Dandelion Jelly has a wonderful honey flavor. I used lemon extract which gave it a nice citrus like flavor. It was a big hit at Easter dinner on the dinner rolls. Also good on cream cheese and English muffins or crackers.
As requested, here's the recipe. Enjoy!
Dandelion Jelly
Donna Bohaty of Rockford Illinois
2 cups dandelion blossoms
4 cups water
1 pkg (1 3/4 oz) powdered fruit pectin
5 1/2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp orange or lemon extract
1. In a large saucepan, bring dandelion blossoms and water to a boil; boil 4 minutes.
2. Line a strainer or colander with four layers of cheesecloth or one coffee filter; place over bowl. Place dandelion mixture in prepared strainer. Strain mixture, reserving 3 cups liquid. Discard blossoms. (at this point, the liquid is a rather unappealing pond-water color. Just so you know...)
3. In a Dutch oven, combine pectin and reserved dandelion liquid. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar; return to a full rolling boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
4. Remove from heat; add extract. Skim off foam. Ladle hot liquid into hot sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-in. headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot mixture. wipe rims. Center lids on jars; screw on bands until fingertip tight.
5. Place jars into canner with simmering water, ensuring that they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil; process for 5 minutes. Remove jars and cool.
Yield: about 6 half-pints.
This recipe is from the Country Woman magazine. My Mother-In-Law passes the magazine on to me... it's full of great ideas and inspiring stories about independent women doing fabulous things on/off the land. This edition also had a recipe for Dandelion Soup, Dandelion Salad and Dandelion Potato Salad.
