As already announced in our article Dandelion! – A song of praise for the underrated flower, here is our family recipe for delicious jelly made from dandelion flowers. It’s actually more topical than ever, as it’s the perfect urban gardening recipe and therefore very much in tune with the spirit of the times. We also have a recipe for homemade dandelion blossom honey – vegan and guaranteed bee-free 😉
A little something up front: we don’t just take any dandelions from the park for our recipes, but collect them from friends’ gardens where the dandelions are safe from chemicals and dogs. But you can actually find such patches of earth in any city. And please don’t be put off by the 250 flowers required. Firstly, you can make them really quickly and secondly, you can also halve all the ingredients and make do with 125 flowers. Oh, I almost forgot something else: The flowers should be harvested in the morning. Otherwise the bees will get ahead of us!
Here is the list of ingredients:
- 250 dandelion flowers
- 1000 g gelling sugar
- one litre of water
- one organic lemon – added: In the family recipe it was just lemon juice, organic wasn’t an issue back then 😉
- pot with lid and sieve for draining
- screw-top jars
Let’s start with a question of faith: should you wash flowers before use? That depends not least on where the flowers were collected. We rinsed the blossoms briefly, but not very thoroughly.
The detached dandelion flowers – ready for further processing.
Now the greenery has to be removed from the flowers. This is quite a chore, but it’s really the only time-consuming part. After a few attempts, it’s really easy to do. It is important that not only the petals are used, but also all the other yellow parts (all the small tubular flowers). Theoretically, you can also use the whole dandelion flowers for the jelly and save yourself the chopping, but the more intense flavour comes from the yellow components.
A look into the pot – dandelion flower jelly, this is going to be delicious …
The next step involves cooking. The dandelion flowers, water and sliced organic lemon are added to the saucepan. Bring the mixture to the boil once, but then immediately remove from the heat. Now put the lid on and leave to stand overnight, covered. Preferably in a cooler room. However, we also leave the pot at around 18 degrees overnight and nothing happens.
Dandelion flower remnants ready for the compost.
The next morning, pour the brew through the sieve. Be sure to collect the liquid, of course, because that’s what it’s all about! We once read somewhere that you shouldn’t use a metal sieve, but firstly plastic is stupid and secondly it is beyond our comprehension why you should cook in a stainless steel pot but not pour through a stainless steel sieve.
By the way, don’t be surprised. The brew still smells very lemony, especially the evening before. However, this will soon pass.
The boiling dandelion flower jelly. It’s about to be delicious.
Now bring the collected liquid together with the gelling sugar to the boil in a pan until the liquid gels. If you are unsure, simply do a gelling test by dropping a little of the jelly onto a cold plate. The drop cools quite quickly and then reveals the current consistency.
Bottled dandelion flower jelly as it cools.
Now simply pour the jelly into the prepared jars (rinse well in hot water beforehand). Fill them as full as possible so that there is no air left in the jar, but the contents do not overflow when you screw the lid on. The jars are then quickly turned upside down to cool. The dandelion flower jelly is ready. Have fun making it!