Dandelion seed cake

This cake is scrumptious. It’s a rich chocolate sponge made with raw, organic cocoa, fresh, home-made raspberry compote and covered in thick ganache with dandelion seed heads for decoration. I love dandelion clocks. The translucent, ethereal effect when light filters through them is quite beautiful.

Dandelions are completely edible. From the flowers to the root and are frequently used in herbal remedies. You have to be careful where you pick them from. These were picked from my back garden so not exposed to car exhaust and I never use chemical insecticides or weed killer (bee friendly). Finally, they are inserted in closed-bottom straws into the cake and removed as soon as I’d finished taking pictures of the cake.

To preserve the heads and stop the seeds from flying away, I made a solution of sugar with boiling water, let it cool then poured it into a spray bottle and sprayed the heads. The sugar solution acts like glue and fixes the seeds in place.

It was an experiment on my part. I’ve used hair spray to take pictures of dandelions and for floral arrangements and knew they could be ‘glued’ into place… but hairspray is full of chemicals that are not food safe.

I think I over-exposed the seed heads and focused on the tallest dandelion rather than the cake but it was my first attempt.