Dandelion Strawberry Bundt Cake
Spring is in the air, and what better way to celebrate than with a vibrant cake that captures the season's essence? This recipe combines the delicate sweetness of strawberries with the subtle honeyed notes of dandelion petals, resulting in a unique and delightful bundt cake bursting with flavor and color.
Enjoy this beautiful and delicious bundt cake, a perfect way to celebrate spring and impress your guests with its unique flavor and stunning presentation!
Since I discovered dandelions were edible a few years ago, I have felt like a kid in a candy store. When I see them, I get wildly excited. I like to add them any and everywhere! I mean, why not? They are highly nutritious, widely available, and it feels so fun to pick them with my kiddos & add them to our food.
Notes about the recipe:
- To ensure the safety of using dandelions, identify them correctly as the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and haven't been sprayed with pesticides. Only use the petals, discarding the green parts.
- This recipe requires between five and six tablespoons of lemon juice. Because the amount of juice can vary from lemon to lemon, we suggest you measure the juice from the three lemons you have zested, then juice an addition lemon if necessary.
- The cake has a light, fluffy texture when eaten the day it is baked, but if well wrapped and held at room temperature overnight its texture becomes more dense—like that of pound cake—the following day.
- This cake is best enjoyed fresh but can be stored at room temperature under a cake dome for up to 2 days.
- This recipe will yield one standard 10 inch cake pan. You may need to adjust bake time if using a different used. Begin checking for doneness at 35 minutes by ensuring the top and edges are golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean during the poke test.
Harvesting your dandelions:
Dandelions are easily identifiable and abundant. They’re notoriously easy to harvest and simple to clean and use. The entire plant is edible from flowers, leaves, to root. I like the harvest my dandelions from my own garden. We’re lucky to have a garden where they grow abundantly, without fertilizer, however we also don’t have pets. Make sure you’ve located a safe space that’s free of fertilizer and that is not visited by dogs.To harvest the entire plant from root, use a weeding fork. I have and can recommend this one. Angel the fork about an inch into the soil to loosen the root, and then carefully pull the entire plant from the ground. Shake free from dirt and remove any damp or slimy leaves.Ideally, you would harvest dandelion while it’s still young, as it becomes extremely bitter after the leaves become older.
Cleaning dandelions for consumption:
Run dandelion crowns and green through water, while carefully opening their crowns to be sure you’ve removed any dirt and pests. Save your greens for a dandelion salad, or dandelion greens pesto. And for more dandelion treats you may also consider: dandelion shortbread served with some refreshing dandeline lemonade or hot or iced dandelion tea.
Ingredients:
- 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest, plus 3 tablespoons juice (3 lemons)
- 3 cups (15 ounces/425 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature
- 3 large eggs, plus 1 large yolk
- 18 tablespoons (2¼ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 18 pieces and softened
- 2 cups (14 ounces/397 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup dandelion flower petals, cleaned and dried
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped
Glaze:
- Prepare the cake pan and preheat oven: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 10-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray, or brush a generous amount of melted butter and dust with flour to prevent cake from sticking.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
- Combine lemon juice and buttermilk in a medium bowl.
- In a standing mixer, cream butter, lemon zest, vanilla, dandelion petals, and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Reduce to medium speed and add your eggs, one at a time mixing until incorporated.
- Reduce to low speed; slowly add in your flour mixture to your creamed butter, followed by some of the buttermilk lemon juice mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Repeat using half of the remaining flour mixture and all of the remaining buttermilk mixture.
- Gently fold in your strawberries.
- Pour cake batter into prepared bunt pan. It should be thick.
- Bake until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Lemon glaze:
- Whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice, buttermilk, and confectioners sugar until smooth. Add lemon juice until desired consistency (should be thick but still pourable)
- Cool cake in pan for two hours. Then, invert directly onto the rack to glaze. Let glaze harden at room temperature, then cut into slices and serve.
- Garnish with dandelion petals if desired
Strawberry Dandelion Bundt Cake
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons grated lemon zest plus 3 tablespoons juice (3 lemons)
- 3 cups 425 grams all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup buttermilk room temperature
- 3 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
- 2 ¼ sticks 1 ¼ cup or 256 grams salted butter
- 2 cups 400 grams granulated sugar
- ½ cup dandelion flower petals cleaned and dried
- 1 cup fresh strawberries chopped
- Glaze:
- 2 - 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon buttermilk
- 2 cups confectioners sugar 225 grams
Instructions
- Prepare the cake pan and preheat oven: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 10-cup Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray, or brush a generous amount of melted butter and dust with flour to prevent cake from sticking.
- Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl.
- Combine lemon juice and buttermilk in a medium bowl.
- In small bowl, gently whisk eggs and yolk to combine.
- In a standing mixer, cream butter, lemon zest, vanilla, dandelion petals, and sugar at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes; scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Reduce to medium speed and add your eggs, one at a time mixing until incorporated.
- Reduce to low speed; slowly add in your flour mixture to your creamed butter, followed by some of the buttermilk lemon juice mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Repeat using half of the remaining flour mixture and all of the remaining buttermilk mixture.
- Gently fold in your strawberries.
- Pour cake batter into prepared bunt pan. It should be thick.
- Bake until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer or toothpick inserted into the center comes out with no crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Lemon glaze:
- Whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice, buttermilk, and confectioners sugar until smooth. Add lemon juice until desired consistency (should be thick but still pourable)
- Cool cake in pan for two hours. Then, invert directly onto the rack to glaze. Let glaze harden at room temperature, then cut into slices and serve.
- Garnish with dandelion petals if desired
Notes
- To ensure the safety of using dandelions, identify them correctly as the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) and haven't been sprayed with pesticides. Only use the petals, discarding the green parts.
- This recipe requires between five and six tablespoons of lemon juice. Because the amount of juice can vary from lemon to lemon, we suggest you measure the juice from the three lemons you have zested, then juice an addition lemon if necessary.
- The cake has a light, fluffy texture when eaten the day it is baked, but if well wrapped and held at room temperature overnight its texture becomes more dense—like that of pound cake—the following day.
- This cake is best enjoyed fresh but can be stored at room temperature under a cake dome for up to 2 days.
- This recipe will yield one standard 10 inch cake pan. You may need to adjust bake time if using a different used. Begin checking for doneness at 35 minutes by ensuring the top and edges are golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean during the poke test.
