Potato Cakes

I always seem to make enough mashed potato to feed the neighbourhood so whenever I have leftovers I make potato cakes.

They're great as an alternative to have the next day and they freeze well too.

Leftover mash

1 egg

Flour, a few tbsps

butter

For the purpose of this instructable I boiled and mashed my potatoes rather than using leftovers. I used 6 large potatoes, so, at a guess, I have enough for at least 20 potato cakes.

Peel, quarter and boil your potatoes until soft and mashable.

Drain.

Mash with a good knob of butter and leave to cool.

If using cold, leftover mash then melt your butter first and then mash into the potato.

Add 1/2 the egg and a good scoop of flour.

Mix and mash until you have a soft, dough-like consistency.

You may need more egg or flour depending on the type of potato and how much you have.

For my vatful of spuds, I used the whole egg and about 4 tbsps of flour.

Use your hands to bring the potato together into a dough.

Turn out onto a well floured board and knead a little, adding more flour as necessary.

Pat out to a large circle about 1/2 inch thick. Or thicker if you like.

Cut into rounds or triangles.

I started off using a pastry cutter to make rounds but now find it easier to just pat out circles by hand.

Make sure each cake has plenty of flour top and bottom.

Add a knob of butter to a heavy frying pan. (It just has to be butter I'm afraid!)

Add a little oil to stop the butter from burning.

Heat up the butter and carefully add the cakes.

Don't cook too many at once otherwise they will become difficult to turn.

Leave for about 5 minutes before turning.

Thicker cakes will take longer, up to 8-10 per side.

The butter in the pan will begin to darken so if you're cooking in batches you may need to wipe out the pan and use fresh butter.

Enjoy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, whenever!

Allow to cool before wrapping and freezing.