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Peony jelly is a lovely floral jelly made from peony blossoms. Learn how to bottle up these delightfully fragrant flowers in a jelly you can enjoy year-round.
Peonies are old-fashioned flowers that have been a part of summer flower gardens for generations. Like many old-time plants, they also happen to serve another purpose…peonies are edible!
Originally, they were grown as seasoning, and they were quite popular in the middle ages. The roots are made into medicinal teas in Eastern Medicine and the seeds were used as a flavoring in ales. The fragrant flowers were used to season all manner of savory dishes (including meat) and they also flavored sweet lemonade-like beverages in season.
These days though, the roots and seeds are ignored, but the flowers still make their way into the kitchens of adventurous gardens and cooks.
My kids are especially fond of floral jellies, and in the past year, we’ve made nearly a dozen varieties. Dandelion Jelly and Violet Jelly have been our favorites thus far, but I absolutely love the smell of fresh peonies, and I couldn’t wait to try my hand at making peony jelly.
(If you don’t have any peonies in your garden, you can get peony root divisions here, where they come in dozens of beautiful varieties.)
How to Make Peony Jelly
Making peony jelly is no different from making any other type of floral jelly, and it starts with gathering 3-4 cups of fragrant petals.
Gathering (and cleaning) that amount of dandelions or violets will take you all afternoon, but it’ll only take a few seconds for peony jelly. Each dense flower head is jam-packed with petals, and you’ll only need a few blossoms to make a batch of peony jelly.
Remove the petals from the base of the flower, discarding anything that’s not bright and fragrant.
Pour 4 1/2 cups of boiling water over the top of your peony petals, and allow the peony petal tea to infuse for about 10 minutes.
Strain the petals and you should have roughly 4 cups of brightly colored (and fragrant) peony flower tea.
Pour the strained peony tea into a jam pot (saucepan) and bring it to a boil on the stove. Add in 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice (for acidity) and a box of powdered pectin (like Sure-Jell). Stir in the pectin and bring the mixture back to a boil for 1 minute.
Add 4 cups of sugar and stir to dissolve.
Return the mixture to a boil for 1 minute and then ladle into prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
Canning Peony Jelly
It’s perfectly fine to make peony jelly as a refrigerator (or freezer) jelly. The jars should last 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator or about 6 months in the freezer.
If you’d like a shelf-stable preserve that lasts 12-18 months, I’d suggest canning. If you’re not familiar with canning, I’d suggest reading this beginner’s guide to water bath canning before getting started.
If canning, prepare a water bath canner before making the jelly. Ladle the finished jelly into canning jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace and cap with 2 part canning lids.
Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes (or 15 minutes if above 6,000 feet in elevation).
Remove the jars to cool on a towel on the counter and check seals after 24 hours. Store any unsealed jars in the refrigerator for immediate use. Sealed jars with keep on the pantry shelf for 12-18 months.
Note: The added lemon juice adds acidity to balance the flavor of the sugar in the jelly, but it’s not strictly required for a refrigerator preserve. It is, however, required if you’re canning the peony jelly.
Peony Jelly
Ingredients
- 3 to 4 cups peony petals
- 4 cups water
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 box Powdered Pectin, 1.75 oz Pectin or 6 Tbsp. (Such as Sure Jell)
- 4 cups sugar
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil and pour over the peony petals. Allow the petals to infuse for about 10 minutes (or longer if you choose). Strain and discard the petals.
- Place the peony petal tea in a saucepan along with the lemon juice and bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add the pectin, stirring to incorporate, and return the mixture to a boil for 1 minute.
- Add the sugar, stirring to incorporate, and return the mixture to a boil for 1 minute.
- Ladle the peony jelly into prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
- If canning (optional), process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Jelly Recipes
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I wrote to you earlier about peony petals being bitter. But, after reading the reviews, I decided to make some. I am glad I did. It has a very appealing taste, mild with a bit of a tang. I am glad I gave it a try.
I’m so glad you tried it!
yum! i haven’t made this yet. is it ok to use Itoh intersectional peonies (hybrid between herbaceous and tree peonies) for this recipe? I would preserve by canning – thanks!
Great question! I hadn’t heard of these hybrids, so I had to do a bit of research for you here.
The most well-documented edible peonies are herbaceous types (Paeonia lactiflora), with tree peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa) close behind. Itoh hybrids are newer (developed in the 1940s) and don’t have the same centuries long culinary track record. Both parent species are edible, so there’s no specific reason to expect a problem with the hybrids, but there’s not really data on it either way.
If you want to use Itohs, I’d take a cautious approach: nibble a few raw petals first to check flavor and make sure you don’t react, then make a small test batch before doing a full canning run. Color and flavor vary a lot by Itoh cultivar, so a test batch tells you what to expect either way. But again, it’s not exactly tested, so use your best judgement here.
great idea – I will give the Itoh a try, as you suggested – thank you!!