Dandelion Syrup - A Taste of Spring!
In truth, I spent most of the past winter eagerly awaiting the return of spring and with it, the emergence of many of the plants and flowers I’ve been learning about and looking forward to using. After what felt like a very long wait, the spring equinox last weekend coincided with glorious sunny weather, making for a perfect opportunity to forage the new season’s bounty. A quick walk around the woods and vineyard revealed primroses, nettles and dandelions popping up in abundance and I collected a good handful of each. The primroses to be eaten in salads, the nettles for tea and the dandelions, for a delicious simple syrup.
The flowers, leaves and roots of dandelions are all edible and are packed full of nutritional goodness from prebiotic inulin in the roots, to antioxidants in the flowers. There are many ways to use dandelions: make coffee from the roasted roots, add the leaves and flowers to salads and teas or, make syrup! The idea for this syrup was inspired by John Wright’s book, The Forager’s Calendar. It’s very simple to make and a fun way to capture the essence of spring.
How to make a (small) jar of dandelion syrup:
You will need:
A clean glass jar with a lid
Caster sugar
A colander full of dandelion heads
Method:
Collect the dandelion heads on a sunny morning when they are fully open. Be sure to take them from an area abundant with flowers and leave more behind for the pollinators than the amount you take. Dandelions are part of the daisy family (Asteraceae) and as such, each yellow ‘petal’ is in fact an individual floret which together form a composite flower head. You will need to seperate the florets from the dandelions, leaving behind the green parts. In the jar, layer about 3 plant’s worth of florets and then top with a sprinkling of sugar. Continue this process until the jar is full, squashing the contents down as you go. Once the jar is full, put the lid on and keep in a cool, dry place for a few days. You will notice the sugar will start to dissolve and the contents sink lower in the jar (at this point, you can top up with fresh flowers if you would like a higher yield of syrup). Once the sugar has dissolved, strain the liquid through a mesh cloth and squeeze out as much syrup from the florets as you can. Store in a glass jar or bottle out of direct sunlight.
Although the amount of syrup is small, it is delicious and makes a lovely addition to drinks or drizzled over pancakes. The taste of spring!
Do let us know if you try it - enjoy!
Emma