I read an interesting post (thank you Robin) about dandelions, saying that every part of the dandelion is edible. That is something I didn’t know that before; I knew about the leaves, which I have had in salads, but not the flowers and leaves. If there is anything that grows brilliantly in our garden it’s dandelions and they are all coming out in their bright yellow glory in this sun. Someone else commented that they had a great recipe for a dandelion fricassee and it would be good to try that at some point, but I was inspired to make a cake:- it doesn’t take much to inspire me to make a cake! So I thought about what would go well with dandelions and this is what I came up with:
Method for making Dandelion and Honey cake
Ingredients:
225g gram flour (it is gluten free)
1 teasp ground ginger
1 teasp cinnamon
A good grinding of nutmeg
Grated zest of a lemon
70g caster sugar
110g butter
1 medium egg
75g runny honey
1 teasp bicarbonate of soda
50g mixed peel
Petals of a few dandelion heads (while at the bright yellow stage) Make sure you save some for sprinkling on the top
Heat the oven to 160C fan.
Mix the flour, sugar, spices and zest, then add in the butter and use mixer to make breadcrumbs or rub in by hand. Mix in the egg, then the slightly warmed honey. In a separate bowl stir the bicarbonate of soda into 3 tablespoons of cold water, then add this along with the mixed peel and dandelion petals.
Spoon the cake mix into a small 20cm round cake tin and bake for about 30 minutes.
Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out to cool on a wire rack. Sprinkle with some more dandelion petals.
Would I make this again?
Yes I would, it is a very nice cake. However, if I am totally honest I didn’t really taste the dandelion petals. It may be that I didn’t add enough petals or maybe they don’t taste of very much!