Wild Greens Cakes is a modern British recipe for a classic accompaniment of baked cakes made from a blend of mixed wild greens, flour and eggs. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Wild Greens Cakes.
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The cakes are meant to be a mild side dish — a different way to get your greens. If you want to jazz them up, consider serving them with a yogurt-, tomato-, or mayonnaise-based sauce. Sometimes I add cooked onions, leeks, other alliums and herbs. You can also vary the flavour by using different flour (buckwheat, nut, emmer, spelt, buckwheat, quinoa etc). they can be served as a starter with any meal. They also work for breakfast or a light lunch and can be served like falafel in pita bread.
For my base wild greens I would use ground elder, creeping bellflower, sorrel, common hogweed etc). I will always add water mint if I come across any.
Ingredients:
460g blanched and refreshed wild greens (or a mix of spinach, parsley, and kale)
2 large eggs
30g flour (or flour equivalent)
sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Freshly-grated nutmeg (or your favourite spice mix), to taste
Cooking oil, such as lard or grapeseed oil, as needed for cooking the cakes
Fresh lemon wedges, for serving
Method:
Add the greens to a pan of boiling salted water. Blanch for 90 seconds then immediately remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a bowl of iced water. Allow to refresh for a few minutes then drain in a colander.
Squeeze the greens as dry as you can then chop as finely as possible. Transfer to a bowl and mix with the eggs and flour. Season the mixture with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste; it should be well seasoned. Ideally, you’ll now let the batter rest for 30 minutes or so before cooking.
Cook a small piece of the mixture to test the seasoning and adjust to your taste. Shape about 4 tbsp into cakes with your hands, then fry in oil over medium-high heat until browned on both sides.
If your cakes seem loose or wet, mix another tablespoon of flour into the batter. The cakes are sturdy, can be frozen and reheat well, so I usually make them in large batches.
