Recipe: Dandelion-Pine Honey
A syrupy sweetener with floral and spicy notes, made from two plants you can simply pick in the wild. Delicious over a pancake, with a cheese board, or diluted with water as lemonade!
Kitchenware
- Large pot with lid
- fine sieve or cheesecloth
- Clean pot(s) with lid
Ingredients
- 50 g dandelions Just the yellow petals, without stalk and calyx
- 10 small young pine cones (stalk-less)
- 250 g unrefined cane sugar
- 250 ml water
- 2 3 slices of organic lemon
Instructions
- Pick the dandelions in a clean spot, preferably on a sunny morning as they have the most flavour then. Do not wash them, to preserve nectar and pollen. Remove the green calyx underneath the flower for a milder taste.
- Put the petals in a pan, add water until they are just covered and bring to the boil.
- Remove the pan from the heat as soon as it boils. Let the mixture infuse with a lid for 24 hours.
- Strain the mixture through a cheesecloth or sieve, collecting the liquid in a pan and squeezing well.
- Add sugar and lemon slices. Heat the mixture over a low heat, uncovered, so that it slowly thickens. Do not let it boil, just simmer gently.
- Has the syrup almost reached the desired thickness? If so, add the pine kernels and let them simmer gently for another 20 minutes.
- Pour the honey into clean (!) jars, screw on the lids and leave them to cool upside down. Clean glass jars and bottles thoroughly? First, pour boiling water over them (don't forget the lid) and then place the jar/bottle in an oven at 100°C for ten minutes.
Notes
Tip: prefer a liquid syrup to thick honey? Then let it simmer for less time.