Rose Petal Jelly
Contributed by Chrissy Hyde, Rose Petal Jelly is a low-sugar cooked jelly made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener. Chrissy says, “Rose Petal Jelly is very popular with the Persian and Eastern European communities that often use roses in cooking. A friend of mine who spent time in Moldova (a landlocked country in Eastern Europe located between Romania to its west and Ukraine to its north, east, and south. Its capital city is Chișinău) asked me to try and re-create the Rose Petal Jelly she had while there. When she tasted it, she said it was just as she remembered! It was heavenly on a plain scone.”
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4½ cups hot water not boiling
- 1 cup dried dark pink rose petals white part removed. (3 cups fresh rose petals can be used in place of 1 cup dried petals) *see note
- 3½ teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ½ cup lemon juice bottled
- 1¾ cups sugar
- 3½ teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin powder mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- Boil water and allow it to cool for 5 minutes before pouring over the rose petals in a sauce pan or heat proof bowl with lid. Cover and allow the petals to steep for 20 minutes.
- Using a food mill, a fine mesh strainer, or cheesecloth, drain and discard the rose petals, reserving the infused water.
- Measure 4 cups of infused water into a sauce pan. (If necessary, add extra water to meet this measurement.)
- Add calcium water and lemon juice, and mix well.
- Measure sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
- Bring mixture in sauce pan to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jelly comes back up to a boil. Once the jelly returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Notes
Note about rose petals: Chrissy says: “Be sure they have not been sprayed with any chemicals. I purchased my dried rose petals at Spice & Tea Exchange. Break off and discard any large white pieces. The white part of the rose will make your jelly bitter.”