Name: How to Make Fireweed Jelly
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 2½ cups Fireweed juice.; 1 tsp Lemon juice; 3 cups Sugar; 1 1 ¾ ounce package Dry pectin; ½ tsp Butter

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Fireweed Jelly is a delicate rosy sweet jelly that looks like a jewel. The flavors are sweet and tangy, with a hint of fruity essence. Fireweed Jelly is a perfect complement for your evening tea toasts – capturing the essence of wildflowers and sweetness.

If you are tired of standard spreads with common flavors like mango, apple, pineapple, etc. you must try this Fireweed Jelly recipe. The jelly tastes absolutely wonderful and is delightful to look at.

The jelly goes great with different kinds of bread like smoked cornbread, or your regular breakfast bread.

What is Fireweed?

Fireweed jelly is a dish made from magenta color flowers that grow on a tall shrub. These shrubs first appear in Alaska after the massive forest fire. People of the region gather these common wildflowers from the forest and fields, which are then transformed into this decadent spread for toast.

To make the jelly, you first need to have some fireweed flowers. Fireweed is pretty common in the northern hemisphere. If you are living elsewhere, you can find the flowers in your local markets.

Fireweed blooms from July to September. It is mostly found in areas that have been disturned such as forest fires, hence the name Fireweed.

You can even use Fireweed leaves to make tea, and all parts of the plant are edible. For the purpose of jelly, you will need the flowers only.

If you cannot seem to find fresh flowers, you can also make the jelly using Fireweed juice from your local markets.

Picking your fireweed is the first step. Simply cut the flower stalks below the point where the first new blossoms appear. You now have a large number of lovely flowers. Now you can take it to your kitchen and make this wonderful tasty jelly rich in Vitamin C and A.

Preparation of Fireweed Juice

Gather around 8 cups of fireweed blooms.
After a thorough rinse, place in a 2-quart pot. Simply add water until the level is just below the top of the densely packed blooms. When done, the juice should have a deep purple color.
To increase the amount of juice after boiling the flowers, more water can always be added. Boiling flowers causes the color to be cooked out and turns their petals a grey tone.
Pour juice through cheesecloth into a jar.

Preparation of Fireweed Jelly

On the stovetop, warm the butter, lemon juice, and fireweed juice.
After bringing to a boil, add Sure-Jell, and cook vigorously for one minute.
Transfer into a container (which makes filling containers simpler) and strain once more.
Fill sterilized containers to the top with 1/8 inch of space. Process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

Chef Notes

It’s crucial to only collect the flowers and leave the stalks on the plant.
Be sure to use Sure-Jell or powdered pectin because I have tried this recipe multiple times using Certo and it would not set.
Juice leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator or freezer.
If there is too much water used while boiling, the juice will become brownish, so if necessary, add more water after boiling.