Dandelion Honey
This tastes surprisingly like honey, so is a brilliant substitute for vegans or anyone else avoiding honey. I’ve tried making this both with the whole dandelion head and by just using the yellow dandelion petals and my preference is for using the whole dandelion head. Not only is this much quicker but I think the bitterness from the green parts of the dandelion adds to the complexity of the flavour of the finished honey. You can use this anywhere you would use regular honey – on toast, drizzled on pancakes, in salad dressings or in tea.
If you want to add more interest and complexity to the honey consider adding other fragrant edible flowers in along with the dandelions such as gorse, lavender, rose petals or a little magnolia.
As you are unlikely to be cultivating dandelions make sure to pick them from an area that you know hasn’t been treated with any herbicides or pesticides (remember sadly, municipal councils often spray verges, parks and paths to control weeds) and somewhere there aren’t dogs roaming about. Nobody wants dog pee honey!
We pick ours from our lawn and the wild edges of the garden, and because dandelions are so ubiquitous in spring it is remarkably quick to pick this many. It’s worth noting that dandelions are very early flowering so are an important source of food for many insects in early spring when not much else is in flower so, as when foraging anything, make sure to not take more than you need.
Makes about 400-450ml
125g dandelion heads, stalks removed (about 200 dandelion heads)
2 thin slices of lemon
500ml water
Approximately 450g granulated sugar
1. Gather your dandelions and give each flower a little shake over a bowl to knock out any insects. Put the dandelions and lemon slices in a small saucepan and pour over the water. Put the saucepan on the hob over a low heat and slowly bring up to a simmer. Let the mixture simmer gently for a couple of minutes and then turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave to steep for a couple of hours.
2. After the dandelion mixture has steeped strain it through a piece of muslin or a clean tea towel to remove the dandelion heads, give it a good squeeze to get every last drop of liquid out. Measure the liquid you have extracted, either in a measuring jug or using your kitchen scales (1g = 1ml of water). You should have about 450ml of liquid.
3. Put the liquid into a large saucepan (it will bubble up as it cooks so make sure you have plenty of space) and add the same amount of sugar, so if you have 450ml of liquid add 450g granulated sugar. Turn the heat onto medium-low and stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Then turn up the heat to high and bring to the boil and boil the mixture for anything from 5-15 minutes, it really depends on the size of your pan and the ferocity of your hob. Test the honey frequently by taking a little bit on a spoon and putting it on a saucer or a plate, if is thickening even a little it is ready. It will still look very liquid in the pan, but it will thicken considerably as it cools.
4. Pot the mixture into a warm sterilised jar, while it is still hot. Because of the high sugar content, the dandelion syrup will keep for at least 6 months but probably much longer. I find this crystallises a bit over time but can be brought back to a runnier consistency by gently heating it.
