Mimosa Jelly: Forage and Make!
Mimosa jelly is an exotic, tasty, and fantastic use of this invasive tree in East Tennessee!
Maybe you’ve been driving down the winding mountain roads, and notice these puffy pink flowers growing off of what looks like tiny palm fronds. You might think…surely those are not native to the Appalachian mountains…they look more like something out of a Dr. Suess book!
That’s really the easiest way to describe these unique mimosa blooms. They are feathery soft with the most delicate scent.
Pretty pink blooms grace mimosa trees this time of year, and it’s time to take advantage of them!
The UT Extension site has a small article on mimosa: Read it here. Although they treat it as a pest to be removed instead of something to enjoy. In MY article…we will learn how to enjoy it because it is here for a reason. 🙂
Mimosa flowers have been used medicinally for a long time. They are uplifting and used to treat various ills. I’m no herbalist, so I’m not here to teach how to use the flowers…but if you are interested, just research it. They are pretty incredible!
How to Harvest Mimosa Flowers
You don’t need to worry about leaving any flowers for the bees. There are literally gazillions of blooms around here.
I harvested my flowers from a tree right next to our garden. It even reached its limbs down to the perfect picking height.
All you do is pick the puffy flower off the limb. It will come off with a long stem. You can clip it later (like I did), or just pick the flower right off.
You’ll have so much fun picking flowers that you’ll fill up a basket in no time.
Steps to Making the Jelly: First Make Tea
In order to make mimosa jelly, first we’ll have to make the tea.
Clip all the stems off the flowers and place only the fluffy flower parts into a jar.
I had four cups of blooms. We will work with the four cups. You can half or double if you’d like.
Next, boil some water, and when it has come to a boil, pour into the jar, covering the flowers. They will shrink up immediately. This is ok.
I added four cups of hot water.
Let the flowers steep for several hours. The liquid will at first turn green, then it will turn pink! Delightful, isn’t it!?
How to Make Mimosa Jelly
Strain the flowers off of the tea.
Now you should have 4 cups of pink tea.
To make the jelly, we will pour the tea into a medium saucepan.
Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Watch the color intensify when you add the lemon!
Set it on the stove and bring it to a boil.
Add one packet of Sure-Jell. (1.75 oz box of pectin.)
Stir it well, and bring back to a boil.
Boil it for ONE minute.
When it has finished the minute of boiling, add four cups of sugar. I used organic cane sugar.
Stir well to dissolve, and bring back to a boil.
Boil for another whole minute.
Turn off the heat.
To Can the Mimosa Jelly
You can definitely freeze or refrigerate the jelly. But if you want to can it, here’s how:
Before you even start making the jelly, have all your jars clean and in the water bath canner, heating.
(If you need a refresher course on water bath canning, read this post!)
For jelly especially, we don’t want to waste cooking time. Make sure the canner is at a boil while you’re getting ready to fill jars.
When the jelly has finished cooking, you will set it off the eye and immediately start filling jars.
Remove the jars from the canner with your canning tongs, and place them on a towel.
Using your canning funnel, ladle the jelly into the jars. Leave 1/2 in – 1/4 in headspace. Wipe the rim.
Attach the lid with the band and place back into the canner.
I yielded 7 half pints with a tiny bit leftover to put in a jar to refrigerate and eat the next day.
Put the lid on the canner once all the jars are in, and process for 10 minutes.
Overcooking jelly will cause it not to set.
Mimosa Jelly
Equipment
- water bath canning supplies
Ingredients
- 4 cups mimosa flower tea
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 box Sure-jell 1.75 oz pectin
- 4 cups sugar
Instructions
- Make the mimosa flower tea. Strain the flowers off.
- Pour the tea and lemon juice into a medium saucepan.
- Bring the tea and lemon juice to a boil.
- Add in one box of Sure-jell. Stir well.
- Bring back to a boil, and boil for one minute.
- After the minute, add four cups of sugar and stir well.
- Bring back to a boil, and boil for another minute.
- Turn off the heat, and fill your canning jars.
- Process in the water bath canner for 10 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Enjoying Mimosa Jelly
Many people have asked with this tastes like. I say it tastes like the mimosa flower smells!
It is sweet and floral. It’s not overpowering at all…but it is delicious.
We enjoyed it as soon as we could with homemade biscuits. Yum!
For more info about how to use what you grow, visit the Using Plants page.
