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a small mason jar filled with homemade dandelion syrup surrounded by dandelions

Dandelion Syrup

Chef Markus Mueller
Try your hand at foraging with this dandelion syrup recipe. Great on pancakes, waffles, and in tea, this is something you won't find in store!
3.88 from 16 votes
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Soaking The Flower Petals 2 days
Total Time 2 hours
Course Condiment
Cuisine Canadian, European
Servings 3 liters
Calories 4921 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 8 Liters freshly picked dandelion flower heads roughly
  • 6 cups sugar
  • 10 liters water

Instructions
 

  • Pick fully mature dandelion flowers while in bloom. It took me about an hour to pick 8 liters worth of flowers.
    a child picking dandelions in a grassy field
  • Let the picked flower head sit in a bucket until the flowers 'close'. Take scissors and cut the petals of at the base. Discard the green plant, but save the bright yellow petals. You will most likely get a little green in with it (the part that closes over the petals) but I have found this doesn't contribute much bitterness to the final product.
  • Soak the dandelion petals in the 10 liters cold water for 2 days.
  • Dump the whole mixture into a large pot and bring the flower petals to a boil. Simmer the dandelion petals for about 20 minutes to fully extract all the flavor.
    a pot of dandelion petals simmering on the stove
  • Periodically stir the petals to ensure they are cooking evenly and all parts get their color extracted.
  • Strain the petals out through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth,  to remove any sediment and plant matter.
  • Add the strained dandelion extract back to the pot, add the sugar, then bring it back to a boil.
    golden yellow dandelion extract after simmering and straining
  • Once the dandelion extract and sugar are boiling ,note the water level on the side of the pot (roughly). Reduce the liquid by half to thicken the syrup and intensify it's flavor.
  • Once you notice the syrup having reduced by about half, it will start to bubble on the surface as less and less water is present. Watch the pot at this point to avoid it from bubbling over and burning.
  • Test the dandelion syrups consistency, by spooning out a little of the syrup into a dish and cooling it in the fridge.
    golden yellow dandelion syrup dripping of a spoon into a mason jar
  • Use a heat proof funnel to pour the hot dandelion syrup into glass bottles or jars.

Notes

The base of the flower head contains latax, a bitter milky liquid, which is quite un-pleasent. As Such its important to remove the green stem and flower head base, and use just the petals.

Nutrition

Calories: 4921kcal

Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.

Keyword Are dandelions edible, dandelion flower recipes, dandelion honey, dandelion recipes
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