How to Make Dandelion Jelly

Whenever most people hear anyone mention dandelion, the first thing that pops into their head is the word weed. Dandelion has received a pretty bad rap over the years as an evasive weed that infects lush green lawns. While it is true that the plant can spread quickly, one of the things that we have forgotten in our quest for turf like yards is that dandelion is edible. The entire plant from blossom to root and it is actually quite nutritious.

The blossoms can be made into jelly, syrup and wine. The flavor is reminiscent of honey. The added sugar brings out the natural sweetness in the flowers but the pollen in the blooms provides a nice, crisp honey taste that is quite pleasing on the tongue. No food coloring is required because your finished product will be a nice, sunny natural yellow.

The dandelion leaves are a great addition to salads and steamed, like you would steam spinach or kale. They are quite nutritious and 1 cup of dandelion greens gives you a whopping 535% of the RDA of vitamin K, 114% of the RDA of vitamin A, 32% of the RDA of vitamin C, 10% of the RDA of calcium and 9% of the RDA of iron. With zero sugar of any kind and only 25 calories in that cup of greens, adding dandelion greens to your diet is quite beneficial to your health.

Moving on down to the roots, they require a little more preparation than the greens or the blossoms. Think of them like you would a carrot or other root vegetable. They will need to be peeled and the simplest way to cook them is by boiling them like you would a potato. The liquid can also be consumed as a tea or the roots can be dried and roasted as a coffee substitute.

Dandelion is an example of what I like to call a perfect food. It is completely edible from top to bottom. It has many excellent benefits, is nutritious and tastes pretty good. It's such a shame that such a beneficial, beautiful plant has gotten such a bad rap.

The first thing you need to do before making your jelly is make the dandelion tea. There are many different ways to make this tea. This is the way that I make mine to get the dandelion blooms ready for making the jelly.

1. Pick a little over a quart jar full of dandelion blossoms. You'll need 2 cups of the petals to make the tea.
2. Remove the yellow petals from the blossoms. You can leave the blossoms whole if you do not want to remove the petals but the end result will have a bit of a bitter honey taste instead of a sweet honey taste. I remove the blossoms by taking my thumbnail and pressing into the center of the flower while dragging my nail to the outside of the flower. After doing this with a couple of the blossoms, you'll get a feel for how much pressure that you need in order to get the petals out.
3. Once you have 2 cups of petals, put them into a sauce pan and add about 5 cups of water. Using medium high heat, cook the petals until they come to a boil.
4. Boil the petals for 15 to 20 minutes then turn the heat off.
5. Allow the petals to steep for a few hours or at least until the tea reaches room temperature. Steeping for a few hours will intensify the flavor. Do not try to save the petals in the water for longer than 24 hours. It will break down very fast, rot and REALLY smell bad. (I know this from experience, you don't want to smell this AT all.)
6. Take a piece of cheesecloth and stretch it over a bowl.
7. Dump the tea through the cheesecloth to remove the petals and allow the tea to through into the bowl.
8. Squeeze any remaining liquid out of the petals by twisting the cloth. When you have all of the liquid out, the petals will be clumped together in one dry fibrous mass. It really reminds me of matted damp hair.
9. Discard the petals.
10. You are now ready to make your jelly.

There's a few things that you will want to remember when making this jelly in addition to any other jelly that you decide to make.

• Never leave the stove when you are making jelly. Be sure to do things like going to the restroom before you start.
• Have everything ready and measured out before you start. Especially having the sugar measured out.
• Your jars should be washed and boiling in the waterbath before you start. Never pour hot liquid into cold jars because this can cause them to break.
• Always place hot jars onto a towel, never directly onto the counter top. Hot jars on a cool surface can break. This applies every time you remove the jars from the hot water in the canner.