Irish Potato Cakes
We’ve made it to ‘I’ in the A-Z Potato series and we’re flying over the rainbow to the potato homeland to make these beautiful Irish Potato Cakes ☘️
There was no way I couldn’t dedicate a letter to Ireland as they’ve done so much for the potato community, so I really hope the Irish approve of this recipe and don’t ban me from entering the country…
But back to the actual cakes, or farls as they are also known…think golden-brown triangular slabs with a soft and doughy interior and mildly sweet flavour that will make you wanna jump on a plane immediately for an extended stay in the Emerald Isles. Made from mashed potato and flour, they are kinda similar to a flatbread or pancake but have a unique almost nutty taste and slightly chewy texture that make them so popular and loved. Basically, they’re easy, cheap and super tasty – what more could ya want tbh?
I served mine grilled alongside a proper dirty fry-up and it was so naughty, but oh so good. So scrap the toast and whack these beauties on your plate instead and DIG IN. To make my brekky feel a bit more authentic, I even scoped out some white pudding and a pint of the black stuff. Delicious. Or if wanna be a lil bit boujee, spread on some butter and top with softly poached eggs and a sprinkling of cracked black pepper. Complete it with a flat white.
Ingredients
- 4 large Maris Piper Potatoes (or 550g of mashed potato)
- 20g salted butter
- 100g-ish plain flour (may need more)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- Plenty of salt and pepper
Method
- Get your potatoes peeled and cut into 1cm rounds. Then get them into a saucepan and just cover with cold water. Season with salt and get them up to boil. Boil for 7-10 minutes until tender enough to mash.
- Drain off the potatoes and leave them in the colander with a tea towel over them to steam dry for around 5 minutes. Once the edges of the spuds are pale and dry looking, get your potatoes mashed. I like to use a potato ricer or a sieve to do this, but you can also use a masher.
- Add the butter to the mash. Once it’s all dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients and mix well until everything is combined and doughy. The mix should be soft and pillowy but not sticky.
- On a floured surface, split the dough into two and roll to about 1 cm thick. Try and make it round so you can fit it in a frying pan more easily. Once it’s round, cut it into fours by making a cross through the dough.
- Get the dough into a dry frying pan on medium too high heat. Leave to fry on one side for 5 minutes or so until golden then flip and do the same to the other side.