Magnolia Flower Jam / Magnolia Flower Jelly

We aren’t huge bread eaters in our family, which is a shame since I love making jam. I was looking at some leftover magnolia flowers and wondered whether you could use them the same way as roses to make a jam, and the answer is yes! You can make a beautiful magnolia flower jam from the petals.

There aren’t any native (as native as Magnolia can be, having been introduced to the UK in the 18th century) species that are toxic, but it’s always good to make sure that the variant you’re contemplating using is safe to eat.

I won’t waffle on. There’s a lot of information on Magnolia health benefits and recipes in my other posts on Magnolia flowers. They’re wonderful. We adore them. Try the jam!

We use jam sugar because it’s easy and premixed. You could use normal sugar and add pectin, but you’ll have to follow manufacturer instructions on quantities etc. You could also add other ingredients, but I wanted to keep the pure flavour of the magnolia flowers, which in this case was quite citrussy, less gingery. My partner thought it was a bit like marmalade, but I hate marmalade, and I liked this (don’t tell Paddington bear.)

Keep the temperature low on the first boil till the sugar is dissolved, so that it doesn’t end up crystallising. Once it’s dissolved you can turn the heat up to a rapid boil. The jam will only set once it’s cooled, so don’t panic if it doesn’t look like it’s setting at first.

REMINDER: ONLY EVER PICK FLOWERS AND PLANTS YOU’RE 100% CONFIDENT ARE CORRECT. Get a second opinion if you need to 🙂