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It’s the early morning of a beautiful spring day, and I have stepped out into a glistening landscape. Dew drops adorn delicate flower petals, sparkle like diamonds nestled into mullein leaves, and light up spider webs like fine embroidery. I pause to watch a bee gently taking little nibble-sips from a dewdrop nearly as big as it! Observing this phenomenon as a kid (and watching animated movies where other insects carried around their own refreshing little dewdrop water sources) convinced me that this must also be how fairies transport and delicately sip those refreshing early morning dew drops too. I’ve always wanted to experience that feeling - sipping from a dewdrop, something that’s not really possible for a creature of my scale. But all of that can change.

What if you could create a delectable dewdrop that was the size of a tomato? One that you could gently carry around, then sip up when you are thirsty? At this scale, we can’t rely on the surface tension of water to keep it in a round dewdrop shape; instead we will be using science to create a thin edible membrane to keep the water contained within. More specifically, we’ll be using a technique called “Frozen Reverse Spherification” for this project, but don’t let the name intimidate you: as long as you have the necessary ingredients, it’s quite easy to pull off! This whole project is like a delectable scientific experiment that feels absolutely magical - but do keep in mind that you will need some specialty ingredients and that accurate weight measurements are important! 

When you submerge a liquid with calcium content (plant-derived)  in a bath of sodium alginate (which comes from seaweed but is tasteless), the two have a chemical reaction that forms a thin skin - a bit like the one around the yolk of an egg. The longer the sphere of calcium-containing liquid bathes in the sodium alginate, the thicker that membrane will be. Both of these ingredients are completely edible and essentially flavorless, making them the perfect tools to make human-sized dewdrop treats! Add the wild flavors of a spring morning and you have a show-stopping surprise that will delight anyone who tries it. (The experience is truly like nothing else!) If you want to get a peek of these crazy things in action, they are the subject of my latest TikTok video! My username is TheWondersmith, so find me there! 

As Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, “Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” Maybe someday calcium lactate gluconate will be as common in home kitchens as baking powder and we’ll all prepare our daily water bottles like this. Maybe recipes like this will be laughed at or lost to time. Who knows. What I do know is that this recipe is an awful lot of FUN, right here and right now! 

Ingredients: 

500 g dew water (recipe below)

10 g calcium lactate gluconate

3.5 g Liquid thickener, optional (helps the dewdrops hold their shape to be more round.) 

1 Tbs. sugar 

Tiny pinch salt 

2000 g distilled water

10 g sodium alginate 

Directions: 

1. First, prepare the sodium alginate bath by adding the distilled water to a high-speed blender. Turn it on and pour in the sodium alginate while it is blending, a little at a time. Blend for about 10 minutes to allow the sodium alginate to dissolve. The mixture will thicken and get a bit bubbly and cloudy. Once the sodium alginate is completely combined, pour the mixture into a large bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until the bubbles are gone, about 12 hours.

2. Meanwhile, prepare your dew drop mixture. Blend together the dew water, calcium lactate gluconate, liquid thickener, sugar, and salt, then pour into a round silicone mold. I like to fill mine to different levels so I have slightly different sizes of dewdrops. I also used a couple of different shapes of molds to get somewhat irregular dewdrops. Freeze until solid.

3. To make the dewdrops, gently heat the sodium alginate solution to 150-160F. Drop a frozen sphere into the bath and gently move it around with a slotted spoon. After 5 minutes, scoop it out and rinse it in a bowl of cold water. Test the thickness of the membrane by cutting it or biting it (but do so over a sink!) It takes a little trial and error to find the right amount of time to form a strong membrane that breaks easily enough to sip out the water. The membrane can then be eaten or discarded - it’ll break down and be absorbed by the earth. I recommend adding 3-5 frozen pieces at once and gently stirring until the skin has the desired thickness. I’ll warn you: once the pieces finish thawing in the bath, they turn pretty invisible! Make sure you count how many you put in and then how many you fish out with a slotted spoon. Keep the finished ones covered in cold water until you are ready to serve.

Making Dew Water: 

Did you know that you can distill the essence of a plant infusion in your own kitchen? While teas steeped with herbs take on the colors of those herbs, creating something called a hydrosol results in a pure, clear water with the unmistakable flavor and fragrance of the botanicals you use! Plus you get to create a mini water cycle in your kitchen, which is a fun project on its own!

You’ll need: 

A large pot with a lid with a handle or knob

A couple of bowls 

A big bag of ice

Access to a stovetop

Dried or fresh herbs: 

½ c. dried sweet woodruff

½ c. dried elderflowers 

1 c. fresh mint 

Directions: 

1. Place a heat-proof bowl upside-down in the middle of your large pot to act like a stand. Put the other bowl on top, facing up. Put the herbs in the bottom of the pot and fill it with water to the top of the bottom bowl. Flip the lid of the pot upside-down so that the knob or handle is directly above the empty upright bowl.

2. Place the pot over medium heat until it just starts to bubble (You’ll need to just listen, or very carefully test the temperature of the exterior of the pot with the back of your hand.) Once it does, fill the upside-down lid with ice.

3. The water in the pot will become infused with the herbs and then evaporate. When it hits the cold metal of the pot lid, it will condense into little dewdrops, which will flow down the angled surface of the upside-down lid to the tip of the knob, then drop into the bowl below. Keep monitoring your hydrosol set up and empty the bowl as it fills and add more water to the pot to keep it from boiling dry. You’ll also need to keep replenishing the ice in the top of the lid. Once you have as much liquid as you desire, just turn off the heat and let everything cool to a manageable temperature before cleaning up. Tip: hydrosols carry a fair amount of flavor, so if you don’t have the 500g dew water necessary for the recipe above, just add in some distilled water until you have what you need.

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