From a wild-picking guide, we got the tip to make dandelion syrup once. It would taste a bit like honey and be very healthy. According to her, it would be even tastier than elderflower and you can also enjoy it for longer, as the dandelion blooms for longer. We got to work with the recipe for easy dandelion syrup. This recipe is also great fun and easy to make with kids!
Making dandelion syrup
For many garden owners, the dandelion is a weed and they would rather see this flower go than come. And that's pretty crazy, because the dandelion is a cheerful, sunny yellow flower that you see growing from early spring in the Netherlands. We therefore prefer not to call it a weed, but a native flower. The little plant is also packed with healthy substances such as vitamin C and antioxidants. We learned all this on a guided wild-picking walk. Conclusion: a perfect flower to make a delicious syrup and they grow abundantly and also come back quickly once you have picked them. It's a super fun activity to do with children: they can help pick the flowers and discover more about nature through play. And the best part? The lemonade syrup you will make from them is delicious.
Getting started with our own dandelion lemonade.
Wildfowl recipe dandelion syrup
Kitchenware
- (fabric) bag
- scissors
- 2 pans
- sieve
- tea towel
- empty bottle
- funnel
Ingredients
- 30 dandelions (Pick flowers in secluded spots to minimise the chances of visits from dogs and cats).
- 1 litres water
- 500 gr sugar
- 2 el (vegan) honey (I used vegan nettle honey.)
- 1 lemon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- spices to taste (I added liquorice plant from my own garden).
Instructions
Day 1: making syrup
- On a sunny day, pick or cut the dandelions in a quiet place, one where there are no/few dogs, cats and cars. On a sunny morning or afternoon, the flowers are open and full of pollen. This is a great time to pick! Put the horse flowers in your bag.
- At home, separate the yellow flowers from the green and put the yellow flowers in a sieve. Wash the flowers. It is best to pick or cut off as much green as possible. A little green is not bad, but it has a slightly bitter taste.
- Wash the flowers well.
- Cut the lemon into wedges.
- Put the flowers, lemon, cinnamon, spices in a pan with one litre of water and put it on a fire.
- Add the sugar and (vegan) honey while stirring. Keep stirring until the sugar and honey have dissolved. Turn off the heat.
- Leave the pan for a day.
Day 2: bottling syrup
- Hang a clean tea towel in a sieve and pour the syrup through the tea towel and sieve. Collect the syrup in a second pan under the sieve. What remains in the tea towel and sieve, throw away.
- Sterilise a bottle (and don't forget the cap). Sterilise: pour boiling water over the bottle and then put the bottle in an oven at 100°C for 10 minutes.
- Using a funnel, pour the syrup into a bottle.
- You can store the syrup for at least a month. Add citric acid to the syrup if you want to keep it longer.
Dandelions have medicinal properties and they are very tasty.
Taking a picking break: do you know the game picking rules yet?
Wild picking is not only super fun (and tasty!), but also something you need to know a little about. It is officially banned in the Netherlands, but in many places it is turned a blind eye - as long as you do it properly. Think of nature as a wonderful buffet we can all taste from, but only if we behave. So pick with love, not greed. Want to know more? Read the unwritten rules of wild picking. We have listed it for you!
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Saving energy is more topical than ever. We recently started using EnergyFlip, a handy app that gives us live insight into energy consumption in our home.
- Find out more about sustainable gardening: Help nature, buy poison-free plants.
- Does sustainable honey even exist? Read all about it.
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl. Brons: healthy.now.
