Dandelion Syrup

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7 June 2021 - Eknes

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A few weekends back after tasting my friend Linda's dandelion syrup I endeavored to do the extraction myself. It's no exageration to say that it felt like making gold from trash. I used to pay the kids to pull them up from the lawn before the flowers went to seed. The basic idea of sugar extraction is to put the flowers in water, boil to get the sugar out, remove the heads from the water, and then boil that wort down to a syrup.

So I gathered up around dandelion heads, being careful not to include any of the stems because they would add a bitter flavor to the extraction. Harvest the newly opened heads to get the most sugar, because the bees and bugs will be working against you to pull out the nectar for their own use. Bugs can also be minimized by flicking the heads before snapping them off of the plants. Then soak the heads in cold water a bit to get the rest of the bugs off - they escape to the surface of the water - but of course a few in the wort won't be the end of the world. Use just enough water to submerge the heads. Then bring the water slowly to a boil and let boil for 25 minutes. That's long enough to get the sugar out without getting too much of the dandelion bitterness. Tasting it now you can get an idea of the sweetness but the bitterness will still be unpleasant though. Don't worry, these bitter compounds in the wort will mostly boil off as you reduce it to a syrup. Make sure you remove all the petals and any remaining bugs from the liquid at this point. Straining can be the best way to ensure you get everything out. Then the reduction can begin. Depending on how much water you added this could take an hour or more. Make sure to monitor it and stir to avoid burning the sugars on the bottom of your pot. Also remember that it will thicken when it cools so it doesn't need to be as thick as molasses before pulling the pot off the stove. Can the syrup while it's hot - the sugars will preserve it if you've reduced the water content enough.

Hopefully you'll be enjoying the golden brown deliciousness of dandelion syrup in your tea or coffee soon!