Recipe: Vermont Chocolate Potato Cake

VERMONT CHOCOLATE POTATO CAKE

2 medium boiling potatoes
1 3/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 ounces unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs, separated
1/2 cup milk
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely grated
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
confectioners sugar and/or cocoa powder (for dusting)
chocolate sauce or sweetened whipped cream (optional, for serving)

Scrub the potatoes and boil in lightly salted water until done; drain in a colander. When cool enough to handle, remove the skins and mash the potatoes. Set aside 1 cup for this recipe; save the rest for another purpose.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan; set aside.

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg together; set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar, beating until very light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the mixing bowl after each one. Add the mashed potatoes and mix thoroughly. Alternately add the sifted flour mixture and the milk, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the grated chocolate; set aside.

Combine the cream of tartar with the egg whites and beat to firm peaks. Gently fold into the cake batter. Pour into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for about 1 hour or until firm to the touch. Test by inserting a skewer; it will come out clean when the cake is done. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 to 15 minutes, then unmold and place on a rack to cool thoroughly.

Sprinkle with sifted confectioners sugar and/or cocoa powder. Serve with chocolate sauce or whipped cream, if desired.

NOTES:
"Vermont usually gets credit for chocolate potato cake, but I am sure different versions of this cake have been made all over New England, as well as other regions. The idea of adding potatoes to cake batter appears frequently in old American cookbooks. It sounds like a heavy concoction, but the potato actually produces a lighter cake than one made with flour alone. Most recipes for chocolate potato cake call for melted chocolate, but in this one the chocolate is grated on the smallest side of the grater. The result is a speckled cake, which was dubbed Chocolate Tweed Cake by James Beard because of its appearance. Only a very small quantity of chocolate is used, together with cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg, a combination that gives the cake a complex and somewhat old-fashioned flavor. It is wonderfully light and moist and needs nothing more than a sprinkling of confectioners sugar or cocoa on top, although Chocolate Sauce or Sweetened Whipped Cream could be served on the! side."

Makes 1 (10-inch) loaf cake
Source: Jasper White's Cooking From New England