Dandelion recipes: breakfast.
So dandelion week has turned into dandelion month, and I’m afraid I still won’t have time to try all the dandelion concoctions I’ve been thinking about. (Thank my long-suffering boyfriend. He likely won’t want to see another dandelion for quite some time.)
Today it’s a full dandelion breakfast: Dandelion fritters with dandelion syrup. Floral and joyful, it tastes exactly like spring!
For the syrup, I used Henriette’s method. The flavor is incredibly complex—floral and honeylike, with hints of caramel and fresh green leaves. Amazing. As soon as I can, I plan to make a nice big batch to freeze.
For the fritters, I made a basic pancake batter (a cup of flour, a teaspoon of baking powder, an egg, a cup of milk, a couple of tablespoons melted butter, and a pinch of salt) with enough extra milk added to make it about as thin as heavy cream. Then I added a nice pile of yellow dandelion fluff*—about a cup or a little more. I cooked the fritters on a hot buttered griddle just like pancakes.
*By “yellow dandelion fluff” I mean the yellow parts of dandelion blossoms, separated from the green bits and fluffed up a bit to avoid clumping. Sound like too much trouble? I think you can get away with including a bit of green, but be sure to pinch off the stem end of each blossom, or you might get some bitterness in your fritters.
darcey said,
May 20, 2007 @ 7:36 am
yummy! i didn’t think of making syrup with flowers! DOH! they seem to be fading here now to puffballs already.
i think dandelion flower would look stellar on a lemon cake! or in a lemon cake!
Bill said,
May 20, 2007 @ 1:14 pm
Tremendous! - Yes, this is going to make it into the Pancake Recipes Carnival of the Recipes. I am working on it right now.
Thank you,
Rachel R. said,
January 22, 2008 @ 1:41 pm
I have read that there are other plants that look very much like dandelions, but technically aren’t. Is there any danger in using these? Is it safe to just pick and eat anything that looks like a dandelion?
crabappleherbs said,
January 22, 2008 @ 7:48 pm
Well, let’s see… chicory leaves can look a lot like dandelion leaves, and they can be eaten in the same way. I certainly don’t know of any poisonous plants that look like dandelion. But really it’s best to know what you’re eating.
The easiest way to be sure a dandelion is a dandelion is to look at the flower stalk. Dandelions have perfectly smooth, round, hollow flower stalks that ooze white sap when you nick them. The flower grows at the very end of the stalk, and the stalks never branch. After you get to know dandelion, you’ll be able to positively identify it before it blooms. But it’s easiest to start with the flowers.