Queen Anne’s Lace Jelly

This fairytale like flower has more that just vase, bouquet or fritter uses. You can also make your own jelly!

I love this flower, it’s pretty, perfect for many types of pollinators due to its open umbel flower heads (spotted some news ones in the garden on these), has a romantic feel due to its ‘lace’-like looks, smells nice, makes a great cut flower and is edible. I’m pretty sure you can dye with this flower and plant as well, seeing how it gave the jelly such a beautiful colour. Oh and it has a bit of folklore-like history in that both Anne, Queen of Great Britain, and her great-grandmother, Anne of Denmark, are taken to be the Queen Anne for whom the plant is named. It is so called because the flower resembles lace, prominent in fine clothing of the day; the red/purple flower in the center is said to represent a droplet of blood where Queen Anne pricked herself with a needle when she was making the lace.

Identifiers for QAL that distinguish it from its dangerous look alike Poison Hemlock;

  • A single purple or black dot like flower centre
  • Hairy stems that are fully green
  • A flat Umbel (the umbrella-like flowering top)
  • Fern-like leaves with hairy bottoms
  • Long prong-like bases below the flowers
  • Condensed group of white blooms

If you don’t grow this from seeds yourself, please make sure you have the right plant and forage safely & responsibly.

Ingredients

3 cups Queen Anne's Lace flowers
tightly packed
4½ cups Sugar
6 cups Water
1 cup Lemon juice
freshly squeezed
Vege-gel packets
I used Dr. Oetker
Sterilised jars

Directions

1. Once you have foraged the flowers safely, take them home and snip the flower heads.
2. Bring the water to a boil, then turn off heat.
3. Steep the flowers, like a tea, in the hot water for at least 30 minutes.
4. Strain. You can keep the blooms for tempura fritters
5. Add in the sugar, lemon juice, bring to a boil, and stir constantly for a few minutes.
6. Take 200ml – to a cup from this batch, and let it cool. Add a vege-gel sachet and mix well. Add this back to a new pan and bring to boiling point (check and follow the packet/sachet instructions
7. Once it starts to boil take it off the heat and pour in a sterilised glass jar. (Sterilise glass jars and lids by bathing them in a medium to hot pan of water.)
8. Pour contents into the jars with 1cm head-space. Place on the lids, soak, and process in hot water for 5 minutes to seal.
9. Repeat for the remainder of your jelly
10. Let sit for at least 2 hours to allow it to set.
11. Keep refrigerated once opened

The flavour is sweet carrot meets citrusy tang in a beautifully pink hue. Lovely and wobbly on toast, in between cake layers or on hot (sourdough)crumpets.