Advent Talk
Specialty Forums Category => Healthy Choices => Topic started by: bonnie on May 24, 2008, 03:54:14 PM
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This is really good. We hd a gajillion dandelions on the farm so put them to good use.
http://prairielandherbs.com/dandelionjelly.htm
It took me about a 10 minutes to pick these!
You will need:
2 heaping cups of fresh dandelion petals (see note below - you'll need to gather about 4 cups whole flowers)
2 C boiling wter
1/4 C well-strained, clear lemon juice
4 C sugar
3 oz liquid pectin (Certo)
food coloring (optional)
NOTE: Look for fully opened flowers, the bigger the better, for ease of preparation. Of course do NOT use any dandelions that have been sprayed with fertilizers or pesticides!
And another 10-15 minutes to cut the petals off.
We'll want just the dandelion petals for this - not the whole flower head. You'll get SOME green sepals (wow, botany class was a long time ago - hope that is the correct term!), and that's fine - but try to minimize the amount of "green" and have mainly yellow petals for your infusion. It works best if you hold the flower by the end near the stem, and trim the petals into a bowl or cup, with sharp kitchen scisscors. All the dandelion blossoms stained my fingers yellow!
Pour boiling water over petals and let steep from 30 minutes to 24
hours. I infused mine for about 2 hours - until the liquid was almost room temperature. Strain through a fine sieve, reserving the infusion. If not using immediately, refrigerate up to 24 hours.
Place jars and lids on rack in pan or stockpot deep enough to cover them with about two inches of water, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, keeping the jars hot until ready to fill.
To make the jelly, stir lemon juice (I actually used lime, because that's what I had on hand, and it worked quite nicely!) and sugar into reserved infusion in a two-quart nonreactive or stainless steel pan. Bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add the liquid pectin and continue to boil two minutes, skimming any foam that may rise to the surface.
As you can see - my infusion is NOT such a pretty color. I decided to add a bit of food coloring - about 20 drops of yellow. I've also seen people use green, but prefer the yellow. Dandelion Jelly is honey-like, in flavor, so between that and the color of the blossoms, a yellow-colored jelly makes sense to me.
Ladle quickly into jars to within about 1/8 inch from the top; clean each rim and threads of the jar as it's filled, and place flat lid and ring on each before filling the next. Screw band on tightly and invert jar on tea towel for about five to 10 minutes. Jars should seal and lids should pop shut within 10 minutes as they cool. If they do not seal, you can place them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes or place in the refrigerator.
Sealed jars will last up to one year in a cool, dark place. Put any unsealed jelly in the refrigerator. it should keep about three weeks. Makes four or five half-pint jars.
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How healthy is this?
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How healthy is this?
I have forgotten how to do this without sugar, should see if I could find that
Can I substitute SPLENDA® for brown sugar?
Can I make jam or jelly with SPLENDA®?
You can substitute SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener Granular cup-for-cup in place of the sugar in your favorite jam recipe. The yield will be slightly less due to the lightweight quality of SPLENDA®.
Freezer jam recipes are the most successful to use with SPLENDA®. As many recipes indicate, it's important not to let your jam preparations stand at room temperature overnight. This is especially important with jams made with SPLENDA® since sucralose, the sweetener in SPLENDA®, doesn't have the same preserving characteristics as sugar.
SPLENDA® Granular will also work in cooked jam recipes. You may find that your jam has a softer set. For better results, try boiling the jam longer than the recipe calls for. Reducing the liquid will help you get a firmer set.
SPLENDA® is not recommends for jellies. The setting agent in jelly recipes needs regular sugar to work properly.
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Can I substitute SPLENDA® for brown sugar?
There's no point.
As a general rule, artificial sweeteners are more much harmful than ordinary white sugar. Not sure honey works with pectin ...
If you're interested in the goods on Splenda, GOOGLE on "harm splenda artificial sweetener." You'll find out more than you wanted to know. ;)
Here's a start by an organic chemist:
http://byronik.blogspot.com/2007/01/avoid-splenda-in-2007-artificial.html
And, by the way, standard brown sugar is simply white sugar with a bit of molasses added. It's cheaper to "make" yourself by adding your own molasses -- if you really prefer the brown color.
My brother just mowed down all the dandelions around my parents' fruit trees, or I'd be tempted to try this with a whole lot less sugar or honey and the Certo that doesn't require sugar to set. I would sweeten to taste, as in lemonade, keeping a bit of tartness. It shouldn't take too much sweetening and look very pretty for an occasional treat. :beagle:
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Sounds like sugar is healthier than Splenda.
What about the other sugar substitutes?
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What does it taste like? Chicken? :ROFL:
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What does it taste like? Chicken? :ROFL:
It actually has kind of a minty flavor. Except that can depend on your dandelions,where growing etc