Dandelion Coffee Cake

Everything is growing wildly at this time of year, especially due to the wet summer we’re having. The dock is growing up to my waist, the tutu trees are swooping dramatically to the ground, and the dandelions I have spotted in our garden are the biggest I have seen, the leaves being at least 20 cm long! If we still had our foster rabbits they would be having a field day.

I harvested the dandelion roots a little late in the year but the coffee still turned out brilliantly, my only regret was having to use common cat’s-ear in these photos as every dandelion I could find had already gone to seed- so no flowers! We dug up the long tap roots, scrubbed, roasted, and blended them to get a wonderful rich dandelion coffee powder to be used in baking or to be drunk on its own as a yummy caffeine free drink.

This is a traditional coffee cake with lots of cinnamon and dandelion coffee powder which would be perfectly accompanied by a hot cup of tea or coffee. The recipe itself is inspired by the wonderful Nora Cooks who creates amazing vegan cakes, I will provide a link below if you would like to check their recipes out. Enjoy my fellow foragers!

Dandelion Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

15 dandelion roots, washed and chopped

1 1/4 cup soy milk

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup raw sugar

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup applesauce

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

To Serve:

Yoghurt or cream (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan bake and line a tray with baking paper. Roast the dandelion roots for 30 to 40 minutes or until completely dried out but not burned. Blend in a blender or spice grinder.
2. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees fan bake. Line the bottom of a medium cake tin and grease the sides with vegan butter or a little coconut oil.
3. In a bowl mix together the soy milk and apple cider vinegar to make buttermilk.
4. In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar, dandelion coffee powder, and salt. Pour in the soy milk mixture, coconut oil, applesauce, and vanilla and mix. The batter will be quite thick.
5. In a small cup mix the cinnamon and sugar.
6. Pour half of the batter in the cake tin and sprinkle over half of the cinnamon sugar. Pour the remaining batter on top and sprinkle the last of the sugar on top.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
8. Serve with yoghurt or cream and a hot cup of dandelion coffee!

Nora Cooks

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