Honey Lemon Jelly is officially the new spread of choice for cornbread, at least in my household. Honey butter? Hmmm…turns her nose up…yo’ butter ain’t sweet like mine. ‘
If you’ve been wanting to try canning, this is a great recipe to start out with. It’s quick. It’s almost fool-proof (thanks to the addition of liquid pectin). And if you’re lucky, you can make it on the cheap, like I did.
How did I make it cheap? Lemons from my backyard and honey from a neighbor. Bonus: it’s local. About as local as you get! I do hope a lot of you reading this, have access to local lemons. Though it is sort-of the zucchini squash of fruit: if you’ve got em, you’ve got a lot of em!
I plan to do a lot of lemon posts in the coming months. Starting with this one, inspired by Well Preserved‘s Honey Lemon Jelly.
Honey Lemon Lavender Jelly
makes four 8 oz jars
2 cups honey
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, strained
2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup fresh lavender flowers
One 3 oz pouch liquid pectin
Directions:
- Sterilze your jelly jars and rings
- Using a non-reactive pot, bring the water to a boil, add the lavender, and cover with a lid. Lower heat and let simmer for 5 min, then remove from heat. Steep for 30 mins to overnight.
- Strain and mesure 1/2 cup of the lavender brew and place in your preserving pot.
- Add honey, sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest to your preserving pot.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat.
- Stir in pectin and continue to stire frequently until it reaches a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.
- Boil hard for exactly one minute (boiling longer risks breaking the gel).
- Remove from heat, stir. Skimming off the foam is really unnecessary. I promise.
- Pour the jelly into your hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. This jelly sets fast, so don’t doddle.
- Wipe the rims and seal the jar.
- Process in a boiling water bath for five minutes
I’m loving this jelly. It has a sweet, floral taste to it. Use the lightest honey possible to maximize the floral accents. Serve it with your favorite cornbread.
To make a basic (and delicious) honey lemon jelly, replace the 1/2 cup lavender brew with 1/2 cup water. Yummy.
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Paige! I am so glad you posted this–I needed to make some jelly and this recipe is so easy and so tasty. Wonderful. I’m experimenting with lemon honey cardamom. I’ll let you know how it goes.