Dandelion Honey
Honey, we’re making vegan honey! And it even tastes like the real thing!
You will want to start plucking these beauties. Just the flowers, no stalks, and be sure to pluck them from a meadow with other flowers (or leave enough for the bees and bumblebees). Please keep in mind that flowers are only safe to consume when not treated with pesticides or foraged from near a big road. Give them a good shake to get all the little bugs off. Otherwise not vegan or kosher, for that matter.
Make sure to wait until around noon before harvesting your dandelion blossoms - by then they will be fully open and lush.
See the little lack bugs? I turned the whole bowl over and inspected every flower before proceeding, just to be sure. You will want to pluck a lot - this is enough for two cups as per the recipe.
Take care not to wipe your fingers on your clothes or let the flowers or tips of the stalks touch them. The stains are bad.
Take the clean flowers back inside, compress and see how many you got. This is just over 2 cups’ worth.
Them put the flowers in a saucepan, add two slices of organic (unwaxed, untreeated) lemon. Feel free to squeeze the juice out of the slices, but leave them in for more aroma.
Add 1.5 cups (per 2 cups of flowers) of water and cover the pot. Gently bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Then let it cool down and rest. If you want, leave it in the fridge overnight to soak.
Now for the fun part. Get a strainer or a cheesecloth and press the last drops of juice out of the flowers. It is hard work, but so worth it.
You should end up with about 2 cups of liquid. I added some water after boiling to stretch, so I had a little more than two cups.
Return the liquid to the saucepan (cleaned of any residue).
Now for the part where it gets hot and bubbly.
Make sure to add as much sugar as you have liquid. I had two cups of liquid, so I added two cups of sugar (I mixed white and brown sugar for a more caramelly flavour).
Sugar and liquid in the pan. Not gently heat it and stir the sugar until it has dissolved. Then turn the heat up and boil, while occasionally stirring.
Time to sterilise some jars.
Make sure the liquid boils for at least 15 minutes, longer if you like your honey thick or used more liquid than sugar. You will notice that as it thickens, it starts to run more slowly off your cooking spoon, like very liquid real honey or syrup.
Don’t worry if it is still very runny. It will solidify some more when it cools.
Make sure to fit the lids quickly while the dandelion honey is still hot. Wait for the lovely Plop as it cools to ensure it is closed properly.
Store unopened jars in a cool, dark place, ideally the fridge. Check for any mold, as you would with jam.
Don’t worry if it is a bit runny of if the sugar granulates. Stirring the honey will return the nice consistency.
Eat on your morning cereal, on bread, as sweetener in tea or for some delicious vegan Challah with that unique honey taste!
Ingredients
2 compressed cups of dandelion blossoms
1.5 cups of water
2 slices of lemon
2 cups of sugar
Instructions
Pick the dandelions and shake them / blow on them to get any bugs off.
Put in a saucepan. Add lemon and water, cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Let cool, ideally over night to soak the aroma.
Strain using a strainer or a cheesecloth. Really squeeze so you get all the nice flavour.
Measure liquid, then return to pot and add an equal amount of sugar. 2 cups of sugar per 2 cups of liquid, for example.
Gently heat while dissolving the sugar.
Bring to a boil, boil at least 15 minutes until thickened. Longer if you want a more syrupy consistency.
Fill into sterilised jars while still hot and let cool closed jars.
Store in a cool, dark place and use within four months.