One of the ingredients I have been challenged to use this year is Mashed Potatoes. I couldn’t figure out exactly how I would use them in baking, so went searching the internet for a solution. One of the most interesting recipes I came across was this recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. This sounded perfect, as my friend Sheila’s birthday was approaching and she loves lemon, as does my next door neighbor. I could bake a cake AND share it so it wasn’t taunting me, begging to be eaten. In the week after baking this, Jillian e-mailed me a recipe for donuts that use mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes appear to be a very versatile ingredient. I can’t wait to try the donuts, too.
While grocery shopping for potatoes and lemons, I noticed Meyer lemons were in season. Oh, yum! Last year I used Meyer Lemons in a few of my Sweets and found I enjoy their flavor immensely. The familiar tang of a lemon softened with a hint of sweet orange works well in baked Sweets.
Because Meyer lemons are smaller than a traditional lemon, one of the modifications I’ve made to the original recipe is to change from number of lemons used to volume of juice. With the growing trend of American bakers weighing dry ingredients as opposed to measuring, I wonder if we will also see ingredients being measured or weighed instead of added by number, such as eggs and fruit juices? On the modification note, I’ve also modified this recipe to include measurements as opposed to weights. I prefer baking by weight, especially when modifying recipes, but realize not all of you do. Some of you have said you don’t have a scale, but I’ve never heard those of you with scales say you don’t have measuring cups. Measuring it is, this week anyway!
Meyer Lemon Cake with Mashed Potatoes
Inspired by this recipe by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
Makes 1-9″ cake.
Cake
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 1/2 cup almond meal/flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill)
2 t. baking powder
1 cup mashed potatoes (I boiled and mashed potatoes, with no added butter or cream, not leftovers)
3 T. grated Meyer lemon zest
Topping and Filling
1/2 cup Meyer Lemon Juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar
One jar Lemon Curd or homemade lemon curd made with Meyer Lemons (I like this recipe)
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or oil a 9″ springform pan, I prefer butter. I lined the bottom of my pan with parchment, however I think this is optional as the cake didn’t seem very sticky.
Cream the butter and sugar together in bowl of stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes on medium. Add in the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of almond meal with each egg addition to prevent curdling.
Incorporate baking powder into the remaining almond meal, then fold into the mixture in the bowl of the stand mixture. Add in mashed potatoes and Meyer lemon zest. Spoon mixture into the springform pan and bake for 40-43 minutes. A skewer inserted into the cake will come out mostly clean, however this is a very moist cake so the skewer will not be completely clean. You may wish to cover the cake for the last 15-20 minutes of baking if it is taking on too much color on the top.
Remove cake from the oven. While still hot, pierce cake in many places with a skewer, almost all the way to the bottom of the pan but not quite. Combine the Meyer lemon juice and sugar for the topping. Pour the mixture slowly all over the top of the cake. Let cool completely before removing from pan.
To remove from pan, slowly run a bread knife around the outer edge, then release the spring. Sprinkle top with powdered sugar immediately before serving and add a dollop of lemon curd. Alternately, you may make this a layer cake and spread lemon curd between the layers.
My first thought was, “Potatoes in cake?!” and then I realized I use things like potato starch and potato flour in my cooking, so why not? Sounds interesting and looks GOOD, i'll have to try it!
Good point, Steff, I never thought of it that way. Great use of the potatoes, Johnna!
I use potato starch nearly everyday in my gluten-free flour blend, but had not considered using actual potatoes before baking this yummy cake. This was great fun. Thanks for the kind words, ladies!