A much maligned plant is the dandelion. What a great swath of colour dandelion brings across the country and in unkempt gardens in cities. A rich beautiful yellow flower that opens and closes with the sun. Then it leaves us with its beautiful seed clocks. We blew them as children in the hope that they would return to us as chocolate Easter eggs. You can use roots, leaves and flowers for different recipes.
Here is a recipe for dandelion syrup made with dandelion petals.
We picked the flowers in a suburban garden in Dublin city.
Food Stylist Johan van der Merwe separated the petals...then boiled them in water for twenty minutes.
Strain the petals and let the remaining liquid sit over night. Add approximately the same weight of sugar as liquid to the dandelion water and heat gently until it thickens.
Store the syrup in sterilised air tight storage jars. Use instead of honey. For pancakes its a dream.