Recipe: Dandelion Cake (Gluten-Free!)

A Favorite Forager Recipe: What to Do with Your Summer Dandelions (Surprisingly Preschool-Friendly!)

Last week, our students went on an observational bluff trail walk here in Gualala. Students were inspired by the many colors—particularly the endless amounts of dandelions growing along the path. Before long, we decided it was time to do a little foraging. We soon gathered what we needed, and after a lovely picnic lunch amongst the gulls and friendly community faces, we crossed back to the classroom to get cooking.

We refer to a wonderful cookbook year-round, written by Julie Burton-Seal and Matthew Seal, called The Forager’s Cookbook. The book is full of inspiration for easy, healthy, forager-friendly recipes that we’ve enjoyed experimenting with throughout the school year. Students worked together to follow a recipe for a gluten-free dandelion cake with lemon, ground almonds, polenta, and olive oil—to create a moist and quite delicious (and nutritious!) dandelion cake. We enjoyed it alongside blackberry lemonade—also foraged!

Dandelion Flower Cake (From The Forager’s Cookbook by Julie Burton-Seal and Matthew Seal)

Put 300g (1 3/4 cups) yellow polenta (cornmeal) in a bowl.

Pour on 500ml (2 cups) boiling water and stir in well.

Leave to cool while you prepare the rest of the ingredients, which can all go in another bowl.

15g (1 cup) dandelion petals

400g (2 3/4 cups) ground almonds (or whole almonds ground in a food processor or blender)

1 tsp baking powder

4 tsp agar powder

1/4 tsp salt

200g (1 cup) golden granulated or light demerara sugar

Finely grated zest of a lemon

Add the polenta mixture to this bowl and then 185ml (3/4 cup) olive or melted coconut oil. It will look as though it’s too dry but keep stirring and it will all become moist.

Spoon into two oiled loaf tins. Bake at 175c/350F for 40 to 50 minutes, until it’s lightly browning on top.