The other day I ran across a recipe for dandelion jelly on Langdon Cook’s excellent foraging website, Fat of the Land. I was kinda toying with doing up a batch but didn’t know where to find the dandies and was concerned about them not having been sprayed with pesticides. Lo and behold, this week’s photoshoot was at an old orchard site, and there were dandies everywhere. It took me about 5 minutes to gather up a bag of heads, which then had to be cleaned, which took another 10 minutes or so.

Then I simply followed the recipe below. It’s really unlike any jelly I have had before, and utterly delicious.

Langdon Cook’s Dandelion Jelly

2 cups dandelion petals
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
2-4 tsp pectin*
* Maybe more, maybe less. This jelly operates on principles beyond our ken.
1. Bring 2 cups water to boil and add dandelions. Boil 10 minutes over medium heat.
2. Strain dandelions and return liquid to pot.
3. Add sugar, lemon, and pectin, then bring to boil again before reducing heat to a simmer. Stir with wooden spoon until syrupy. This may take little time or lots of time, depending.
4. Pour into sterilized jars, seal, and process in hot water bath for 10 minutes.