Sweet Potato Cakes

Potato cakes are something that dad has had since he was little. Mom was introduced to them about 3 years ago. The basics of potato cakes are take left over mashed potatoes, add flour and salt, and fry in butter. Quite simple, really, and very tasty.

Today mom decided to try making sweet potato cakes. It was something I just went with, but I'll try to list some measurements.

1 baked sweet potato
2 tbsp dairy-free margarine (we use Earth Balance)
3 tsp tofu sour cream alternative
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1 tbsp chickpea flour
4-6 tbsp each white rice flour and tapioca starch

To bake your sweet potato:
Wash the skin of the potato to remove dirt. Place potato in a 400F oven for approx 40 minutes until soft. Remove from oven, let cool until you can handle it without burning yourself, and peel off the skin.
(DON'T pierce the skin of your sweet potato like you do russet potatoes or you will have an ooey gooey mess on the bottom of your oven at the end from the sugars dripping out of the potato.)

To mix:
Take your sweet potato and mash it with a fork until there are no large pieces left. Add the margarine and sour cream alternative, and mix until margarine melts and everything is incorporated. Add salt and chickpea flour, mix again. Start with 4 tbsp each of the rice flour and tapioca starch, mix thoroughly. You are aiming for a dough that holds together but isn't dry or clumpy. Add extra rice flour/tapioca starch if your mix seems too liquidy.

To fry:
Place 1 tbsp margarine in a frying pan or skillet. Turn your heat to just below medium and heat until butter is melted. Use a spoon to place 2-3 tbsp worth of mix into the pan and flatten to about 1 cm (1/2") high. (see picture)

After 2-3 minutes, check your cakes for crispy bottoms. When bottoms are crispy as in the picture below, flip and fry for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan, spread a little margarine on top so it melts, and enjoy. This recipe makes approx 9 cakes, which will of course require multiple frying sessions. Just make sure you add a little extra margarine to the pan between each set of cakes so they don't stick and don't burn.

To reheat cakes, just fry 60 seconds each side in a preheated pan, or microwave 10-15 seconds on high power.