How To Make Dandelion Jelly

Homemade Jam Recipes

Ingredients: Dandelion Jelly Recipe

250 to 300 dandelion flower heads
2 lb / 1,000 grams of white sugar
17 fl oz / 500 ml of tap water
1 lemon
1 or 2 sachets of commercial pectin (follow the instructions on the packet, as these can vary according to brand)

Method - What To Do

Cooking with flowers is always a talking point, especially when those flowers are actually from nuisance weeds that quickly take over a garden if not controlled. Therefore, by harvesting dandelion flowers, you will not only be able to make use of this free ingredient, but you will also help to stop it spreading its seeds. However, since you will require such a large quantity for the recipe, it is likely that you will need to go foraging in a field, preferably on a sunny day, when all of the bright yellow dandelion flowers will be reaching up to the sky, in full bloom.

Pick the dandelion heads, removing the stalks, and wash thoroughly in cold water. Pour all of the water and the white sugar into a deep saucepan and bring this syrup to a boil, stirring until all of the sugar has dissolved into the water.

Once the mixture starts to boil, tip in the dandelion flowers and reduce the heat to a strong simmer for roughly 15 to 20 minutes. Squeeze on the lemon juice and remove the pan from the heat to cool down for between 12 and 24 hours, so that the flavours of the dandelions can infuse themselves in the syrup.

Thoroughly sieve out all of the pieces of flowers and petals from the mixture, using a fine sieve or a muslin bag, or similar. Repeat this process until you are left with a pure dandelion syrup liquid. Place this cooled liquid back into the saucepan and return it to the heat, simmering for another ten minutes. Remove from the heat and add in the pectin (unless you are using special jam sugar) and mix in well. Boil for a few minutes, until the syrup starts to thicken, and then pour your jelly into sterile jam jars so that it can cool and set.

Dandelion Jelly Recipe - More Jelly Recipes.