4.22.2010

Dandelion "Honey"

When a friend of mine posted a link to a recipe for Dandelion Honey on her Facebook page, I was more than intrigued. The amounts in the recipe sounded almost magical: "365 dandelions, 1 for each day of the year", and the idea of taking a pesky weed and turning it into something delicious was very appealing to me.

So, the other day on our 1 mile walk home from school, my children and I collected dandelions that we found growing in parks and next to the sidewalk on our route home. We weren't keeping track, just picking all the nice looking ones that we saw, and when we arrived home I found we had collected more than 800! So I doubled the recipe.


It turned out to be a real task extracting the petals from the leaves and bases of the flower, so I probably would have been wise to make a single batch... so I will give you the quantities for just one recipe! (Please note: it is important to remove all greenery from the flowers to ensure that your final product will have a pleasing golden color! Also, wash the flowers before removing the petals, then let dry out an hour or two in the sun before proceeding.)


The flower petals from 365 dandelions are mixed together with 1.2 Liters of water, 2 lemons and 2 oranges thinly sliced (preferably organic, so as to avoid the pesticides leaching out into the mixture). Bring the mixture to a boil, then simmer, covered for one hour. Leave the covered pot to sit overnight so that the flavors can continue to infuse the liquid.


The next day, strain the liquid, add 1 kilogram of sugar, and reheat to a boil. Cook for 15-20 minutes at moderate heat. Ladle it into small jars, close while hot.


This "honey" may be used in desserts and also as a cough syrup if you like! We used it this morning on pancakes.

10 comments:

cindyrella said...

Mary, you are such an inspiration! Thanks for being so adventurous!

JennyD said...

You never cease to amaze me!! You go girl!!

Jason & Makenna said...

Seriously? Who would have ever guessed! Is it good? One of the worst things Jason ate while in France was a dandelion salad. He said it was so bitter and just awful. So curious as to how this tastes!

Mary Kay said...

I find the taste a bit difficult to describe, but it is very pleasant. I enlisted the help of my kids to pinpoint the flavor, and they said "tastes like lemon" "tastes like orange" "tastes really sweet!"... all of those things you would expect based on the other ingredients in it... but I do think it definitely has a floral note hidden in there, and it is really nice, and not at all bitter!

Ayesha said...

This sounds fascinating. I think I am going to try it, although I might make a 1/4 batch. My neighbors will love me for cleaning out their weeds!

Rochelle said...

What a great use for those pesky weeds!

Mary Kay said...

Today we used it to sweeten our tea in the morning. I also am doing a little experiment and infusing one of the jars with hibiscus flowers today, so we can have a different (exotically) flavored pancake syrup tomorrow :)

Jami said...

Wow- that's amazing. What a yummy and creative idea.

Rachael said...

Cool idea :) How was the hibiscus?

Mary Kay said...

I really, really LOVE floral flavors, so I think the hibiscus version is awesome. It also happens to go really well on pancakes, even better than the original I think! It's also got a gorgeous deep pink color.