“Potato” - a
cake (a recipe according to GOST will be presented a bit below), familiar from childhood. Indeed, it was during the times of the former USSR that this delicacy could be found in various pastry shops, cafes and culinary specialties. In the end, people learned how to make such a dessert on their own, at home. But, in order to hide their flaws during the preparation of the base, most housewives began to add cocoa powder to it.
Today we decided to tell how to properly prepare such a sweet as “Potato” (cake). The recipe according to GOST also provides for the use of cocoa powder, however, this product should not be added to the biscuit. It only needs to roll over the formed blanks. But first things first.
Cake "Potato": a classic recipe for cooking
Surely many modern culinary specialists will begin to argue with the fact that the presented method of preparing homemade goodies has nothing to do with GOST. But this is not so. After all, it is the recipe described below that is the most classic.
So, we need the following products:
- large eggs - about 5-6 pcs. (for biscuit);
- fine granulated sugar - about 180 g (for biscuit);
- sifted white flour - 150 g (for biscuit);
- potato starch - 30 g (for biscuit);
- baking powder - 2 dessert spoons (for biscuit);
- maximum freshness butter - 250 g (for cream);
- icing sugar - 240 g (for cream - 140 g, for breading - everything else);
- condensed milk - 100 g (for cream);
- alcoholic drink (cognac or rum) - 6 dessert spoons (for cream);
- cocoa powder - 160 g (for deboning finished products).
Cooking dough
If you comply with all the requirements for creating a home-made treat, you will surely get not only tasty, but also very beautiful “Potato” (cake). The recipe according to GOST provides for the use of only a light base. To prepare it, you need to divide the chicken eggs into yolks and proteins. The latter must be placed in the refrigerator and kept there for at least a quarter of an hour. As for the yolks, they should be ground together with sugar to a light and viscous consistency.
After the proteins have cooled, they must be whipped in a strong and lush foam. To do this, you can use a blender, and a mixer, and a regular hand whisk. When both masses are completely ready, they need to be mixed in one bowl, and then gradually pour in potato starch, baking powder and sifted white flour. As a result of long mixing, you should get a semi-liquid base, almost like for Charlotte pie.
Baking a biscuit in the oven
How to cook a potato cake at home? In principle, there is nothing archy complex here, even a beginner culinary can cope with the task. True, there is one small nuance. Biscuit must be baked correctly. To do this, you need to prepare a not very high form, lubricating its surface with a piece of margarine. If desired, dishes can also be lined with special baking paper.
After preparing the form, it is required to pour all the previously kneaded dough into it. Next, the dishes should be placed in the oven, heated to about 160 degrees. Bake a biscuit preferably for a long time and over low heat. After all, only in this way will your foundation not burn and remain as light as possible.
According to GOST, the Potato cake is prepared for a rather long time. In this regard, you should be prepared in advance that you will not succeed in quickly creating a dessert. After the biscuit is completely baked, it must be removed from the mold using a spatula, placed on a large plate or cutting board, and then left to cool for 1-2 hours. In order not to waste time in vain, it is recommended to immediately start preparing the cream.
Cream Cooking Process
How to make a potato cake at home? For this, you should use not only a light biscuit base, but also a sweet fragrant cream. To cook it, you need to get the oil out of the refrigerator in advance (4-6 hours) and completely soften it at room temperature. Next, put it in a deep bowl, add the icing sugar and beat with a blender to a lush and homogeneous mass. In conclusion, it is recommended to pour a small amount of condensed milk into the cream and mix the mass well.
Yes, we make Potato cake at home. But this does not mean at all that you can not bother with the design of goodies. It is clear that the kids (and all other household members, too) crack delicious balls instantly, not particularly worrying about the commodity appearance, but ... In general, mouth-watering products are of great interest. So set aside a couple of large tablespoons of cream. In the future, we will place it in a culinary syringe and decorate the surface of all cakes.
Making the base for dessert
After the biscuit has completely cooled, you can immediately begin to create the basis for future cakes. To do this, you need to tear the cold cake into small pieces with your hands, place it in the blender bowl and grind it at high speed. By the way, making crumbs too small is undesirable, because in cakes, according to GOST, the graininess of the base should be noticeable.
When the bulk mass is ready, it is necessary to lay out all the butter cream (in addition to being left to decorate the dessert). Thoroughly mixing both components, as well as adding rum or cognac, you should get a viscous, light and homogeneous mass, which can be given absolutely any shape.
Product formation process
Cake “Potato” (the dessert photos presented in the article demonstrate the final result of our labors) is preferably done with hands slightly dipped in water. Then the base will not stick to your fingers, which will facilitate and speed up the process of forming products.
So, in your hands you need to take 2.5-3 dessert spoons of the finished dough and roll quite dense oval-shaped workpieces out of it (in the form of real potatoes, but in reduced sizes). By the way, often the mistresses form such a cake as follows: take the whole base, roll out a long sausage with a diameter of up to 3 centimeters from it, and finally cut into short buns. This option is intended more for the lazy, but we have nowhere to hurry, so we decided to make each product separately.
The process of decorating cakes
After all the cakes are formed from a light biscuit base, you should go to their immediate decoration. For this, you need to mix cocoa powder and powdered sugar in a shallow dish, and then roll our billets in the resulting mixture. The brown loose mass should immediately adhere to the surface of the cakes. Having laid out all the “potatoes” on a flat large plate or dry cutting board, you need to take a cooking syringe filled with butter cream and squeeze a small flower or a beautiful curl onto the surface of each product.
After all the actions done, the cakes must be put in the refrigerator and kept for at least one and a half hours. During this time, the products will harden, take a more stable form and are completely saturated with aromatic cream.
How to present homemade dessert to the table?
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in making such a delicacy as “Potato” (cake). The recipe according to GOST, as well as other methods of preparing this dessert, does not require the use of rare and expensive products. In this regard, it can be done at least every week. By the way, such a cake will serve as an excellent replacement for a purchased cake for the festive table.
Serve ready-made "potatoes" to guests or family members is recommended only when chilled. Indeed, in the warm form, the products are too soft, and it will be problematic to take them with your hands. In addition to such a delicious homemade delicacy, unsweetened hot tea or fresh milk should be served. Good appetite!
Useful information for housewives
Currently, there are an incredible number of ways to make Potato cake. So, some housewives add grated chocolate, cocoa powder, chopped nuts and even shredded dried fruits to the base. And for decoration, you can use not only a mixture of cocoa with powder, but also waffle chips, coconut, crushed nuts, the same grated chocolate or chocolate candies and everything your heart desires.
Due to the fact that the biscuit is baked in the oven and cools for a long enough time, ordinary crackers began to be actively used instead. They are ground to very fine crumbs, similarly combined with cream and form the same "potatoes". It should be especially noted that there are other tricks that the housewives use to prepare this unusually delicate, fragrant and tasty dessert. Thus, having shown imagination, and you can introduce your culinary innovations into this “Soviet” and many favorite treat.