Lilac Flower Jelly Recipe – Try it Today!

If you are like me, your favorite thing to can is jam, jelly, and preserves. It’s so easy, so delicious, and so versatile that we go through a lot of it in my house. And I’m willing to bet that, if you are like me, you might be getting a little tired of the same old recipes.

If so, why not mix things up? Have you ever tried flower jelly? If not, it’s time to fix that! One of my favorites is lilac jelly: a delicate, pale purple color, amazing fragrance, and a delicious sweetness. It’s awesome on English muffins, toast, grits, and more, and it makes a wonderful and unique gift.

And if you’ve never done it before, don’t you worry about it. It’s as easy as any other, even a little easier, and I’ll show you everything you need to know in this guide. Let’s get started.

Ingredients and Tools

You don’t need anything special for this recipe aside from the lilac blossoms themselves, the special ingredient, and a water bath canning setup. Chances are good you’ve got everything else you need in your kitchen right now.

Ingredients

• Lilac Blossoms, 4 Cups: You’ll need about four level cups of lilac blossoms, meaning just the blooms themselves. No stems, no green parts. This isn’t as hard as it sounds; we’ll go over that later. What’s really important is that you be absolutely certain you aren’t harvesting blooms from any plants that might have been exposed to herbicides, pesticides, or other chemicals. Stay away from ones growing near roadsides, too.
• Pectin, Sure-Jell, 1 Box: Good old Sure-Jell pectin is what you need here. One package will do it.
• Sugar, 4 Cups: White, granulated sugar.
• Lemon Juice, 2 Tbsp: Lemon juice is essential for acidification and getting a good jelly. Don’t skip this ingredient.
• Blueberries or Blackberries, 2 to 4 (for color): Due to a chemical reaction that takes place when the lemon juice hits the compounds extracted from the lilac blooms, the liquid tends to turn a yellow or golden color. It tastes just fine and smells great, but if you want to ensure your jelly has that nice, lavender color, grab a few blueberries or blackberries for their juice.
• Water, 4 Cups: You’ll need four cups of water to steep the lilac blooms, and more to operate the canner.

Tools

• Water Bath Canner: Any water bath canning setup will do just fine for this recipe. New or vintage, you just need to know how it works and be sure that it is in good repair. If you don’t know the basics of operating a water bath canner, familiarize yourself with it first and then come back to this recipe.
• Jars, ½ Pint, w/ Lids and Bands: The amount of ingredients I listed above is enough to give you five half-pint jars worth of delicious lilac jelly. Make sure your jars are in good shape with no cracks or chips in the rim. You can use old jars and bands, but your lids must be brand new. Never, ever try to reuse a two-piece lid!
• Canning Ladle: Comes in really handy for filling your jars without making a mess or burning yourself.
• Canning Funnel: Likewise, a canning funnel is essential for easily and quickly filling up your jars with a minimum of fuss.
• Jar Tongs: Needed to lift the scalding hot jars out of the boiling water and place them back in the canner.
• Cutting Board: Can be helpful for preparing the blooms and also for protecting your countertop from scorching hot jars.
• Bowl: Use a medium or large bowl, of any kind, for holding the blooms after you pinch off the green parts.
• Large Pot: If you aren’t preheating your jars in the canner, preheat them in a large stock pot instead.
• Medium Saucepan, x2: It’s helpful to have two saucepans for this recipe. One for steeping the blooms and one that you can pour the chilled liquid into once it is done.
• Strainer: This catches the blooms and any other solids in the infused liquid you’ll make as a necessary ingredient of the jelly.
• Measuring Cups/Spoons: Self-explanatory.
• Kitchen Towels: Always handy for cleaning up messes that invariably occur and also for protecting your countertops when needed.

Okay, that’s absolutely everything. I told you it wasn’t too bad. In the next section, I will go over step-by-step instructions for making your jelly. I recommend that you review them before you start hauling out equipment and ingredients so you know what to expect.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Remove stems and greenery. The very first thing to do is remove all traces of greenery from the blooms themselves. Pinch them off of the stems and then look closely at the base of each bloom; you’ll notice a little green cup that holds the bloom itself. Pull that part off.

This should be easy and it’ll go quicker than you think. Put the harvested blooms directly into your saucepan or set them aside in a bowl for now. Discard the greenery.

Step 2: Wash petals, if needed. You don’t have to wash the petals because they will be sterilized during the canning process, but if you want, give them a rinse under running water, transfer them into a colander and wash them gently. This is only necessary if you suspect significant contamination – or they were harvested from a dusty area.

Step 3: Steep petals in boiling water. Transfer the petals to a saucepan. Boil 4 cups of water in another saucepan or tea kettle, then pour it over the petals. Stir to make sure all of the petals are submerged. You should notice the water taking on a tint that matches the color of the blooms.

Step 4: Add berry juice for color (optional). If you want a more intense lilac color, squeeze one blueberry or blackberry at a time into the infusion. Stir, then add more juice if desired until you reach the right color.

Step 5: Allow infusion to cool, chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Let the lilac infusion to cool down to room temperature, then transfer it to the fridge for at least 8 hours and preferably overnight. This will intensify the flavor and also allow any solids in the mixture to sink to the bottom of the pan.

Step 6: Sterilize canner and equipment, preheat. Before you are ready to pull the infusion out of the refrigerator, get out your canning equipment and sterilize it according to the instruction manual. Jars, bands, and everything.

Make sure everything works and give it one last inspection, then add the required amount of water to the canner and preheat. Also preheat your jars in the canner or a separate pot of simmering water.

Step 7: Carefully pour off infused liquid through strainer. Grab your strainer and pull the saucepan with the lilac infusion out of the fridge, handling it gently. Carefully pour the clear liquid off through the strainer and into a clean saucepan. This will keep most of the solids out and make for a much clearer, nicer jelly.

Step 8: Add lemon juice to saucepan, adjust color. Add the two tablespoons of lemon juice to the saucepan. You should notice an immediate color shift. This is normal. Take the time to add the juice of another berry or two until it is to your liking to compensate for the chage in color.

Step 9: Bring mixture to boil, add pectin, stir. Turn up the heat on the saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. As soon as it reaches a boil, add the pectin and mix everything together.

Step 10: Boil for 1 minute, add sugar, boil 1 minute. Let the mixture return to a boil. When it does, add the four cups of sugar slowly, stirring as you go. Keep stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Once the mixture is clear and at a boil, let it boil for one minute. Work quickly and use this time to get through the next step.

Step 11: Ready preheated jars. Use your jar tongs to pull the preheated jars out of the hot water. Set them on a folded towel or clean cutting board nearby.

Step 12: Ladle mixture into jars, adjust headspace. Once the jelly mixture has been fully incorporated and boiled for 1 minute, use your ladle and canning funnel to fill up each of the half-pint jars. Adjust the contents of each so you have ¼ inch headspace.

Step 13: Cap jars finger-tight, load canner. Place a cap on each jar and secure with a band, screwing them down finger-tight. Taking care to keep the jars perfectly upright and level, carefully load them into the canner. Do not let the contents slosh against the lid or this can cause a seal failure.

Step 14: Bring to boil, process. Once all of the jars are in the canner, turn up the heat and bring it to a boil. Once the water is at a boil, set your timer and process the jars.

If you are at sea level or up to 1,000 ft in elevation, you’ll process the jelly for 10 minutes. Add 1 minute to this time for each additional thousand feet above sea level you are.

Keep an eye on the canner to make sure it stays at a boil; if it stops boiling for whatever reason, you’ve got to restart the timer after it reaches a boil again.

Step 15: Cut heat, allow jars to rest. Once processing is complete, cut the heat and allow the jars to rest inside the canner for at least 30 minutes.

Step 16: Remove jars, allow to cool. After resting, cautiously remove the jars and set them on a clean cutting board or folded kitchen towels to protect your counter. Make sure to keep them perfectly upright as before so the contents don’t slosh against the lids.

Give your jars at least 12 hours, and up to 24 hours, to cool down completely. Make sure to protect them from drafts or they might shatter. Popping and pinging noises are normal during this time.

Step 17: Test jars for good seal. Once the jars have fully cooled down to room temperature, remove the bands and then test for a good seal.

First, press on the center of each lid with a fingertip. It should not flex, pop, or move. If they pass that test, grip the edges of the lid with just your fingertips and lift the jar straight up off the counter about an inch. You should not hear a hiss, pop, or detect any movement.

Any jars that pass the test are good to go and ready to store.

Step 18: Store and done! You are finished. Keep your lilac jelly in a cool, dark place that is protected from temperature variations. Label your jars if desired.

How Long Will Your Lilac Jelly Last?

Expect your lilac jelly to keep up to a year, unopened, in storage.

A Jar Didn’t Pass The Test. Now What?

If any one of your jars doesn’t pass the lid test above, you don’t need to panic because it isn’t ruined. You’ve got two choices. The first is to open the jar, eat, and enjoy within a couple of weeks, storing it in the refrigerator.

Your other choice is to put a brand new lid and band on the jar and reprocess it as described above. This will change the texture a little bit, but if it passes the following test, it’s ready for long-term storage as usual.