Recipes

Cattail Cakes

Cattail cakes are a great treat for the Seamonster Family as well as all of Sami’s friends.  They are so yummy that Sami’s Dad goes to the surface of the lake to collect the flavorful cattail heads.  Once gathered, Sami’s Mom mixes them with chocolate and makes delicious cattail cakes for all to enjoy.

Because the family eats the cattail cakes so often, Sami’s Mom has developed a few recipe variations of these cakes.  A wide variety of ingredients can be added to the basic mixture.  Get creative and have fun experimenting with different tastes and textures.  Use the kids’ ideas.  Share your recipes online for all of us to enjoy.

Cattail cakes are included in many of the SamiTales books:  The Seamonster Family of Lake Kampos, Baby Lizi, Sami Learns a Lesson, Meet Sami and Lizi, Sami and Friends, Over and Under and All Around, and Ten Full Friends. 

 

Cattail Cake Base:

  • Method A: The melted chocolate chip method uses chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels or white chocolate chips.
  • Method B: The cocoa powder method combines cocoa powder with milk, butter, sugar and vanilla.

Cattail Heads:

  • Use rolled oats, crunchy chow mien noodles, pretzels or a variety of crunch cereal such as Cheerios or Chex.
  • For variety add chopped nuts, mini marshmallows, coconut, M&Ms, cranberries, raisins, popped popcorn, seeds and/or peanut butter. The point is to be creative and make it fun.  Keep us informed on your successes.

 

A: Melted Method

Ingredients:

24 oz bag of chocolate chips, white chocolate chips or butterscotch morsels 4 cups of cattail heads (see options above) and other ingredients as desired Optional: 1 ½ cups of chopped nuts or coconut

Directions:

For the base of the cattail cake, melt butterscotch morsels, chocolate chips or white chocolate chips in the microwave (50% power for 3 to 4 minutes stirring often) or melt on stovetop as described on package. If you are using peanut butter add in before heating. Do not overcook. Combine cattail heads and other sweet treats as desired in a large bowl. Pour melted cake base over the cattail head mixture and gently combine until all cattail heads are covered. Drop heaping teaspoons onto parchment or wax paper and let cool.  

 

 

B: Cocoa Powder Method

Ingredients:

            2 cups granulated sugar

            ½ cup milk

            ½ cup butter or margarine

            ½ cup cocoa powder

            Dash of salt

            ½ teaspoon vanilla

            3 cups of cattail heads (rolled oats)

            1-2 cups of nuts, pretzels or coconut

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, cocoa powder and salt.  Heat to boiling, stirring frequently.  Boil for one minute.  Do not overcook.  Remove pan from heat and mix in vanilla, cattail heads and nuts, pretzels and/or coconut.  Quickly drop by spoonful onto wax paper and let cool. 





Testimonials

“So good and easy to make! My kids and I made a huge batch of these Cattail Cakes Sunday afternoon and they were gone by Tuesday!”
-Katie F (mother of 3) Logan, UT

“My kids love them!”
- Rachel H (mother of 4) Missoula, MT

“We love to make these treats and snack on them as we read.”
-Kristy N (mother of 3) Baltimore, MD

“We totally messed up the recipe but had great fun making and eating them!”
-Jake S (father of 2) Tampa, FL

“We melted the chocolate morsels too fast and it got real thick, so then we smashed the Life cereal into the bowl. The chocolate started cooling too fast so we grabbed handfuls and smashed them on the tray. When they cooled they tasted much better than they looked. It was a blast and a fun way to spend time with my kids!”
-Brittney A (mother of 3) Mesa, AZ