Dandelion honey

15th April 2013

The relatively warm, weather over the last couple of days seems to have triggered the Dandelions to flower, and driving home today the verges which were plain green a couple of days ago are now speckled with gold.

We looked at using the leaves of the Dandelion in an earlier blog, but the flowers can also be used.  Dandelion flower wine is an old favourite country wine, taking on the vibrant colour of the flowers. The flower petals can be sprinkled into salads to add a bit of sunshine and they can also be dipped in batter, fried and dusted with sugar as flower fritters.

The resultant syrup is very similar to honey, thick and dark with a definate flavour from the Dandelions. It goes great on toast and crumpets or stirred into porridge.

Ingredients

• 1 litre water
• Equal volume of Dandelion flower petals (probably equivalent to 500 flowers)
• 500g sugar
• 1 lemon cut into slices
• 1 vanilla pod

Place the water in a large pan add the flower petals and the lemon slices and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes then leave the flowers to steep in the water overnight or for up to a day.  Then strain the liquid through a jelly bag or a fine muslin cloth to remove all the petals and return the liquid to the pan. Put back on to the heat and gradually stir in the sugar until dissolved.  Bring to the boil and simmer until you have a rich,

Kev Palmer