A recipe proven over the years, without lyrical reasoning. Dandelion jam is good served with hot pancakes. In hot summer weather, jam diluted in water perfectly quenches thirst. Very rich in vitamins and microelements.
Will need
- 250-300 pcs. yellow dandelion caps.
- 1.5 liters of water.
- 1-2 medium sized lemons.
- 1.5 kg granulated sugar.
Making dandelion jam
Collect 250-300 pieces of large dandelion flowers (only yellow “fat” caps) in an environmentally friendly place in dry sunny weather at noon - at this time the flowers contain the maximum amount of pollen and nectar.
Carefully rinse the collected flowers in water - all insects will crawl out of them. Do not tug at the dandelions too much, so as not to wash off all the pollen from them.
Then pour 1.5 liters of boiling water over clean dandelions, cover with a lid and let it brew for 24 hours.
Boil the resulting infusion for 5 minutes, cool, squeeze out the flowers and strain the liquid through fine gauze, discard the flowers.
Add 2 well-washed lemons to the infused liquid. They can be grated with a coarse grater along with the zest, or cut into cubes, or add only the juice squeezed from them.
Important: Some varieties of lemon may taste bitter.If you add too much lemon zest, the jam may be more tart and even bitter. Therefore, before adding citrus fruit to jam, you need to taste it.
Heat the dandelion infusion with lemon on the stove. Gradually add granulated sugar and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until visibly thickened, about 40 minutes.
Important: Freshly prepared dandelion jam will not be very thick. It will flow from the spoon as a slightly thick liquid with a light gold or amber color. Jam may acquire a thicker consistency if it is boiled for a long time. But this will make it darker.
Pour the warm golden syrup into jars and roll up the lids.
On a note: The color of jam made according to this recipe may vary from year to year: from light golden to rich amber. This is due to the conditions in which the dandelions grew. If the weather was rainy and cool, then the flowers will be weak, small, and their pollen content will be much less. Accordingly, dandelion jam will be lighter in color and less saturated.
The jam should be stored in a cool place.
