Dandelion lavender jelly recipe

NwMtGardener

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I stumbled across a recipe for dandelion lavender jelly a few weeks ago, and I can't even tell you how amazing it is!!! I know it sounds weird, but it tastes like honey, a "complex" honey with different layers of flavors... You can find details other places on the internet, but this is what I did:

Pick about a quart of dandelion flowers, then remove the green bit at the base - I tried to remove most of the green, because apparently it can make your jelly bitter, but I didnt worry about getting each and every green leaf growing up the sides of the flower.

Then I add all my dandelions, plus a "small handful" of dried lavender flowers, to about 4 or 5 cups of water. Boil for 10 to 20 min, till you have a nice dark tea.

Strain out flower parts, then you're going to use 3 cups of your tea to make the jelly. Bring to a boil again, add 5 cups sugar and a box of pectin slowly. Bring back to a boil (if it's not already) for 1 min, add 1 tablespoon of vanilla (I love vanilla, you could add less or none if it's not your thing - also, NOT imitation vanilla) then ladle into sterile jelly jars - this made 7 jars for me.

Another note - I think if you were using fresh lavender you would want more, I'm guessing I used 12 to 15 sprigs of dried.
 

digitS'

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7 half-pint jars?

Could other flowers be substituted . . . like bee balm instead of lavender? Actually, I'm thinking - anise hyssop.

Did you try any of the "tea" as . . . tea, Heather?

(See, you've been in possession of a recipe for a few weeks but I'm assuming that you are already an expert on this sort of thing ;).)

Steve
 

NwMtGardener

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Yeah...7 half pint jars. "they say" (they being the Internet, surely an expert, haha!) that any edible flower will work, so sure, anise hyssop sounds great! I used to have a plant of that, but it must not have made it through the winter one year. The tea tastes like flowers, unsweetened flowers! I didn't drink a whole cup or anything, it's not that good until you add the sugar! I like anise flavor, I think that would be a good substitution!
 

vfem

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I make a slew of flower jellies... absolutely the best! Any flower or herb will work.

I make honeysuckle, lavender, clover, dandelion, rose petal... and I'm drying rose hips to make rose hip jelly too!!!

There is a great canning thread on BYC I use and the recipes are listed there.

You can look through my online preserve shop and see the many flavors we come up with here.

http://BiscottiQueen.Etsy.com
 

NwMtGardener

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Ohhh, fun ideas on there vfem! Had a thought... How would rosemary jelly taste?

Vfem, I had trouble getting jalapeo jelly to set when I made it... Twice! Have you had that problem with pepper jelly?
 

vfem

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My pepper jellies seem to set soft, though they set, but I like that since they go so nicely when folded into cream cheese!!! :lol:

The rosemary is awesome! Great on pork, and I use it with other meats in the slow cooker sometimes. The apple rosemary is AMAZING too!!! You can do with the rosemary jelly what I just suggested with the pepper jelly. Fold it into some cream cheese or sour cream and use it as a dip. YUM!
 

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