urban foraging: lilac jelly

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I was walking home from work about a few weeks ago, at 1 am as per usual, when I smelled something new…what was it? LILACS. Considering I live in a big, metal and glass condo in Queen West, Toronto, with construction sites all around me, it was pretty spectacular to be assaulted with one of the most fragrant flowers I can think of instead of the usual smell of city and dust. The first thing I thought…I have to cook with this! What better way to preserve that undeniable smell of spring all year long than lilac jelly!

Knowing that lilacs bloom for only a few short weeks (if that), my time was limited to gather my seasonal ingredient. I felt like a proper homesteader. So there I was, my first day off from the restaurant in 6 days, in a pair of cutoffs with a pair of scissors and a shopping bag, foraging around the side of my building for gorgeous clusters of aromatic lilac. Luckily only a few people walked by! I think there is a bit of hunter gather gene in me, because for the better part of the gloomy, humid Toronto spring day, I sat in my apartment, 19 floors up and balcony door wide open, picking the tiny flowers into a bowl while Bobby cheerfully rattled on about music and edited his new photos of These Kids Wear Crowns.

I have never worked with pectin before, but it was pretty clear that there was no way a pectin-free procedure would work in this case. To make any type of floral jelly, herb or mint jelly, pepper jelly, etc, you basically make a tea or “infusion,” and then set that tea with added pectin. Otherwise you will just end up with a thick simple syrup-like product. Whether that be in the form of natural pectin (from boiled apple peels and cores or citrus skin), or in the form of the packaged stuff is your decision. This is an amazing resource to get a simple overview of all of the different types of pectin, their advantages and disadvantages, how to use them, and which is ideal for your purpose.

I used the Roscommon Acres and The 3 Foragers recipes as a base, as they seem to be the ones that most people refer to – about equal steeping liquid-to-petal ratio, and then double the sugar (1:1:2), plus lemon juice. Make sure you follow the recipe exactly because, of course, lemon juice is key as it is the sugar/acid/pectin ratio that achieves ideal gelling. As Pick Your Own states, “Pectin’s structure binds with water in an acid environment. Sugar increases pectin’s ability to gel, and affects the texture and consistency of jellies and jams as they cool and set.”

Lilac Jelly
-yields 4 8-oz jars-

Ingredients:
2 c picked lilac flowers
2 1/2 c hot water
4 c sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice
1 package powdered Certo pectin (regular, full sugar)

Technique:
1. If you are an urban forager like myself, wash your lilacs very, very, very well! There is lots of smog and yucky things in city air that sticks to everything! My fingers turned black while picking my lilac flowers from their stems. I did 5 washes of my flowers, the first wash with dish soap, in order to make sure my flowers were clean. Fill a bowl with water and toss the petals like a salad, moving them around with your fingers to create some friction with the water. Lift out and into another big bowl of clean water, and continue until the water comes out completely clear.

2. Boil water until just simmering and pour over the petals. Dont worry…all of the petals will instantly wilt and turn brown. This is normal. Cover, and allow to sit for 8-24 hours. (I let my infusion sit at room temperature for 8 hours, and then in the fridge for an additional 16.)

3. Strain the flowers out of the infusion using a coffee filter. Measure the resulting liquid again, and add exactly 2 cups with the lemon juice and pectin to a heavy bottomed pot and bring to a boil.

4. Add the sugar all at once and bring to a rapid boil, ensuring that all of the sugar dissolves, for 1 minute. Then, remove from heat, skim off all the foam and stir for 5 minutes. Then ladle into sterile jam jars and process.

Spring all year round!

Photos by Bobby Z Photo

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