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Recently I read about Dandelion syrup at 5 orange potatoes. The last time I tried to make syrup I nearly burnt my house down. I wasn't real confident going into it but she made it look fairly easy and since I have penchant for trying new things, well what the heck, I went for it.
We have lots of dandelions in our yard and we live at the end of a road where there isn't much traffic. I was sure our dandelions were safe from exhaust and since we don't fertilize the yard we were in the clear there too.
I kind of guessed at the 250 dandelion heads and started right away. After bringing them to a boil I was a little concerned that I wasn't going to have enough water so I added about 1/2 cup before putting them in the fridge to steep.
The first batch I made I cooked too long and it turned out HARD. I salvaged it and learned a few things along the way. And since I spent the first day after I made it carrying it around along with a bag of spoons making everyone try it, the first batch is almost gone.
Yesterday we started on our second batch and decided we'd double it. Cassi helped me pick the dandelions.
We have pretty much depleted our yard but we have other spots in mind to get some.
The process is seriously simple. All you need is 4 cups water, 1 lemon, 2 pounds of sugar, and 250 dandelion heads.
The hardest part is waiting overnight for the flowers to steep.
Once they have steeped for 12 hours-ish you can squish all the water out of them.
Looking at it this way doesn't seem so appealing but I assure you the syrup is DANDY!
The water looked rather green to me prior to adding anything.
Once you bring it to a boil you have an hour or better (her recipe says 2 but it didn't seem to take me that long) of regular stirring. When you see the froth(not just the bubbles from boiling), you are probably done.
I canned mine as I want to give it away and I'd like it to last.
I have read a lot about the benefits of the dandelion and I do think I'll be trying the wine soon. If you make anything or know of recipes to share, I'd love to hear about them. After all, I've got this fascination to feed. :)
6 comments:
Wow, that's pretty interesting. I could have been making something out of all the dandylions that Paige collected. What do you use the syrup for? Pancakes?
I did use the syrup for pancakes last night. The night before I made drop biscuits and used it on them. I like to eat a spoonful, like honey. I'd like to figure out a way to make it into hard candy. There must be a way. Scott says it reminds him of molasses but I never liked that so I don't think so. I think its much like honey but he doesn't agree. Either way, it's good. I think it would also bee good on grits ( I grew up in the south) or corn bread. :)Let me know if you try it. :)
Fantastic job!!!! I love the story of carrying it around with spoons to let others try it.
I so agree that it tastes like honey!
I want to try the wine too, but our yard is now crazy with clover flowers instead of dandys.
Hard candy is a great idea, hmmm, I wonder how you do that? Maybe google "horehound candy," throat lozgens are made of that and there are recipes all over the net for that. I would think the recipe would be similar for dandelion candy.
Lisa :)
I've never heard of using dandelions for syrup, and now I can't wait to try it out... thanks for the tutorial!
I've never heard of that. Sounds interesting.
I have never heard of that either but I would love to try some.
Thanks for sharing such a great idea with Friday Showcase!!!
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