Cramaillotte

Cramaillote or crameillote, is a french confiture made from dandelions. Tangy and aromatic, it has become popular for vegans as an alternative for honey.

First you need to harvest a lot of dandelions. Rule of thumb is 100 flowers per jar or 70grams per 200ml jelly.

Don't pick this one

And of course don't pick this one!

Yeah this one is right.

• Gelling sugar 1:1
• 1 apple
• 1 lemon
• Dandelions

Equipment:

• Kitchen scale
• Mason Jar
• Mandolin slicer
• Strainer
• Lemon squeezer
• Jam Funnel
• Clean towels

The yellow petals need to be picked as soon as possible after harvesting the flowers because they change their yellow into orange even brown.

There are 2 ways to pluck the petals from the flower, either you avoid the green sepals and rip out the yellow petals. Or you cut the flower above the axis and then sort out the green sepals.

Put the leaves into a cooking pot. The jelly needs a certain level of acidity to form. Therefore we add half of the juice of a lemon. If you have lemon juice in a bottle, the equivalent is 2 table spoons. Peel the apple and use the slicer to have small pieces in our dandelion stock. Fill up with 400ml water and bring to a boil.

After the stock comes to a boil, reduce to a low heat for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile lay the mason jars and eligible equipment for 5 minutes in boiling water and let them dry top down on a clean dishcloth. Alternatively put them into a stove for 15 minutes at 130°C / 270°F. Let them cool down before use.

After boiling for 30 minutes, put a strainer on a measuring cup and let the stock run into it.

Take as much as you need for your jelly. If your mason jars have 500ml volume, you need 250ml stock.

The sugar helps in gel formation and above 50% by weight, serves as a preservative. Since I took 250ml dandellion stock I now measure 250grams gelling sugar.

Back into the cooking pot and boil the mix while stirring for 4 minutes.

After boiling the mix for 4 minutes, test for gelling strength. Place a drop of the jelly on a plate and see if it runs down when you upend the plate. If it looks fine, place a canning funnel on your mason jars and fill the jelly to the brim.

After filling to the brim you will probably see a lot of bubbles or even a layer of foam on top. Take a spoon and skim the bubbles off. Then close the jars tightly and let them rest for at least 5 minutes upside down. Tastes perfectly with brioches (the bun in the main picture)!

You can also fill some of the jelly into mouldings for nice visual effects: