Ultimate Dandelion Cake with Dandelion Buttercream

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Ultimate Dandelion Cake

This cake is a love poem to the dandelion, the notorious underdog of wildflowers. Layers of dandelion cake are adorned with silky dandelion buttercream in this golden masterpiece.

Dandelions are infamously disliked by lawn-lovers of the world, but I have a confession to make: I absolutely love these sunny little flowers. This Ultimate Dandelion Cake is a confession of my adoration for this misunderstood flower.

I don’t think of dandelions as a “weed”. They are, in fact, a wildflower. To me, they’re a sign of spring, of the days getting longer and sunnier, slowly but surely. They have a loooong list of medicinal benefits, they look delightfully cheery, and they taste like pure honey. What’s not to love?

Why you’ll love this cake

I guarantee you’ve never had a cake like this! This cake goes all in on the dandelion. The flowers are in the cake layers as well as the buttercream, and I’ve gone to great measures to pack in all the dandelion flavor I can.

I really wanted the flavor of the flower to come through in this layer cake. The cake is buttery, subtle, and full of fresh honey flavor. The layers of the cake are dense and speckled with petals from the dandelion sugar. The dandelion buttercream is silky, buttery, and a lovely pale yellow color. If you’re as obsessed with edible flowers as I am, you will swoon over this cake!

A note on harvesting dandelions

It’s not too hard to find an abundant patch of dandelions, but do be intentional about it. Try to harvest your dandelions somewhere away from pets, main roads, and any pesticide/herbicide activity. If you have a good amount of them in your own yard and you don’t use any herbicides, you’re very lucky indeed.

Although you will lose some of the pollen (and therefore flavor) by washing your flowers, I still highly recommend it! This will help ensure any tiny bugs, dirt, or other unpleasantries are removed. Then, let them dry before making your dandelion sugar.

How to make dandelion cake

To really pack this cake full of dandelion flavor, it’s best to spend two days making this cake. On the first day, harvest your flowers and make your dandelion sugar and dandelion syrup. Then, bake the cake and make the frosting the following day.

The first thing you’ll want to do is harvest your flowers, clean them, and make the dandelion sugar. Then, make a simple syrup with dandelion petals and let it infuse for at least a few hours or overnight. This syrup will be the base for the dandelion buttercream recipe.

The next day, make your dandelion cake and buttercream. Slice each cake layer into two halves so you have four layers. Spread dandelion frosting between the layers, then frost and decorate the cake. I also sprinkled some extra dandelion sugar on top just for fun!

Variations

Wanna save some time and make this recipe a little easier? Skip making the dandelion syrup and use some dandelion sugar to make the buttercream instead.

If you opt for this choice, you'll need 3/4 cup of dandelion sugar plus 1/2 cup of water in place of the syrup in the first step of the directions for making the buttercream. Follow the rest of the directions as written, bringing this mixture to about 235° F before whipping it into the egg whites.

The recipe for dandelion sugar here yields about 1 1/2 cups, which is exactly what you would need to make the cake and the buttercream. You can easily make more if you please - the sugar recipe is simply a 1:1 ratio of sugar to dandelion petals.

If your buttercream doesn’t turn out as colorful as you’d like, you can always add a pinch or two of turmeric to boost the yellow. Don’t worry - a small amount of turmeric won’t affect the flavor!

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Dandelion Sugar

1 cup sugar

1 cup dandelion petals

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Dandelion Syrup

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

2 cups dandelion petals

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Dandelion Cake

1 cup flour

3/4 cup dandelion sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 ounces unsalted butter, soft

1/2 cup milk, room temperature

3 egg whites, room temperature

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out

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Dandelion Italian Buttercream

3/4 cup dandelion syrup

3 egg whites

8 ounces unsalted butter, soft

1 teaspoon elderflower extract or St Germaine, optional

It's best the make the dandelion sugar and dandelion syrup the day before you plan to make the rest of the cake.

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For the dandelion sugar:

1. Gently wash dandelions and leave on a towel-lined sheet to dry.

2. Once dry, remove dandelion petals from their base. You can do this by holding the green base of the flower and twisting, or you can use a knife to cut the petals off.

3. Add sugar and dandelion petals to a food processor and blend until thoroughly mixed.

4. Pour dandelion sugar onto a baking sheet and bake on the lowest setting of your oven (around 170° F) until dry, about 20-30 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

5. To break up any clumps, you can pour the dried sugar back into the food processor (cleaned and thoroughly dried). Pulse a few times until clumps are broken down and sugar has a fairly even consistency.

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For the dandelion syrup:

1. Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat. Add dandelion petals; stir to saturate petals with the syrup. Allow to cool slightly.

3. Pour syrup into a container and leave to infuse at least a few hours or overnight.

4. Before using, strain syrup through a cheesecloth, wringing out with your hands or pressing with the back of a wooden spoon to extract as much syrup as possible.

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For the dandelion cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter two 6-inch cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

2. Whisk together flour, dandelion sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.

3. Beat soft butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs, about 3-4 minutes.

4. Whisk milk, egg whites, and vanilla bean seeds together. Pour milk mixture into butter-flour mixture and beat on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add remaining milk mixture and blend until just combined.

5. Distribute batter between pans and bake until lightly golden brown around the edges and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 25-30 minutes. Allow cakes to cool; invert to remove from pans and remove parchment paper.

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For the dandelion buttercream:

1. Pour dandelion syrup into a saucepan and cook over medium-low heat until it reaches 235 - 240° F.

2. Meanwhile, while syrup cooks, place egg whites into a clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on high until soft peaks form. If soft peaks form before syrup is ready, turn mixture on low but keep them moving.

3. Once syrup is ready, remove it from heat and let it sit for about a minute, until bubbles subside. Pour it into egg whites in a very slow and gradual stream, with mixer on medium. Once all syrup is in, continue to whisk on medium for about 5 minutes, or until mixture has cooled slightly.

4. Start adding in soft butter, about a tablespoon at a time, until all the butter is in. Allow to beat a few more minutes until buttercream is silky and smooth.

5. Add elderflower extract or St. Germaine, if using.

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To assemble the dandelion cake:

1. Slice each cake in half horizontally to create 4 layers.

2. Place first layer of cake onto a cake plate. Add about 1/3 cup of buttercream and spread evenly onto cake, leaving a little bit of space around the edges.

3. Repeat with the next two layers of cake, adding a cake layer and spreading buttercream on top. Add final cake layer on top, pressing gently to adhere.

4. Frost cake in a very thin layer of buttercream on top and sides. Place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 20 minutes.

5. Remove cake from refrigerator and finish frosting with remaining buttercream. Sprinkle cake with additional dandelion sugar if desired.

6. Slice and serve! Cake will keep in the refrigerator for about 4 days. For best flavor, allow cake to warm up to room temperature before serving.