Dandelion Syrup

After my previous post on dandelion tea, I thought I'd try a recipe using the flowers rather than the leaves. As ever, there are a million and one recipes for how to make it online, so I've cobbled my version together out of a few of them.

Pick as many flower heads as you can (ideally about 100) from a pesticide free area well away from roads. If you've got some in your garden, even better! Try to do this on a sunny day when the flowers are open. As ever when foraging, make sure you are absolutely sure what you're picking. There are some look-a-likes of dandelions, make sure you check exactly what you've found first. The one you're after has an unbranching hollow stem from a rosette of leaves.

Cut the ends off the flowers with a knife and remove the green sepals. They are edible, but they'll make the syrup more of a muddy colour. Put the petals in a sieve. This step takes a lot of patience, so don't hurry it. Probably best done outside with a nice glass of something summery.

Rinse the petals and add to a pan with just enough water to cover them. Turn on a low heat until it reaches boiling point, then remove from the heat, put a lid on and leave overnight to infuse. If you've not got time, you could simmer the petals for 20 minutes instead.

Strain the liquid and weigh it. Squeeze in the juice of half a lemon. Add the same weight of white sugar as liquid to your pan, and heat gently, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Continue simmering until the liquid becomes syrupy. This took about half an hour for me.

Pour into sterilised bottles or jars and keep any opened ones in the fridge.

You can use the syrup as a cordial, poured over pancakes or add hot water for a soothing drink. Apparently, you an also add some pectin and keep boiling the syrup to make dandelion jam. A project for another day!

Christmas Countdown: Plum and Mulled Wine Jam

There can be very few more Christmassy sounding preserves than plum and mulled wine jam. I thought it would make a nice little present for friends as well as filling my store cupboard. Unfortunately, I didn't learn from my last preserve making experience and realised too late that I was making more jam than would fit in the pan. After faffing about with ladles and trying to mix the sugar evenly through both pans, I had rather a messy kitchen. Exactly like last time, the jam in the smaller pan scorched and the other batch wouldn't set even after 40 minutes of trying.

You win some, you lose some.

Anyway, in case you'd like to try your luck, here's the recipe taken from Jams, Pickles and Chutneys: Best Kept Secrets of the Women's Institute by Midge Thomas.

4 lb red plums, stoned and halved (I added an apple to make up the weight)
1/2 bottle red wine
Mulled wine spices tied in muslin
Piece of orange zest (without pith)
4 lb sugar

• Put the plums and wine in a preserving pan (a BIG one!)
• Add the spices and zest to the pan and cook gently for 15-20 minutes to soften the skins.
• Take out the spices and zest add the sugar, stirring constantly until dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil rapidly until setting point is reached (the book says 10 minutes. HA! I say...)
• Remove scum and pot into sterilised jars.

No pictures today I'm afraid as we're spending the weekend with my parents.

Elderberry syrup

This year I was full of good intentions to make elderflower cordial. I've always wanted to try it, but unfortunately I missed my chance as the flowers were very much past their best when I eventually got organised enough to make some. I've been noticing the elderberries ripening and thought how lovely it would be to use them, but I only knew of elderberry wine and didn't fancy the whole wine making process.

When I came across this blog post for elderberry syrup by Dawn at Raising Seedlings, I was delighted. A great way to use up the berries around me, and with health benefits too! We went on a family forage this afternoon and picked what I thought was a lot of elderberries (I'll come back to that later!) plus some early sloes and damsons for flavouring gin.

I used Dawn's recipe as a guide, but also made some tweaks, as I am apparently incapable of following a recipe to the letter!

I removed the berries from the stalks with a fork and washed them in a bowl of water, removing the ones that floated (along with assorted earwigs, grubs and spiders)

Then they went into a pan with enough water to just cover the fruit. I put them over a low heat for just over half an hour until the fruit was soft. I also added some crushed ginger after the fruit had been bubbling away for 10 minutes or so.

Next, I strained the mixture through a sterilised muslin. I think it's going to be permanently purple from now on! I found I had a mere 3/4 of a pint of liquid,despite the mass of berries I started with, so I added 10 oz sugar and some honey.

I gently heated the mixture until the sugar had dissolved and added the juice of a lemon to counteract the sweetness a little. I also popped in a small handful of cloves and boiled the whole lot on a rolling boil for ten minutes

Finally I poured my finished syrup into sterilised jars. I'd have preferred to use bottles, but didn't have any to hand. Although I thought I had picked an abundance of berries, the quantity didn't quite fill two jam jars. I think I might have to make some more soon! So as not to waste a drop, I poured boiling water into the preserving pan to reward myself with a lovely hot drink and a slice of date cake. An afternoon very well spent.