Baked Delia Smith potato cakes are little cakes of grated potato and courgette with mint, feta and spring onions, made for 6 people. You drain the salted courgettes for an hour, then shape 8 cakes and bake them for about 30 minutes in a 220°C oven. The whole job takes about 2 hours, most of it draining time.
Her Vegetarian Collection (2002) prints them on page 167, and her website still shows the recipe. They used to be fried, she says, but baking them works a treat and makes them simple to serve at a buffet party. The same page of that book also carries her pancake cannelloni with spinach and four cheeses.
Little baked cakes like these need no last-minute frying, which is also the trick behind her potato rösti with apple. Serve the cakes hot from the oven. Her website warns that they do not freeze well, so bake them on the day.
Delia Smith Courgette and Potato Cakes
Salted, wrung-out courgette and parboiled grated potato, mixed with feta, mint and spring onion, shaped into little cakes and baked.
6
servings1
hour30
minutes30
minutes220
kcalIngredients
- For the cakes:
3 medium courgettes, about 350g in total
2 medium Désirée potatoes, about 350g in total
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
225g feta, crumbled
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon plain flour
25g butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and freshly milled black pepper
Directions
- Salt: Grate the courgettes coarsely into a colander and sprinkle them with 2 level teaspoons of salt. Leave them to drain for about an hour, with a plate underneath.
- Parboil: Meanwhile, put the scrubbed potatoes in a large pan with a little salt and cover them with boiling water. Simmer them with a lid on for 8 minutes, then drain them and leave them until cool enough to handle.
- Grate: Peel the potatoes and grate them on the coarse side of a grater into a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Dry: Rinse the courgettes under cold running water and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Roll them in a clean tea towel to wring out every last drop.
- Shape: Add the courgettes, spring onions, mint, feta and egg to the potatoes and toss lightly with two forks. Shape into 8 rounds about 1cm thick, pressing them firmly, then dust them lightly with flour.
- Bake: Heat the oven and two baking trays to 220°C, gas mark 7. Melt the butter with the oil and brush the cakes on both sides. Bake on the top and middle shelves for 15 minutes, then turn the cakes, swap the trays and give them 10 to 15 minutes more.
FAQs
Which potatoes should I use?
Two medium Désirée potatoes of about 350g in all are what the Vegetarian Collection (2002) asks for. They are parboiled whole for 8 minutes, then peeled and grated once they are cool enough to handle.
Why salt the courgettes?
Salt draws out some of the courgettes’ excess moisture, which is the reason the book gives for the hour of draining. After rinsing, wring them out in a cloth as well, because wet courgettes make wet cakes.
When a reader asked about skipping this step, her website simply said to follow the recipe as published.
How much salt goes on the courgettes?
Her website uses 2 level teaspoons for the 350g of grated courgettes. The 2002 book says a teaspoon, and the doubled party version for 12 uses 2 teaspoons for twice the courgettes.
How do I stop them falling apart?
Press each round together firmly, about 1cm thick, and dust it with a little flour before baking. The beaten egg holds the mixture together, and well-dried courgettes help as well. A few jagged edges are fine, as the book says they need not be neat.
Why use two trays?
Her website bakes the cakes on two heated trays, one on the top shelf and one on the middle shelf. After 15 minutes, turn them with a palette knife and a fork, then swap the trays round. The 2002 book fits all 8 cakes onto a single 35 x 25.5cm tray.
How do I make them for 12 people?
For 12, How to Cook Book Three (2001), page 194, doubles everything to make 16 cakes, one each plus a few extra. That means 700g each of courgettes and Désirée potatoes, 450g of feta, 4 tablespoons of mint, 2 eggs and 2 tablespoons of flour.
The cakes go onto two trays, which swap shelves when you turn the cakes.
