I LOVE red clover!! When I was little, my Great Aunt would pick them and we would sit in the field watching clouds eating the sweet nectar out of the flowers. We have a lot of it growing here, but I only get to make one or two batches a year. I don't want to take away too much for the bees!
PLEASE NOTE: I have read in several places thatingestingred clover could be harmful if you are on bloodthinners or already have thin blood. Please consult with your doctor before consuming any kind of clover or any other wild plant.
Here is the recipe........
Here is what you'll need:
4 Cups Red Clover Flower Petals
Saucepan
Optional: Stock Pot
Cheesecloth or Small hole strainer
4 Cups Water
3 Tbs. Lemon Juice
4 Cups Sugar
1 Package LIQUID Pectin
5 - 1/2 Pint Jars, lids and seals
NOTE: This will make 2 batches! You can NOT double the recipe, the jelly wont set properly.
1.The first thing you need to do is find the red clover. I live in the country, so all I have to do is walk to my field. I have seen it along roads too. You'll need to pick about 6-8 cups of the flower heads.
NOTE: You can use the whole head if you like. I just like to use the petals for the jelly.
2.Once you have them all picked, give them a rinse in cool water. You don't want any dirt or bugs in your Jelly!
3.After rinsing, you will need to take the petals off. You grasp the tops the the petals holding the bottom green part with the other hand and gently pull.
Your hands will get sticky doing this!
This is what it looks like after you pull all the petals off...some are hard to get off or they have turned brown. It's OK to leave those.
4.After you get all of the petals, grab a sauce pan that will comfortably hold 4 cups of water. Bring that to a boil and add all of the flowers. Let it steep in the covered pot overnight.
This is what it looks like (yuck!)
5.Now is a great time to wash all of your jars and lids, make sure they dry thoroughly. If you want, you can also put them in a water bath to sterilize them.
Congratulations!!!! You made a Red Clover water infusion!!!!!
NOTE: The infusion will be a nasty looking brown color. Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong if you followed the steps so far!
6.Put the whole mixture in the cheesecloth or strainer and get out as much liquid as you can. If you don't have either, you can use a regular strainer lined with coffee filters and use your hands to squeeze out the liquid.
7.Put your seals in a small sauce pan covered with water and bring to a boil
8.Now carefully measure out 2 cups of the infusion and add it back to the sauce pan or to a stock pot (I always use a stock pot, it helps to keep it from boiling over) over high heat.
9.Add 4 cups of sugar
10.Add the 3 Tbs. of Lemon Juice
Now look how pretty the color turned!!! The acid in the lemon juice restored the color!!
11.Stir the mixture to make sure all of the sugar has been incorporated into the water, and bring to a full rolling boil that cant be stirred down.
12.Add the liquid pectin. (There is instructions for use and recipes in every box of pectin)
NOTE: I usually use the powder brand, but every time I made this with the powder, it never set. I made it with the liquid and never had an issue. So the liquid is my preference here, but feel free to use what ever brand you like!
13.Once you add the pectin, stir constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat.
14.Ladle or pour into your jars, add the seal, and screw on the ring tight!
15.This step is optional; After you have all the jars filled, add all of the jars to a water bath and boil for 5 minutes. Take out the jars and let them set overnight up to 24 hours.
16.Make sure the seals set. You can tell by pressing on the top of the lid listening for a popping sound. If you don't hear it, they set. You might also hear a popping sound when they seal. If they DIDN'T seal, you can give them a water bath. If you did that and they still didn't seal, you may have hard water (mineral deposits in your water), like I do, and have to buy water from the store. :(
That's it!! Now you should have a pretty jar of Red Clover Jelly!!!
