These elegant violet and elderflower gummies are sweet, floral and just a little tart. You only need a half cup of violet flowers, making this a perfect project for those first precious violets that pop up in the spring. This recipe can be made with a lot of variations but I’ve detailed how I did mine in the recipe below. The gummies, like the violets, don’t last long so it’s best to make them on the day you plan to eat them.
Why Violet Elderflower Gummies?
We make violet jelly every spring. Heading out on that first, glorious, warm spring day and returning with jars crammed with violet flowers is one of my favorite springtime activities to do with my kids. It’s especially nice to have help because it takes a while to pick enough of the tiny flowers to make a whole batch (or two!) of violet jelly. And early in the spring, it can be hard to find enough flowers in my urban surroundings for jelly. Plus, I sometimes worry that I’m removing an important food source for pollinators if I take every last flower I can find. So I wanted to make something that used just a handful of blossoms but really showed off their gorgeous amethyst color and delicate flavor. These violet elderflower gummies are the happy result.
Some Gummy How-To’s:
I make Cocktail Gummy Bears all the time. They are easy, super fast and really show off the flavor of the cocktails. I’ve used the same method here. I think you could adapt this recipe to any edible flower. I’m thinking of trying some magnolia ones. And maybe lilac! Dandelion would probably be divine. I think the sky’s the limit here. The only special equipment you need to make these are the molds. I use a gummy bear mold or a heart mold, but you could use any smallish mold you have. You can order a set of molds with a dropper here
Working With Violets:
The most magical thing about violet edibles is the color. It glows with an amethyst purple that is almost prettier than the flower itself. And it makes a nice science demonstration. When you pour the boiling water over the petals, the liquid turns a dark sapphire blue. The first time I made it I thought I had done something wrong. But when you add the lemon juice, the citric acid reacts to the cyan-compounds and lowers the pH, turning it right back to purple! It’s pretty neat. The flavor is very mild. It’s mostly just sweet. I’ve added a few drops of rosewater to give it a more floral note, but if you’re fancy enough to have violet essence you could use that too.
If you haven’t used violets before here’s some things my mom taught me. I’m sure more expert foragers know things I don’t, but these guidelines have always worked for my recipes.
- Try to gather on a dry day. Muddy flowers mean muddy gummies. Ew.
- Which leads me to my next tip, which is to gather flowers in an area you feel confident is not loaded with pesticides and dog pee.
- Make sure to get as many flowers into your pint jar as you can. Press them down gently to fit them all in. The more flowers, the deeper the color.
- Make your violet tea as soon as you can after picking, while the petals are still a nice and fresh. A few hours is fine.
So Many Ways To Get It Right!
Once you’ve made your tea and let it sit out overnight you’re ready to get started. This is the fun part because there are so many ways to customize this and you don’t have to worry if you don’t have on hand all of the ingredients that I used. Here’s just a quick list of adjustments, substitutions, etc. that will allow you to make these before the violets are all gone.
- After you squeeze the liquid out of your violets, you will have about 5 tablespoons of tea. I topped that off with 3 tablespoons of elderflower liqueur, but you could use creme de violette, limoncello, or even vodka. Or honey! Really any liquid you want! You just need to end up with 1/2 cup of liquid.
I used a bit of cheesecloth to squeeze out all the tea I could. You can also use a paper towel. - If your tea yields a little more or a little less, no worries, just add enough liqueur (or whatever!) to make 1/2 cup.
- Do use the lemon juice. The acid is what keeps the color nice and purple.
- I used rosewater to give it a little more dimension but you could substitute violet essence, orange blossom water or just skip it entirely. Just keep in mind that our native violets have a very mild, some would say, non-existent flavor, so without that floral addition, your gummies will be beautiful but mostly just taste sweet.
- If you are vegan, I believe you can substitute the Know gelatin for a vegan version. I’ve never tried that though, so be sure to find out if you need to substitute “cup for cup” or adjust the quantity or method.
- I’ve made these several times. Sometimes the wonderful color holds through the heating of the gelatin, sometimes it seems to “cook out”. If that happens you can add a bit of food dye to get the color you want. I’ve used Americolor violet but Wilton purple, India Tree natural dyes or McCormick neon purple will work too.
- And a final note about the coating. I added some citric acid to my sugar before rolling so it would have a slightly tart, candy-like flavor. I just love how my version tasted, the floral and the tart balanced each other perfectly. But not everyone has citric acid in their cabinet. It is totally optional.
Gummies As Ephemeral As Spring Itself:
You’ll see in the recipe directions that I recommend making these the day you plan to eat them. Because they’re made with gelatin, they tend to break down a bit once you toss them in the sugary-tart coating. They still taste great but they start looking a bit melty. If you want them to last longer you can leave off the sugar coating until the last minute or skip it entirely. The finished gummies will last refrigerated, without the sugar coating for about as week. Once you coat them, they will last, refrigerated, for 4-6 hours. The wonderful thing about making gummies this way is that it is so fast and fun! I can take out my ingredients and molds and be popping them in my mouth 30 minutes later. If you try any variations or other edible flowers, please let me know how it goes!
More Wild Edible Treats From Bakers Brigade:
| Servings |
gummies
|
- 1/2 cup lightly packed violet flowers
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3 packets Knox brand gelatin
- 5 tablespoons violet tea
- 3 tablespoons elderflower liqueur St. Germaine or a generic
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 3 drops rosewater
- 1 drop Americolor violet food dye
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon citric acid
Ingredients
For Violet Tea:
For Gummies:
For Rolling:
|
|
- Pour boiling water over your violet flowers. Cover and let steep overnight.
- Using some cheese cloth or a paper towel, strain the flowers out, squeezing out as much of the liquid as you can. You should have about 5 tablespoons.
- Combine the sugar and gelatin in a medium saucepan. In a glass bowl or cup, combine the violet tea, elderflower liqueur, lemon juice and rosewater. Stir the liquid into the gelatin mixture and let it set for about 5 minutes to soften.
- Over medium-low heat, stir constantly until the sugar and gelatin dissolve and the mixture just begins to steam. If you don't want to cook out the alcohol, use a candy thermometer and try to keep it under 90 degrees.
- If the color has faded, add a drop or two of food coloring until it's the desired color.
- Working quickly, use the dropper to fill each of the cavities in your molds. Keeping them flat, put them in the fridge for about 5 minutes then remove from molds.
- Before serving, combine the sugar and citric acid in a small bowl. Toss about 10 gummies into the bowl at a time. Coat them completely then remove from the bowl with a slotted spoon, tapping off any excess sugar. If the coating dissolves before you're ready to serve them, you can toss them again!
