Lavender Jelly Recipe, Whats Cooking America (2024)

FAQs

Can I use lavender from my garden to cook? ›

Both fresh and dried lavender can be added to both sweet and savory dishes for both flavor and its gorgeous color. Add the fresh herb to salads, lamb, teas and co*cktails. It also works very well with citrus, fruits, and desserts like crème brulee.

jelly, a semitransparent confection consisting of the strained juice of various fruits or vegetables, singly or in combination, sweetened, boiled, slowly simmered, and congealed, often with the aid of pectin, gelatin, or a similar substance.

“You want to look for that vibrant blue-purple color as opposed to grayish-purple,” Cheney says. Cheney also recommends giving the herbs a nice whiff—good culinary lavender should have a “spicy, minty quality but not an overly perfumy aroma.”

While crafting lavender might also be sifted, culinary lavender is sifted multiple times so that all that remains is the lavender buds (and not leaves, stems or dried calyxes, which enclose the petals and form a protective layer around the lavender flower).

The best tasting edible lavenders are the ones with the sweetest perfume. English lavender is extremely popular as a culinary lavender. This is normally sold as Lavandula angustifolia, but it's sometimes sold as Lavandula officinalis or Lavandula vera. Occasionally it's listed as “true English lavender.”

Sugar is infused with fresh or dried lavender flowers; over time, the sugar takes on lavender's flavor and subtle aroma. It has a sweet, floral flavor with notes of lemon and citrus. It uses regular white, granulated sugar, brown sugar, or maple sugar.

Drinking lavender tea is a great way to induce relaxation and unwind after a tough day. It's packed with healthy compounds that can boost your immune system and alleviate pain by reducing inflammation. Drink lavender tea from flowers in your own garden or opt for pre-dried batches from your favorite tea seller.

Substances essential for fruit jelly making are fruit flavor, pectin, sugar, acid and water. A pectin gel or jelly forms when a suitable concentration of pectin, sugar, acid, and water is achieved.

Should jelly be boiled slowly or rapidly? It should be boiled rapidly since long, slow boiling destroys the pectin in the fruit juice.

Do you stir jelly while it's boiling? ›

Dissolve sugar in the liquid before it begins to boil or it can crystallize. Stir to ensure all dissolved. Do no stir jam once boiling, but use a wooden spoon to check it is not sticking on the base of the pan.

Americans call jam “jam,” they call jelly (a clear substance made of fruit juice, sugar and pectin) “jelly,” and they call marmalade “marmalade.” The only two points of confusion are. 1) British people have two meanings for the word “jelly.” One is a gelatin dessert that Americans call “jello.”

Pectin is a mucilaginous substance (gummy substance extracted from plants), occurring naturally in pears, apples, quince, oranges, and other citrus fruits. It is used as the gelling agent in traditional jams and jellies.

The addition of ¼ teaspoon butter or margarine during cooking helps cut down on the foam formed. To fill the jars, pour hot fruit mixture into hot sterilized jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Process jams, preserves and conserves in a boiling water bath for the length of time specified in the recipe.

Lavender is a unique herb in that every part of the plant—bud, stem, and leaf—can be used in cooking. While the lavender flowers and leaves can be used fresh, the buds and stems can be used dried. Since the lavender flavor intensifies when the herb is dried, the dried buds should be used sparingly.

The many uses for lavender include traditional floral arrangements, dried lavender wreaths and making lavender oil, which has a host of applications from homekeeping to germ-fighting. Lavender uses don't stop there. This perennial herb also holds its own in the kitchen—in desserts, grilled entrees and beverages.

After cutting your lavender place a rubber band around your stems. Hang upside down for 1-2 weeks or until has dried. We use the “snap test” to ensure the lavender is dry. To do this you will bend one of the stems of lavender, if it snaps you know it is red, if it is pliable it will need more time to dry.

Hanging the bouquet upside-down to dry will draw the essential oils down into the flower buds, making them more fragrant and flavorful. After 24 hours, you can put the dried lavender bundles around your house or use them for cooking.