Artusi’s potato cake from a century old recipe
Since they are potatoes, do not laugh at the pompous name, because as you will see when you try it, it is not overestimated. If your guests do not recognize the plebeian origin of this cake, conceal it, because they would undervalue it. Pellegrino Artusi, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well (1891)
If I had tasted this cake without first knowing the ingredients, I would have hardly believed it was made primarily of potatoes, without flour and with a minimal amount of butter. It has a moist and delicate texture, almost like a cheesecake, and a crisp crust, deliciously caramelized at the edges. The aroma of lemon zest is light and you barely notice the almonds, yet everything is absolutely essential to create a perfectly balanced cake, a pleasure to be enjoyed for breakfast or in the afternoon.
Either you are a tea or a coffee kind of person, this cake is for you. It’s surprisingly good.
After the glories of the chocolate mud cake I was looking for something more modest, yet still a sweet recipe for my Healthy every week column.
I started to browse Artusi*‘s book, Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well
Alternative flours that will satisfy even those who present intolerance to gluten, a few simple ingredients that do not overweigh the preparation, a very modern and fresh taste, not too sweet. Sometimes you look everywhere to find the inspiration, and it’s there, in the book that my grandmother received as a wedding gift on the day she got married, the same book that we browse together every time we need to check a recipe or procedure. I have the precise feeling that you will soon see other sweet recipes from Artusi, cakes and cookies so simple and basic that you have the moral task to learn them, to use them when you need something simple and traditional to please a crowd.
* If you want to know more about Pellegrino Artusi, one of the fathers of our Tuscan and Italian cuisine, read Emiko’s praise, and discover the many recipes she has tried and loved from his Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well
Healthy every week: 641. la torta di patate dell’Artusi – Artusi’s potato cake
I followed Artusi’s recipe step by step, updating it where needed. Pellegrino suggests to mix the cake by hand with a wooden spoon, for an hour. Yes, one hour. At first I thought I would have followed his advice, then the idea of an electric mixer was too tempting, and I shortened considerably the time of preparation. He obviously does not give information about the cooking time and temperatures, they had wood fired ovens and stoves at the time, so I set my oven to the average temperature of 180°C – the same I use most of the time I bake a cake – and I patiently waited for the cake to get dry, golden and slightly darker at the edges: one hour was enough.
The cake has also the perfect texture to add some fruit: I will try raspberries, as soon as they will be in season.
Potato cake
Print Recipe Share by EmailIngredients
- 700 g of large starchy potatoes, I used yellow potatoes from Valdichiana
- 150 g of sugar
- 70 g of almonds
- 30 g of melted butter + a knob to to grease the cake tin
- A pinch of salt
- Grated zest of an organic lemon
- 5 free range eggs
- Breadcrumbs to dust the cake tin
- Icing sugar to decorate
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and boil them or ,better, steam them. When they are ready and soft enough to be pierced effortlessly with a fork, mash them as you were making gnocchi or mashed potatoes. Choose your favourite kitchen appliance, either a potato masher or a food mill, and remove all, I mean all, the lumps. Spoon the mashed potatoes in a bowl.
- Blend the almonds with the sugar until you get a powdery flour, then add them to the mashed potatoes with the melted butter, a pinch of salt and the grated zest of a lemon.
- Heat oven to 180°C.
- Beat for about ten minutes with an electric mixer, adding one egg at a time.
- Butter a round 18 cm cake tin, dust with breadcrumbs and scrape the potato batter into the tin. Bake for about 1 hour, until the cake is dry and golden. Test the doneness with a toothpick.
- Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely before serving, so that the lemon flavour will come out in all its freshness. A dusting of icing sugar will make the cake even more delicate.
Leggimi in Italiano
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This looks MARVELLOUS!
Is it possible to use ground almonds from a packet, please?
Hello Margaret, yes, you can use ground almonds, it won’t change the final result!
Let me know how you liked the cake! 🙂
“La cucina per gli stomaching deboli” Wow, As a long time follower of your wonderful blog I just had to comment on how clever this is. The Artusi book is a revelation & I am able to get a kindle version in Italian for £0.77 on Amazon UK. My cooking & linguistic repertoire is going to epic in 2014. Grazie Mille Gulia!!
So happy to have inspired you to buy the Italian kindle version!
Hi Giulia,
Does it work well to make this cake a day ahead of time , or is it best served the same day it’s made?
Thank you!
Jillian
Hi Jillian, yes, it is even better the day after!
Thank you for sharing. I baked one following your recipe and it tastes great. I love it.
Just one question though, mine is a bit mushy? Is it meant to be like that given that it is potato based? Or did I need to leave a bit longer in the oven. I put it exactly one hour and it passed toothpick test.
it should be very moist, yes, if you prefer it a bit less mushy probably next time you can keep it in the oven a little bit longer!
The photo on top, is the actually potato cake You got? I appreciate a step-by-step photo recipe.
Hi Carmen, yes of course, that is the actual potato cake you got following this recipe!
its stunning recipe first time i saw potato cake bt keep iti up and i try make cake for my family thanks for the sharing recipe
I have the cake in the oven now but won’t be able to tase it for a couple of hours. I am trying it out to see if I want to serve it at a bridal shower where there will be several GF attendees. I hope to rate this cake soon!
A couple of questions. Converting the 18cm cake tin had several options. After trying a standard “American” 8″ single layer cake tin I decided to use a “spring form” pan, about 8″ around and maybe 3+” tall. (The conversion chart said 7″ but with several options for height.)
I also blanched, removesd skins and dried the almonds which maybe should be mentioned?
I also used “large” eggs. I actually added an additional one because the batter didn’t look enough like batter to me. And I hope I didn’t overdo it but I put the zest of 2 lemons, not one.
Do you use a cake tester? Should the center come clean when tested and/or spring back when touched in the center? I am assuming so and will be using those menthods to determine doneness.
Hello Maureen, I’m sorry I might be late now. I use those two methods for doneness, I hope it worked for you.
I think you did everything perfectly, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the result!
Unfortunately, my scale was malfunctioning and my weight for the potatoes was off. I believe I actually used 2# (970g) of potatoes instead of 1.5# (700 grams). The cake came out very heavy. I don’t know if I will redo the recipe at this time due to time constraints. The flavor of lemon was very nice though and we enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t very sweet.
This recipe looks really amazing even though it is that old. I truly love it.
thank you Sarah!
I made this yesterday and am really, really surprised by it. Once it is cooked you really would not know it was made primarily from potatoes.
I made a couple of changes, doubling the lemon zest and switching the butter out for a non-dairy alternative because I’m allergic (anaphylactic) to dairy protein. I used olive oil which worked out really well.
I have to question the 18cm cake tin though. I had a lot of batter and there was no way it was going to fit in a 6½” diameter cake tin and looking at your pictures, you either used a 25 or 28cm cake tin or you have a tiny wooden chopping board. I used a 8″ cake tin which is about 23cm and my cake still appears to be much deeper than yours. Next time I think I’ll try the 10″ tin (roughly 24 cm) I have.
I fancy making it into a lemon drizzle cake with a sour lemon drizzle sauce.
I’ve since made the Cake again using the 9inch (23cm) diameter cake tin and it fits much better in that tin. I added vanilla essence (2tsp) and placed blueberries on the top, poking them into the batter a touch (they didn’t sink) and omitted the lemon zest (by accident) and it was better than the first attempt. It really is a surprisingly good recipe. Now to figure out a chocolate version…