Quick & Easy Irish Potato Cakes

My Quick & Easy Irish Potato Cakes can be made in under 15 minutes, making them the perfect addition to breakfast.

Potato Cakes can help dress up a traditional cooked breakfast; replacing toast or hash browns on the plate. Frustratingly though, most traditional recipes for Potato Cakes – or Irish Potato Farls and Scottish Tattie Scones – demand the use of ‘left-over’ mashed potato. Sadly the chances of any mashed potato being left-over from a  family dinner in this house is a very fine thing indeed! The last thing I want to have to do before I’ve had an early morning coffee is peel, boil and mash potatoes in order to prepare breakfast so my solution is a staple of any 1970s/80s kitchen…

Good taste demands that I would never use Instant Mashed Potato powder to make a bowl of creamy spuds. Rehydrated into its intended form, this otherworldly space food is gloopy, claggy and more akin to wallpaper paste. When used as an ingredient in a recipe however, it can be a useful shortcut to have on hand in the kitchen.

These Irish Potato Cakes make you feel very accomplished in the kitchen being quick to throw together, while looking the part. Teamed-up with a batch of my Instant Pancake Mix and you’re onto a winning breakfast table!

I don’t always confine them to breakfast; I am occasionally known to use them as a base in a quick mid-week supper, topped off with some smoked trout and scrambled eggs. Some trendy smashed avocado and a poached egg also works well…

Quick & Easy Irish Potato Cakes

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• Author: Tom
• Prep Time: 5 Minutes
• Cook Time: 8 Minutes
• Total Time: 13 minutes
• Yield: 4 1x

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Ingredients

• 50g instant mashed potato powder
• 150g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt flakes
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 200ml boiling water
• 1 tsp (heaped) unsalted butter

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Instructions

1. Pop the mashed potato powder into a boil with the salt and butter. Pour the freshly boiled water over the top and beat to combine.
2. Add the plain flour and baking powder, beating until everything is mixed well together into a stiff dough.
3. Place a dry pan over a medium heat. Heavily flour a work surface and your hands before scooping the dough out of the bowl. Quickly fold the dough all together and pat out into round disc about 2-3cm deep. Rub some flour over the top of the disc and slice into quarters with a sharp knife.
4. Carefully lift the quarters into the pan and cook on one side for four minutes. Use a pallet knife to turn the quarters over and cook for a further 4 minutes. By this point, the dough should be golden on each side, with dark spots of colour. 
5. Serve immediately with the topping of your choice.

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• Method: Irish
• Cuisine: Breakfast

Keywords: Breakfast, Irish Potato Cakes, Irish Potato Faros, Tattie Scones