Sláinte! Chocolate Guinness Potato Cake with Whiskey Buttercream

Someone once asked me what I would eat if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life. I responded potatoes. I love potatoes any way you fix them- scalloped, mashed, baked, roasted, salad-ed, etc. It must be the good Irish girl in me. I love me a bit of potato, but when I saw a cake recipe that included mashed potatoes, I have to admit I was little skeptical. I usually prefer my potatoes salty and smothered in cheese, not chocolatey. However, in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day this week, I thought I would give a chocolate potato cake a try! As an added bonus, I’ve incorporated some of my favorite Irish beer- Guinness- and a healthy serving of whiskey buttercream.

Cake Ingredients:

• 2 medium potatoes
• 3 oz baking chocolate, grated (or whizzed in a food processor)
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 2 1/3 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/3 cup almond flour
• 3 tbsp cocoa
• 2/3 cup Guinness

Directions:

1. Peel the potatoes and cut into chunks. Boil for 15 minutes or until soft enough to mash. Rice the potatoes if you have a ricer- if not, just mash them and try to get out all the chunks.
2. Allow the potatoes to cool completely.
3. Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease and flour a bundt pan.
4. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
5. In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
6. Add one egg yolk at a time, mixing after each.
7. Add the grated chocolate, almond flour, and cocoa.
8. Once the potato is totally cool, add to the mixture.
9. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the Guinness, starting and ending with the dry ingredients.
10. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter.
11. Spoon into the bundt pan and cook for 1 3/4 hours, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Mine only took 1 3/4 hours, just FYI.
12. Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp Irish whiskey

Directions:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter.
2. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time.
3. Add the vanilla and whiskey.
4. Note- this is way more icing than you’ll need if you just pipe roses on like I did! If you want to just do the roses, I would half this.

To decorate, I halved the frosting and added green food coloring gel to one half. I wrapped each color in plastic wrap, like this, and then used a Wilton star decorating tip to pipe roses on the top once the cake had completely cooled.

The end result is something similar to a spice cake, in my opinion. Not overly chocolatey, but not at all beery or potatoey. I took some over to my parents’ place, and they seemed to like it! Hope everyone has a great St. Patrick’s Day! Sláinte!

xoxo Katie