My Grandmother's Recipe: Dandelion Honey

by J.A.

My Grandmother Jozefa would relish the time of year when the dandelions began to arrive in great numbers.

Dandelions meant dandelion honey could be made and used as a drizzle to pour on ice cream or dessert, or a syrup for pancakes, or turned into dandelion juice by diluting the honey with more water.

Technically, dandelion honey isn’t made with actual honey. It’s more of a syrup laden with pollen, which thickens in a way that truly becomes a honey-like consistency. It’s made with the yellow flower tops of the dandelions and turns an amber colour. It’s a beautiful thing. 

How do you do it?

You start by gathering about 350-ish dandelion yellow flower tops in their prime (goes faster than you can imagine!). Make sure they haven’t been sprayed with any chemicals and are growing far away from roads. 

Collect them in full bloom on a sunny day in the late morning hours.

The flower tops will have tiny black ants and insects of various kinds within them, and a good trick to remove a vast majority of those critters is to toss all the dandelion flower tops on a white sheet on the ground in the sunshine. The insects will get attracted to the brightness of the white sheet and will naturally walk out of the flower tops, saving you some work. As the ants and insects exit, you can pick up the flower tops and shake them out to ensure they’re clear of any unwanted guests. Don’t wait too long to go to the next steps because you don’t want the flower tops to wilt. 

Next, remove the yellow petals from the green bits.

You can do this by pulling them off by hand or cutting them off with scissors. Aim to remove as much of the green bits as you can, as they are bitter. Don’t rinse the petals, the pollen is helpful to the process.

Then, in a pot, add the petals to water (enough to cover them all).

Bring this to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes and turn off. Afterwards, let them soak overnight.

Next, strain the water, squeezing the petals as you go to get as many precious drops of the liquid that you can. Discard the petals. 

To the remaining liquid, add about 3 cups of sugar, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, and a couple cups of water. Bring it all to a low boil, stirring occasionally.

Lower the heat and let simmer uncovered (usually about 30-60 minutes) until it reaches your desired consistency. Let cool. It will thicken as it cools. 

Once it’s cool, keep it covered in the refrigerator or freeze it for longer storage.

Enjoy!