cheesy sweet potato cakes

I was telling my Aunt Penny and cousin Wendy this weekend about how I learned to cook from pinterest. It is totally true. Basically I found stuff on pinterest that sounded good but required weird ass ingredients or utensils so I modified them to make them possible. Most of the time I took things out of recipes, like a bunch of flour in a recipe... that does not work for a girl getting ready for beach season so I would try it without. Some recipes worked out well and some not as much. It is great though because I learned what goes together and ya know how to make something other than eggs. But holy shit I love eggs. Anyway a couple recipes I was able to tweak just the right amount and they became a go to, this is one of them.

Cheesy sweet potato cakes 

What all you need 

2 Sweet potatoes

2 Eggs

Parmesan cheese

Seasonings 

and the stuff to cook it... you can wing it on most of this but you will need a grater and a clean kitchen towel

As far as how to choose the spices... I just open the cabinet and think about what might go with the cheese... so I usually go italian with the parm but you could make these mexican or any flavor really. 

Peal the sweet potatoes... (I use grated sweet potato for other dishes so I prepared 3 but only used 2 for the cakes)

Grate the sweet potatoes 

This will get messy... you will find little pieces of sweet potato in weird places when you clean your kitchen... its worth it. 

Here is where the towel comes into play... once sweet potato (any veg really) is grated it will have a bunch of liquid that if left will make for soggy cakes so you need to squeeze that juice out. You can add a little salt to the grated potato to get them to start sweating out some of that liquid.

Twist up the towel

This can turn into a bit of a workout....

There are many techniques but I like to press it against the side of the sink and then just lean back.

Thank you mom for taking the photo.. that is her finger in the bottom corner...

Oh shoot I almost forgot... preheat the oven... ok so I put it at 425 and the original recipe was like use a wire rack and all this crap... I just use a baking sheet and some parchment paper. 

At this point out sweet potato is ready for the good stuff... CHEESE

I know that Publix or Kroger or whatever store you go to probably sells grated parm. I promise when you grate it yourself it will be MUCH better. I know it can be a pain but it melts so much better and in this recipe it is part of what binds everything so you need a good melt.. trust me... try it... let me know what you think

The recipe calls for a cup of cheese and this is what a cup of cheese looks like for me... I love cheese.

The original recipe also called for I think 1/4 cup of egg whites. I do not keep that in my fridge so I use one full egg and one egg white and I mix it up a little so it distributes evenly when mixed in.

As for mixing I like to fold in the spices and cheese with tongs.

Then add the egg and at this point its best to get messy and mix with your hands. You dont want to squeeze though because any liquid still in the potato will come out and make it too soggy. However it is normal for the mixture to be a little wet at this point.

As for how much seasoning to add... I don't use measuring spoons or anything so I can't tell you exactly but keep in mind you salted it a little before so add some pepper and seasoning as you see fit. 

Use your hands to form patties. You want the patties to be a somewhat thin so they can cook all the way through without burning on the bottom. They will be similar to small pancakes. 

You will want to bake these for about 15 minutes but you should keep a close eye on them. 

The edges will brown and even look a little like they are going to burn but the bottoms will just brown up a little.

If you are cooking for one or two this recipe makes enough to last you probably all week. If you are cooking for more you might want to double it up because they are great left over and keep well in the fridge.

You can eat them just like they are as a snack or a side to a meal. Last night I had two with some BBQ chicken. I also like to put spaghetti sauce over them. You can take two and put a burger in between. Add one to a salad. And because I love eggs I like them under an egg for breakfast.

Make them. let me know how it goes and how you use them. 

#gratedparmrocks