It’s dead simple and pretty blummin’ easy but ppppffffffffffftttttttt is removing the petals from the flowerheads dull (and this is coming from someone who regularly makes confit garlic). Okay, it’s not technically honey, it’s a flavoured sugar syrup, but you’d be surprised if you did a blind taste test. Worth trying at least once.
Makes: about enough for a 300ml jar
Prep: a while- you have to leave it to steep overnight
Lasts: 12 months unopened, 3 months once opened
Ingredients
- About 200 fully open dandelion heads
- 300-400g granulated sugar
- 3 or 4 slices of lemon or 3 tablespoons of juice
- 750ml water
Equipment
- A large saucepan
- A fine sieve or clean muslin cloth
- Sterilised jars
Method
- Pick the flowers on a dry sunny day and make sure you get ones that are fully open; closed heads have less flavour. When you get home, give them a quick soak in cold water to encourage any bug friends to depart.
- Remove the yellow petals from the green base. You don’t want the green parts as they are bitter, so it’s best to be thorough. This is the slow, tedious part. Chuck something good on the telly.
- Put the petals in a pan with the water and lemon. Bring to a light boil, then simmer it for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave it to steep overnight, covered with a piece of kitchen roll or a tea towel.
- Strain the golden mixture through muslin or a fine sieve. Discard the remaining flower bits.
- Return the liquid to the pan, add the sugar and stir over low heat until fully dissolved.
- Increase the heat and bring it to a rolling boil. Cook until the liquid has reduced to a syrup and the colour goes from yellow-gold to rich, deep golden. You can check it’s ready by seeing if it coats the back of a spoon and falls in thick drops. It can take up to half an hour to reduce to this consistency so be patient.
- Pour into sterilised jars immediately and seal.
Enjoy your dandelion honey as you would regular honey.
