Vegan Dandelion "Honey" Syrup

This might be your new favorite sweetener for sweetening basically anything. It is made up of spring’s delight: dandelion flowers!

While in Ayurveda, we don’t advise consuming honey in any substance over 40° Celcius, for it turns into a toxin that clogs channels. But this one is not “real honey”, so you can!

You can even use it as a sweetener for teas! Or on bread, drizzle over your porridge or pancakes, or as an ingredient in other recipes.

Dandelion leaves are shaped like a lion’s dent, hence the name. We call it Löwenzahn (Löwe = lion, Zahn = dent) in German. Its Latin name is taraxacum officinale.

Oftentimes, they are considered weeds. But plants always show up where they are most needed. It is one of the first plants in spring that blooms, usually close to streets, or showing up through asphalt. They teach us about resilience, and have a highly detoxifying property, assisting us in any spring cleanse, as it aids the liver with its detoxification processes.

Actually, all parts of dandelions are edible and have their own specific healing magic.

I will give you some harvesting tips in the instructions further below.

INGREDIENTS

-       2 cups (80 g) fresh dandelion flowers

-       3 slices of lemon

-       1,5 cups (330 ml) water

-       1,5 cups (280 g) raw cane sugar

This recipe makes 2 small glass jars. It takes about 2 days with harvesting, letting it soak overnight, active cooking time is about 30 minutes.

INSTRUCTIONS

Make sure you really know the plant you want to harvest, by using a plant guide to discern them correctly. Please harvest the dandelion flowers sustainably, and responsibly from a reliable source, not close to dogs, and please leave food for bees, and other pollinating insects. Dandelions are amongst few the very first source of food for them. Choose to harvest in an area where they grow abundantly.

It’s best to harvest flowers during the waxing moon, but not the full moon, as the fullness of the moon makes them too watery.

Harvest, and shake them to get rid of bugs.

Place water, lemons and dandelion flowers in a pot, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes with the lid on (otherwise all of the water evaporates).

Put it aside and leave it to infuse overnight.

On the next day, use a muslin cloth to pour the liquid into another pot, and strain well. You want to squeeze all of the juice out, and into the pot.

Weigh the amount of liquid in your pot (in gram) and add as much sugar in weight (also in gram) to it.

Depending on the sugar you use, the color will turn out. Raw cane sugar is unrefined sugar and makes a very dark “honey”, while more processed sugars will create a lighter color. Ayurvedically speaking, you want to use the most natural sugar you can find, which is raw sugar.

Then cook the mixture and gently stir until the sugar starts thickening, this can take 15 minutes or more. Please stay by the pot and check the consistency. It will thicken when it cools down. Trust me, you don’t want to overdo it and make caramel – if so, please continue to cook it ;-)

Pour the dandelion syrup in sterilized jars while still hot.

It should keep fresh for a few months.

When opened, store in a refrigerator.

Enjoy and let me know if you liked this recipe!

With love,

Lisa