Making Dandelion Jelly

Dandelion Jelly

I've always wanted to try it but never made the time. Now that we're in a covid 19 pandemic, I have plenty of time.

Dandelion

First, I had to find dandelions. We only have a few in our yard, not nearly enough.  The field across the street is FULL of the sunny flowers, but people bring their dogs their to do their doggy business, so that was out.   I mentioned my problem on Facebook and my friend Albert invited me to come pick the dandelions from his yard, which is pet and pesticide free.  

Albert helping me pick dandelions to make Jelly

As a bonus, he helped me pick the flowers and we had a nice, socially distant visit, although we did get too close when he poured the dandelions from his bag into my bag; oops.  He's not sick though, and he's an essential worker; a baker at a local grocery store.

Speaking of his being a baker, I even got a tasty treat after we picked the dandelions. 

Albert's pineapple cake 

The pineapple upside down cake was delish.

Bowl full of sunny Dandelions

When I got home, I set up everything in my yard so I could sit in my swing while I worked. It was a beautiful evening.

Dandelion Petals

I started pulling the petals off, careful not to get any greens, which I read would make the jelly bitter.

It was very relaxing and zen, pulling petals.  

Dandelions, making Dandelion Jelly

It took a long time, a bit more than 2 hours, to fill my Litre jar with petals.  I had lots of birds watching me as I worked, lol.

Dandelion Petals

IMPORTANT NOTE: if you do this, make sure to start early because by the time I was an hour into pulling the petals, the dandelion flowers had closed because it was getting late and it is very hard to pull petals from a closed dandelion.  I had no idea they would close once picked, lol.

After the petals were all picked, I went inside and boiled 4 cups of water.  I actually put a bit more than 4 cups in the pot, to make up for any evaporation that might occur. 

Dandelion Tea

Then I poured the boiling water over the petals, which turned them a vividly bright yellow. It was like liquid sunshine, even at night.  After that, I let it cool, and then put the lid on and put it in the fridge to steep for 24 hours, to make a very strong Dandelion Tea.

The next night, I went into the basement to dig out the canning kit I bought earlier this spring. 

Bernadin Canning kit and mason jars

 I also brought up a tray of mason jars and some pectin, which I'd also purchased several months ago, from Canadian Tire (with curbside pickup).

Bernadin Canning Kit

When I opened the kit, I discovered it came with 4 decorative mason jars, pectin, and an accessory kit, which was pretty cool. Also a DVD or CD of recipes, but I don't have a DVD or CD player. It's OK as all of Bernadin's recipes are online for free.

I don't have photos of the next step, but I sterilized 6 jars in the big canner, and 6 lids in hot simmering but not boiling water.  

Dandelion tea, pectin, and lemon juice coming to boil

 Then I poured the Dandelion tea into a big pot, added 2 tsps of lemon juice (I used RealLemon because I didn't have fresh), and 1 package of Bernadin powdered Pectin, and brought it to a boil, stirring constantly. Once it came to a boil I added 4 cups of sugar and kept stirring until it returned to a boil.  Then I was supposed to let it boil for 1 to 2 minutes but it didn't seem thick enough so I boiled it for 4-5 minutes, stirring constantly.  I took the sterilized jars out of the canner, which was hard because they were full of boiling water and I am a klutz.  The tongs for pulling them out were hard to use.   

After that, I used a ladle and the funnel that came with my kit and scooped the hot liquid gold into mason jars, leaving about a quarter inch at the top.  I put the lids on and the instructions said to "finger tighten".  I have no idea what that means as the only way I ever tighten jars is with my fingers, but I took it to mean "don't make it too tight". Then I returned the now filled jars into the water bath canner, and brought it back up to a boil.  I asked Alexa to set a timer for 10 minutes and I went outside to cool off because the house was full of steam.

Important Note 2: The directions make it seem like this can be made in minutes but it takes FOREVER for the giant canning pot to come to a boil, lol. Also, it fills your house with steam. Thankfully it was a cool night, but I still had to open the windows and the door to get a breeze to take the steam out.

After the timer went off, I took the jars of jelly out of the water bath canner.  I dropped one and the lid popped off when it hit the counter and I spilled an entire jar of hot liquid jelly everywhere. It was a huge mess and I almost cried over the waste, as this is such a time consuming process.  I would have had 6 and a half jars, but ended up with 5 and a half jars.  I didn't process the half jar; i just let it cool and then put it in the fridge. 

Dandelion Jelly

 The dandelion jelly came out and it was well worth the trouble, in my opinion.   It's very pretty, and looks like liquid sunshine. Kind of tastes like it too, lol

I took these photos late at night and then early the next morning, and the sun wasn't out yet.  I'll take more photos this afternoon. I wanted to pick a fresh dandelion for the photos but they were still closed up tight this morning when I went out to check. 

Yummy Home made Dandelion Jelly on Toast

 l had some of the Dandelion Jelly on hot buttered toast for breakfast this morning. It was truly yummy, which was such a relief as I tasted it last night when I emptied the pot out. There was still some at the bottom of the pot and I spooned it up and didn't care for it. It hadn't jelled yet and was still hot.

A lot of people say it tastes just like honey. I guess it kind of tastes like honey a bit, but not JUST like it. It's sort of like a very light, citrus based wild honey, I guess. It really does have it's own flavor.  I do like it a lot; so much so that I had another piece of toast and Dandelion jelly for lunch, lol. 

If you want to make this yourself, here is a link to the recipe I used: Homestead Acres, Dandelion Jelly Recipe

I'm going to give a jar to my friend Albert, who helped me pick the dandelions, which will leave me with 4 jars left. I wish I would have made more.  I also wish I would have purchases the really super tiny jam sized mason jars so I could give more as gifts. Next time.

Dandelion