testing "de Conserve van Lavendel"

First please welcome the grumpy assistant.

There is almost no actual recipe in the recipe, only:
Van beide kruiden neemt men de bloemen. Men wrijft ze fijn, en tot elk pond bloemen neemt men twee-en-een-half pond suiker, of ook wel drie pond, al naar gelang de sterkte. Dit wrijft men allemaal [de suiker en de gemalen bloemen] goed tesamen.

So i again consulted the internet. There are a number of lavender recipes online:

lavender-jam
a hand full of organic, dried lavender blossoms
50g sugar
2 tablespoons of honey
150ml red port wine
100ml creme de cassis
120ml water

Lavender Jelly
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup dried lavender flowers
Juice of 1 lemon (approximately 1/4 cup)
1 (1 3/4-ounces) box powdered pectin or 1 pouch (3-ounces) liquid pectin
4 cups sugar

Lavender Jelly recipe
2 1/4 cups bottled apple juice
1 cup lavender flowers
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 (4 ounce) bottle liquid pectin

and more and more and there is even a yahoo group for making things with lavender.

I decided that the second version was the closest and simplest one to try.


Notes on ingredients: I could not find pectin, so I cheated and used "gelei suiker" from AH. I found food grade lavender at Jacob Hoy in Amsterdam [no pesticides - this is important as lavender as a crop does not have to pass food regulations].

My version went like this:


Sterilise the jar by filling it with boiling water and placing it upside down for a while.


Bring 3 1/2 cups of water to the boil.


Take the pan of the fire and add 1 cup of lavender, let it seep for 20 min and then strain away the flowers.


Add juice of 1 lemon and 3 cups of "gelei sugar". Heat up and boil for 2-4 min, depending on how stiff you want the jelly.


Fill the jelly into jars, leave them upside down for a minute, then turn them back the right way up. Leave to cool. This recipe makes two jars of lavendar jelly.


And then for the testing...


And its a hit :)