Make dandelion honey
Sweet, golden and blossomy but this honey is made from dandelions not by bees! Dandelion honey is a great plant-based honey substitute and tastes just like the real thing. No kidding - both me and my children were amazed at how good this tasted.
What you will need:
3 cups of dandelion petals
3 cups of water
3 slices of lemon
1 apple
Approximately 600g of sugar
Sieve
Cheesecloth or muslin
Sterilised jars
First you’ll need to collect your dandelion flowers. It’s best to pick them on a sunny day when the flowers are open as they close up at night, before it rains and sometimes when it’s cloudy. You’ll also want to forage in a place that’s away from roads and away from areas where dogs might wee as you don’t want to to wash the dandelions as you’ll wash away all the pollen. Gently shake off any insects as you pick them.
Dandelion flowers are an important source of nectar for bees and other pollinating insects so make sure you only pick where dandelions and other flowers are plentiful, leaving plenty of flowers for the bees and other insects.
Remove the green parts of the dandelions as they can give the honey a slight bitter taste. The easiest way is to pull the petals off whilst holding the base of the flower. I haven’t actually made dandelion honey using the whole dandelion head to confirm that the green can make the honey bitter (I find removing the petals quite therapeutic!) and some people say that it is only the stem that adds the bitterness, so if you’re short on time or don’t want to remove the petals, it’s still worth having a go at making dandelion honey!
Measure the volume of petals you have, put the petals into a saucepan and then add an equal volume of water. I collected 3 cups of petals and added 3 cups of water. Add 3 slices of lemon and a sliced apple to your pan - these both contain pectin which will help thicken your honey and will also increase the depth of flavour.
Heat the mixture to a boil, simmer gently for 15 minutes and then leave to steep. Ideally leave overnight for maximum flavour but I made this in one day and so left it to steep for only a few hours and the honey still had plenty of flavour!
Put a plate in the freezer. We’ll come back to this!
Strain the dandelion water through a sieve lined with a clean piece of cheesecloth or muslin. You can gather the ends of your cloth and gently squeeze to make sure that you get as much liquid as possible from the mixture.
Weigh the dandelion liquid and then return to the cleaned pan with the same weight of sugar and place on a low heat. Stir the mixture until the sugar dissolves and then leave to simmer gently, uncovered, for about an hour.
When the honey has reduced to about 2/3rds, you can test whether it is ready. At this point, the mixture should be just starting to look syrupy and will cling to the back of a spoon. The mixture will thicken up A LOT as it cools so you don’t want to wait until it is the consistency you would like for your honey. To test whether the honey is ready, take the plate from your freezer and then add a few drops onto the plate and wait a few minutes - this will give you an indication of the final consistency once cooled. Once you are happy with the consistency, pour your honey into jars and immediately seal with lids.
If stored in a cool and dark place, your honey should keep for about 6-12 months…if you don’t manage to eat it all before then!
Author: Denise Hope, home educating mum of two