to sit overnight.  Add 1/4 cup lemon juice (strain this well if you want clarity) and 4 cups of sugar.  Bring to a boil. You can add a number of things for pectin (if you don't add pectin, you'll end up with violet syrup):  crabapples, powdered pectin and liquid pectin.  I've used all three but I wanted this jelly clear, so I opted for  one package of liquid pectin.  Boil for an additional two minutes.  Skim, pour into jars, seal and process in a water bath for 10 minutes.

Easy-Peasey.

Got Bud?

We don’t have a lot of redbud here, but you sure can’t miss the few that we do have. Next to the flowering quince,(Chaenomeles speciosa, which is edible too), it’s the most spectacular thing in bloom right now.


Here in the west, we are blessed with the native species (Cercis occidentalis), while folks in the east get its fraternal twin C. canadensis. The beautiful deep pink color of the redbud flower comes from the presence of large amounts of anthocyanins, which are known to be beneficial antioxidants in humans. Green developing seeds contain proanthocyanides, and high concentrations of the fatty acids linoleic and alpha-linolenic acid, (There is evidence that α-linolenic acid is related to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and certain types of epilepsy.)

And luckily, they’re yummy to boot.

Here’s a recipe for redbud-herb muffins for next Sundays brunch.

Redbud-Herb Muffins

2 cups redbuds
2 tablespoons minced fresh sage or rosemary leaves
½ cup sugar or sweetener of your choice.
Minced zest of 1 lemon
1 ½ cups unbleached or all-purpose
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Topping:
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°
In bowl #1, combine redbuds, herb, sugar, zest. Let sit 30 minutes.
In bowl #2 Sift flour, powder, baking soda, salt large bowl.
In bowl #3 Combine egg, yogurt, milk, oil, lemon juice.

Pour #1 into #2 and toss.
Add #3, stirring just dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over mix.
Fill your muffin tins 3/4 full.
Combine sugar cinnamon the topping sprinkle some each muffin Bake for 25 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly touched.
Remove form muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.