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Potato Cakes

A fried potato patty made from mashed potatoes, onion, egg, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Potato Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the potato mixture

  1. Season cold mashed potatoes with butter, pepper and salt.

  2. Take cold mashed potatoes, 1 onion chopped fine, 1 egg, salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of nutmeg and another of baking powder.

  3. Take about 1 pint potatoes, beat in the egg and the other ingredients with flour enough to make them stick, roll and fry in a pan with a little hot lard, or dip in egg and cracker crumbs and fry in deep fat.

  4. Boil and mash 8 medium potatoes.

  5. Beat up with 1 teaspoon salt, half as much pepper, a very little nutmeg, 2 raw eggs, and 1 tablespoon butter.

Shape and fry

  1. Pat into flat cakes, if necessary using a little flour and milk to make them stick.

  2. Fry brown on both sides in a little butter.

  3. Form into croquettes, dip in beaten egg and then in breadcrumbs, place in a frying basket, and fry in boiling fat 5 minutes.

  4. Drain thoroughly, and serve on a hot dish on a folded napkin.

  5. Chopped parsley may be added or sprinkled on top.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

301Calories
12 gProtein
6 gFat
50 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the croquettes and give a soft, fluffy interior.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the croquettes hold their shape when fried.
Butter (in the method)
Adds richness and flavour and helps the outside brown.
Onion
Adds savoury flavour and aroma to the potato mixture.
Flour (in the method)
Helps the mixture stick together so it can be shaped.

The step that matters

Frying in boiling fat. The fat must be hot enough to crisp and brown the breaded outside quickly. If it is too cool, the croquettes absorb grease and can fall apart or turn soggy before the coating sets.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, nutmeg, egg, pepper):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, nutmeg, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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