Lemon Balm Jelly

My mother kindly makes space in her garden for a few bits and pieces that I like. One of those things is lemon balm. Apparently it is related to mint and like mint, spreads! She was concerned at how much space it was starting to take up so I had a quick look on the internet to see what I could make to get rid of as much as possible. Lemon balm syrup or jelly looked like the best options so I went with the jelly. The recipe I found looked somewhat unusual and certainly didn't follow the method I am familiar with when making fruit jellies. However, I decided to give it a go and see how it went. It didn't! It wouldn't set at all so I reverted to the tried and true and boiled it down to get it to the right point where it would. The original recipe was from Cooks.com and is as follows:

Lemon Balm Jelly

1 c. lemon balm
3 c. water
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
6 1/2 c. sugar
1 bottle liquid pectin
Drop of yellow food coloring

Steep lemon balm in boiled water 10-20 minutes. Strain. Bring infusion and sugar to a rolling boil, add pectin and cook and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add coloring, jar and seal.

I bought some pectin (Kings) as I had never used it before. I also used a heap more lemon balm to get a good infusion. I probably quadrupled the lemon juice too! I then boiled the heck out of it!
It turned out a gorgeous jelly, fragrant and subtle, and perfect on toast. I reckon it would be fab on butterfly cakes too. Or on scones with cream, or in the middle of a sponge.......I got about 6 150 ml jars from this foray, which I thought was worth the effort!