Easy Daisy Cake

Schneller Gänseblümchen-Kuchen

Have you ever eaten anything with daisies? I hadn’t until recently. Funnily enough, daisies grow almost everywhere and don’t ask for much. But somehow nobody considers using them for cooking and baking. I find that extremely sad. We are not used to using herbs and flowers we find in nature. I recently had a conversation with somebody who was very surprised when she learned that elderflowers are not sold in stores, but that if she wanted to eat anything with elderflowers, she would need to harvest them herself. We have forgotten getting out into nature and cook up something with what we find.

Schneller Gänseblümchen-KuchenMany of the herbs you find outside can be used for cooking. The same holds true for flowers. I live in Munich with more than a million inhabitants, yet even in Munich I can find wild garlic, elderflowers and daisies. I find it important that we use the flowers we find growing around us. For that reason I used daisies as decoration in this cake. The ones you see on the top are candied daisies. I also use them in the second layer of the bar. Daisies make everything look pretty and candied daisies are a perfect decoration in cakes. That’s why I also used daisies to decorate this blackberry lavender cake.

Schneller Gänseblümchen-KuchenDaisies have a nutty flavor, they work great with apples and can be used in syrup nicely. The top layer of this cake contains daisy-scented apple juice. The down part consists of a shortbread layer, but since it worked with melted butter, you only need to mix all remaining ingredients with the butter and that’s about it. The top layer is also easy, just combine all ingredients, pour on pre-baked shortbread, bake some more and you are good to go.

Schneller Gänseblümchen-KuchenI am sure you will appreciate this cake much more than any other because there is some extra satisfaction in harvesting the flowers yourself and waiting a day for the flavors to fully develop. I can only encourage you and look around wherever you live and check out which kinds of herbs and flowers grow wild around you. Use them in your cooking and baking, you will realize that seasonal and regional baking is so much fun!

Backideen für Gänseblümchen

Simple Daisy Bars

Serves: One 21x15cm brownie form
Cooking Time: 20min peparation + 1hr of baking

Ingredients

  • // Day 1 //
  • 2 generous handfuls of daisies, best plucked on a sunny day when they are fully open
  • 1 egg white
  • 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
  • Regular sugar
  • 500 grams of unsweetened apple juice
  • // Day 2 //
  • Shortbread Crust
  • 130 grams of butter
  • 30 grams of regular sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, see here how to make your own
  • 180 grams of all purpose flour

  • Daisy Filling
  • 80 grams of regular sugar
  • 30 grams of all-purpose flour
  • 4 eggs, size L
  • 120 grams of daisy-scented apple juice from above
  • 40 grams of freshly pressed lemon or lime juice

Instructions

1

On day one set aside about a dozen daisies that are extra pretty and fully open.

2

Mix the egg white with the icing sugar, dip the daisies in this mix, facing head down and dip in regular sugar afterwards. Let these candied daisies dry overnight.

3

Heat apple juice, once boiling reduce heat to a simmer and put the remaining daisies it in. Let simmer for ten minutes. Cover and let steam with daisies overnight.

4

On day two preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius and line a brownie form (24x24cm) with parchment paper. I used one with 21x15 cm, which is smaller and thus resulting in a taller daisy bar.

5

For the shortbread crust melt the butter and mix with the other ingredients. Press into the form, it will be sticky and is only a thin layer. Bake for about 25 minutes or until lightly golden. If using a classic brownie pan, bake for about 18 minutes only. Strain the apple juice through and measure 150 grams for the filling.

6

For the filling whisk together all ingredients and pour on the warm crust. Stick back into the oven for another 35 minutes or until filling has set and only the center is a little wiggly. If using a classic brownie pan, only bake for about 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then refridgerate in order to get nice clean cuts. Decorate with candied daisies.

7

These bars will taste even better on the third or second day when the lime was able to develop its flavor.

Schneller Gänseblümchen-KuchenPS: You have no idea what to do with the leftover egg yolk? In this blog entry I give a lot of tips what to do with leftover egg yolk and how to freeze it.

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4 Comments

  • Reply
    Bianca
    Tuesday June 4th, 2019 at 04:57 PM

    Liebe Jenny, das ist ja ein zauberhaftes Rezept! Kann man die Gänseblümchen eigentlich auch einfach so im Salat essen? Schwierig finde ich eher, dass man in der Stadt eine Wiese finden muss, wo es keine Hunde gibt… aber vielleicht hilft hier auch gründliches Wässern. In jedem Fall sieht dein Kuchen toll aus! Ganz liebe Grüße, Bianca

    • Reply
      Jenny
      Tuesday June 4th, 2019 at 05:19 PM

      Liebe Bianca, ja, kann man, probier mal einfach eine und ich kenn das Hundeproblem! Aber ich bin fündig geworden. Hier gibt es so eine Wiese.

      • Reply
        Sofia
        Monday June 14th, 2021 at 03:36 PM

        Liebe Jenny,
        Ein tolles Rezept!
        Sind es denn nun 120g oder 150g Apfelsaft mit Gänseblümchengeschmack, die in die Füllug kommen? Und hast du wirklich 4 L Eier genommen? Bei mir sah der Kuchen am Ende einem Omlette sehr ähnlich…. 😀

        Sofia

        • Reply
          Jenny
          Monday June 14th, 2021 at 03:55 PM

          Liebe Sofia, herzlichen Dank, ich meinte 120g Apfelsaft. Ich korrigiere es gleich. Ja, die Füllung ist wie eine Art Pudding, es ist hauptsächlich Ei, das ist richtig so mit 4 Eiern.

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