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Forsythia jelly captures the flavor and fragrance of these early spring flowers, so you can enjoy their sunny taste all year long. It’s one of the first things you can forage as the snow melts, and it turns an ordinary roadside bush into jars of soft gold jelly that taste surprisingly like peaches.
Table of Contents
- Notes from My Kitchen
- Quick Look at the Recipe
- What Does Forsythia Jelly Taste Like?
- Identifying and Harvesting Forsythia
- Ingredients for Forsythia Jelly
- Low Sugar Options
- How to Make Forsythia Jelly
- Canning Forsythia Jelly
- Altitude Adjustments
- Ways to Use Forsythia Jelly
- Forsythia Jelly FAQs
- Flower Jelly Recipes
- Forsythia Jelly Recipe
- Jelly Canning Recipes
This recipe has been reviewed for safety and accuracy by a Master Food Preserver certified through the University of Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Forsythia is one of the first flowers of spring, blooming in a golden rush as soon as the snow melts each year. An otherwise unassuming bush bursts into color all at once, made even more dramatic because the leaves won’t arrive for another few weeks.
These bushes are popular up here in the north country, where spring is a long time coming. They’re lovely to look at, but a lot of people don’t realize forsythia flowers are edible, and you can turn them into all sorts of things, from cookies to tea to this jelly. There are plenty of other ways to use forsythia flowers worth exploring once you start looking.
Notes from My Kitchen
Up here in the north country, peaches are a rare treat, and I’m always a little starved for that juicy summer flavor by the time spring rolls around. The first year I made forsythia jelly and caught that peach note, it earned a permanent spot in my rotation, since it shows up right when I’m craving exactly that.
I love that it comes from a bush most people just drive past. A single forsythia throws off gallons of blossoms, so gathering a few cups for jelly hardly makes a dent, and it’s a cheerful way to mark the end of a long winter.
Quick Look at the Recipe
- Recipe Name: Forsythia Jelly
- Recipe Type: Flower Jelly Recipe
- Canning Method: Water Bath Canning
- Prep/Cook Time: 30 Minutes
- Canning Time: 10 Minutes
- Yield: 5 to 6 half-pint jars
- Jar Sizes: Quarter Pint, Half Pint, or Pint
- Headspace: 1/4 inch
- Ingredients Overview: Forsythia blossoms, water, lemon juice (not optional), sugar, and pectin
- Difficulty: Easy! You’re basically making a floral tea and setting it with pectin.
- Similar Recipes: The same steep-and-set process makes other spring flower jellies, including Dandelion Jelly, Redbud Jelly, Lilac Jelly, Violet Jelly, and Grape Hyacinth Jelly.
What Does Forsythia Jelly Taste Like?
So what does forsythia jelly actually taste like? It’s floral and fragrant, like the flowers themselves, but it’s also fruity. If you close your eyes and try a bit off the spoon, it tastes a lot like peach jelly, just more complex and aromatic.
It ends up tasting less like perfume and more like fruit, which catches people off guard in the best way. The finished jelly is a soft, pale gold that looks like a jar of captured sunshine on the breakfast table.
Identifying and Harvesting Forsythia
Forsythia is hard to miss in early spring. It’s the bush covered in bright yellow, four-petaled flowers that bloom before any leaves appear, often the first splash of color in the yard after the snow goes. Pick from bushes you know haven’t been sprayed, and steer clear of any right along busy roadsides.
The flowers come off easily into your hand, and a single bush produces gallons of them, so gathering the few cups you need hardly shows. You’ll want about 4 cups of blossoms for a batch, and it helps to pick clean, fully open blooms, since you’ll be removing the green base from each one later.
Ingredients for Forsythia Jelly
Forsythia jelly uses the same handful of ingredients as other flower jellies: fresh blossoms steeped into a tea, then set with sugar, pectin, and a bit of lemon juice for balance and safety.
- Forsythia Blossoms: You want just the yellow petals, with the green base pulled off the back of each flower, since that green part turns the jelly bitter. Pick fully open blooms from a bush that hasn’t been sprayed.
- Water: Water steeps the blossoms into forsythia tea, the base for the jelly. Use clean filtered water if your tap has a strong chlorine taste, which can muddy the delicate floral flavor.
- Lemon Juice: The lemon juice adds a little tart contrast that brings out the flowers, helps the pectin set, and lowers the pH enough to make the jelly safe for canning. Use bottled lemon juice for consistent acidity. For a more neutral flavor, you can use citric acid powder instead, at about 1 teaspoon in place of the 1/4 cup of lemon juice.
- Sugar: Regular powdered pectin needs plenty of sugar to gel, so this recipe uses the current Sure Jell ratio of 5 cups sugar to 4 cups of liquid for a classic old-fashioned jelly that sets reliably. There’s a lower-sugar option in the block just below.
- Pectin: Use regular powdered pectin (like Sure Jell), which is dependable and gives a consistent set.
Low Sugar Options
For a less sweet jelly, switch to a low-sugar pectin like Sure Jell low sugar pectin or Pomona’s Universal Pectin, both of which set with far less sugar, down to as little as 1 to 2 cups. If you reach for Pomona’s, raise the lemon juice to 1/2 cup, because it’s the one pectin here without added citric acid in the powder.
Pomona’s comes with its own calcium packet and behaves a little differently from the boxed powders, so follow the mint jelly directions that come with it. If it’s new to you, my guide on how to use Pomona’s pectin walks through it.
How to Make Forsythia Jelly
Making forsythia jelly isn’t much different from making any flower jelly, with one extra step at the start: pulling the green bases off the blossoms. Just don’t skip the lemon juice, since it matters for both flavor and safe canning.
Prepare the Forsythia Blossoms
Start with about 4 cups of forsythia blossoms. Pull the green base, the little cap of sepals, off the back of each flower, so you’re left with just the sweet yellow petals.
It’s a finicky step, but the bases slip off easily once you find a rhythm, and it makes a real difference in the finished flavor. You do the same thing when you make lilac jelly.
Make the Forsythia Tea
Put the cleaned petals in a heat-proof container like a mason jar and pour 4 cups of boiling water over them. Steep for 15 to 20 minutes, then strain out the petals.
What you have now is forsythia tea, which is lovely on its own. You can sweeten a little and sip it for a preview of how the jelly will taste, or just move straight on to making the jelly.
Add Lemon Juice and Pectin
Pour the tea into a jelly pot and add 1/4 cup of lemon juice. (The lemon balances the sweetness, helps the pectin set, and lowers the pH enough to make the jelly safe for canning, so don’t skip it even if you’re keeping it in the fridge.) Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.
Add one box of powdered pectin and stir until it’s completely dissolved, then let the mixture boil hard for 1 full minute before you add any sugar.
Add the Sugar
After that minute, add 5 cups of sugar. (Do NOT add the sugar before or at the same time as the pectin, or the jelly won’t set.) Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved, then bring everything back to a full rolling boil for 1 minute.
Take the pot off the heat and skim off any foam with a spoon. Ladle the hot jelly into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Canning Forsythia Jelly
Canning is optional. You can keep forsythia jelly in the refrigerator for up to a month, or freeze it for up to 6 months in freezer-safe jars. I like the simplicity of processing the jars in a water bath canner, since it lets me keep that sunny flavor on the pantry shelf year-round without taking up cold storage.
To can this jelly, be sure you’ve used the lemon juice, which lowers the pH enough for safe canning. Prepare your water bath canner, jars, and lids before you start. After ladling the hot jelly into jars (leaving 1/4 inch headspace), wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth, then center the lids and tighten the bands until fingertip tight.
Process for 10 minutes, then remove the jars to cool undisturbed on a towel for 24 hours, where you’ll hear the lids pop as they seal. Check the seals, refrigerate any that didn’t take, and keep sealed jars on the pantry shelf for 12 to 18 months. Refrigerate after opening.
Altitude Adjustments
For water bath canning, processing times increase at higher elevations:
- 0 to 6,000 feet: 10 minutes
- Above 6,000 feet: 15 minutes
Ways to Use Forsythia Jelly
Since it leans peachy, forsythia jelly is at home anywhere you’d use a fruit preserve. Spread it on toast, scones, or biscuits, swirl it into yogurt or oatmeal, or spoon it over vanilla ice cream. It also makes a nice glaze brushed over chicken or pork toward the end of cooking.
The soft gold color makes it a pretty gift, especially paired with other spring flower jellies in a little set. If you end up with extra blossoms, you can also turn them into flower wine.
Forsythia Jelly FAQs
The green base, or calyx, on the back of each forsythia flower is bitter, and it carries that bitterness into the jelly. Pulling it off so you’re left with just the yellow petals takes a little time, but it makes a real difference in the finished flavor. The petals slip off the bases easily once you get going.
Yes. The same steep-and-set process works for most edible flower jellies, including dandelion, violet, and lilac, though a few need their own prep (lilac and forsythia both want the green bases removed). Always use flowers from plants that haven’t been sprayed.
The usual culprits are adding the sugar and pectin at the same time (the pectin needs a full minute of boiling on its own first), boiling too long after the sugar goes in, or scaling the batch up. Give it a day or two before deciding anything is wrong, and if it’s still syrupy, pour it over pancakes or work through my guide on troubleshooting jelly set.
Yes. Reach for a low-sugar pectin like Sure-Jell Low Sugar or Pomona’s Universal Pectin and follow the mint jelly directions on the box. If you use Pomona’s, raise the lemon juice to 1/2 cup, because it’s the one without added citric acid in the powder. A lower-sugar batch will yield a little less.
Flower Jelly Recipes
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Forsythia Jelly
Equipment
- Canning Jars, Lids and Bands
Ingredients
For the Flower Tea
- 4 cups forsythia blossoms, green bases removed
- 4 cups water
For the Forsythia Jelly
- 4 cups forsythia tea, strained
- 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice, or 1 tsp citric acid
- 5 cups sugar
- 1 box Powdered pectin, 1.75 oz regular pectin such as sure jel, or 6 Tbsp bulk pectin
Instructions
- Pull the green base off each forsythia blossom so you're left with just the yellow petals. The green parts are bitter, so this step is worth the effort.
- Place the cleaned petals in a heat-proof container and pour the boiling water over them. Steep for 15 to 20 minutes, then strain out the petals.
- Pour the tea into a large pot and add the lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Whisk in the powdered pectin until dissolved and boil hard for 1 minute. Don’t add the sugar yet, or the jelly won’t set.
- Add all the sugar at once and stir to dissolve. Return to a full rolling boil and boil hard for exactly 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim off any foam.
- Ladle hot jelly into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rims clean, center lids, and apply bands fingertip-tight.
- Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Turn off heat and let jars rest 5 minutes before removing. Cool undisturbed for 12 to 24 hours before checking seals. If not canning, refrigerate up to a month or freeze up to 6 months.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Most flower jellies have a berry like taste, but I love that this one has a really unique peachy taste that’s really not like anything else you can make this time of year!
Love this idea! Could you share a few ways that you use it?
Really any way that you’d use a jelly…on toast, in thumbprint cookies, and this one in particular makes a good glaze for pastries (in place of apricot jelly, that’s often used to glaze danish and such).