SC - Saxon Violets Again!

[Laura C. Minnick]

StellrChef at aol.com wrote:
> 
> Try keeping the infusion covered with a lid to allow steam condensation (I believe they make rose water by capturing the steam from the infusion). 

Did that. It sat in a canning jar with a lid overnight (the jar actually
sealed!). (And rosewater is made by a distillation process, by the way.)

> Use a little more pectin....you're dealing with quite a liquidy substance

Hmm. The recipe specified one box of pectin. I measured the water for
the violets carefully. I'm not sure about increasing the pectin,
especially since the amount of water/infusion was significantly less
than the amount of juice I used the last time I made jelly.

>....and a little less lemon juice.  Maybe just enough to change the color.

Yes and no- you have to have enough acid or you'll have other problems-
but it only takes a few drops to make the color change. The variable I
think was the size of the lemon. It was fairly large and heavy for its
size (my criteria for buying citrus fruit). What I want to know from the
Food Chemistry folks out there is: would overmuch lemon juice
overbalance the pectin and cause it to fail to set?

> I'm not sure if it's safe to ingest or if it's toxic in it's concentrated form, so you'll have to check before you try this. But you might want to get your hands on a violet essential oil and incorporate a few drops into the infusion.

Hmm. No idea. I don't think I'm ever seen any.

Hmm.

Think I need to try more on toast and think about this. Wish I knew
where my good chemistry book was... (In The Basement, of course).

'Lainie