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12/18/2001 Archived Entry: "Farmhouse Chocolate Potato Cake"

This recipe is from One Potato, Two Potato by Roy Finamore and Molly Stevens, a book of more than 300 extremely tempting recipes for one of America’s favorite foods.

I have made chocolate potato cakes in the past. The point of the mashed potato is that it gives a moist, dense but tender texture to the cake. And because the potato retains moisture it keeps the cake moist for days. This one came out looking exactly like the photo in the book. The recipe is a dream of clarity. Unfortunately, it got eaten up so fast that I can’t tell you how long it will keep.

Farmhouse Chocolate Cake
Makes one 10-inch tube cake

This is a rich, moist cake, the kind of cake you’d find on a big scrubbed pine table. It cries out for a glass of cold milk. Pepper is controversial. Some folks just can’t imagine why you’d add it to a cake, but we think it gives a great zing. You can skip it if it scares you.

3/4 pound all-purpose potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Coarse salt
Cocoa powder for dusting
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup boiling water
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4–1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sugar
5 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting (optional)

Put the potatoes in a saucepan, cover with cold water by at least an inch, add a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender. Drain well, put the potatoes through a ricer, and measure out 1 cup.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a 10-inch tube pan and dust it generously with cocoa.

Put the chocolate and honey in a small bowl. Pour in the boiling water and leave the chocolate to melt and cool, stirring occasionally until it’s very smooth.

Sift the flour, baking soda, a pinch of salt, and the pepper together.

Cut the butter into chunks and put it in a large mixing bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until light. Add the vegetable shortening and beat until combined and light. Gradually pour in the sugar and beat until this mixture is very light and fluffy.

Add the eggs one by one, beating for at least a minute after each addition. Beat in the chocolate, then the potatoes, then add the vanilla. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Add the dry ingredients to the batter alternately with 1/2 cup cold water, stirring just until combined and smooth.

Scrape the batter into the pan. Shake the pan and rap it lightly on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Bake until the cake tests done (a skewer will come out clean), about 50 minutes or so. Then turn out the cake, flip it right side up and leave it on a rack to cool completely.

If you want, dust the cake generously with confectioners’ sugar right before serving.

Arthur’s Two Cents: My chocolate did not melt completely, probably because I didn’t chop it that fine. So I put the small bowl containing the chocolate and the honey in a skillet of simmering water for a couple of minutes. That did the trick. If you run into the same problem, you might very, very briefly zap it in the microwave. I liked the pepper, and I used the full 1/2 teaspoon. In fact, next time I bake the cake – and there will be a next time -- I am going to double the amount and make it noticeably peppery.