In the Kitchen : Wild Violet Jelly

My daughter spent the good part of a morning foraging for violets. I remember adoring violet flavoured chewing gum when I was a kid, so I was intrigued when I came across a simple recipe for violet syrup.  Early Europeans used the syrup as a laxative for infants and children. High in vitamin C, it also has a long history of being used as a cough remedy, functioning as an expectorant and an anti-inflammatory. Add to these virtues the healing effects of grass-fed gelatin, and you could justify violet jelly every night of the week (well, every week in Spring).

Wild Violet Jelly

Ingredients

• 3 packed cups of foraged wild violet petals (we didn’t get picky about separating the green sepals from the flower)
• 1 1/2 cups of boiling water
• 3/4 cup raw cane sugar
• 2 tbs grass-fed gelatin

Let’s Begin

1. Fill a saucepan with the wild violets, cover with water from the kettle, cover with a lid and let it steep for 24 hours
2. After 24 hours, strain the violets out with a sieve and back into a clean saucepan
3. Add the sugar and heat on low until sugar is totally dissolved, then add the gelatin and stir until dissolved (you may want to strain again to make sure there are no residual bits of unabsorbed gelatin)
4. Place in a bowl in the fridge and let it cool
5. Add violet flowers when the liquid is cool but not set
6. Once the flowers are added put the bowl back in the fridge until set (2-3 hours)