Baked Mashed Potato Cakes with Bacon

Perfect little cakes of mashed potato, wrapped in bacon and oven baked.

Course Side, Side Dish

Cuisine Australian, Modern Australian

Total Time 1 10

Servings

Calories 355kcal

Author Lee-Ann Grace

Ingredients

650 g potatoes (see my notes) diced
¼ teaspoon cooking salt to taste
2 tablespoon salted butter melted
2 tablespoon sour cream I use light
4 spring onions (scallions/green onions) finely sliced
¼ tsp garlic powder
1 tablespoon milk or as needed
30 g grated fresh parmesan cheese divided
4 rashers streaky bacon
1½ tablespoon panko bread crumbs
4 toothpicks

Metric - US customary

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200℃ and line a baking tray/sheet with baking paper/parchment paper and set aside.
Boil/steam/microwave your potato in salted water until it is tender - I microwave mine in a large glass bowl with the potato covered in water on high for about 25 mins (see notes regarding salt).
650 g potatoes (see my notes), ¼ teaspoon cooking salt
Lay your bacon rashers out long ways, and trim the wider parts so you have a long piece of bacon roughly 3 cm (1¼") wide the whole length of the rasher (see my notes).
4 rashers streaky bacon
Once your potato is tender, mash it well until you have no lumps then add melted butter, garlic powder, shallots/scallions, sour cream, 25 g parmesan cheese and milk (gradually), mixing well to combine - don't over mix (see notes).
2 tablespoon salted butter, 2 tablespoon sour cream, 4 spring onions (scallions/green onions), ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, 30 g grated fresh parmesan cheese, 1 tablespoon milk
Once combined, take about ⅔ cup of mashed potato mixture and form it into a rough ball. Place the potato ball on to work surface and flatten slightly with your fingers.
Take one rasher of bacon and wrap in loosely around the slightly flattened ball - then flatten the ball to fill out into the ring of bacon and secure the bacon with a toothpick and repeat until you have 4 cakes - try not to pack them down too much - the potato will sit roughly even with the top of the bacon.
4 toothpicks
Roughen the top of the cakes gently using a fork - this helps them crisp a little on top.
Place panko crumbs on a shallow plate, and sit the potato cakes one by one into the panko to lightly coat the bottom with crumbs, then place the potato cakes onto the prepared baking tray (there will be panko left over).
1½ tablespoon panko bread crumbs
Mix the remaining panko crumbs with the remaining 5 g of grated parmesan cheese, and sprinkle this breadcrumb mixture evenly over the top of the potato cakes
30 g grated fresh parmesan cheese, 1½ tablespoon panko bread crumbs
Bake for 20 mins or until lightly browned on top, then grill/broil for a further 3 mins for some extra crunch.

Notes

The potatoes I have used for this recipe are sebago potatoes - in Australian supermarkets they are the ones covered in dirt that are sold loose. I find these are cheap and work great for mash. My suggestion would be that if you are happy with the texture of your own mashed potato that you usually make - then you could also use that variety for this recipe. I will say that I used (by accident & then couldn't take the photos like I planned - boo) coliban potatoes which didn't come out too well. The mash was grainy & oozed out the bottom of the cakes quite a lot.
If you are going to microwave your potatoes like me, or boil them - then I would add ¼ teaspoon salt to the water, and then add any more to taste when you add your mash ingredients. If you go down the steam route, then you have to add your salt when you are mixing your mash.
I like to trim the bacon because it makes for a nice presentation - you can just slide any off-cuts of bacon into your bacon rings where it overlaps - more bacon, no problem!
When you are mixing your extra ingredients into your potato to make the mash, you don't want to over mix it. You want everything to be well combined, but the more you mix, the denser your end product will be. Potato that is well-cooked (but not mushy) and then mashed until free of lumps will help your extra ingredients combine for a smooth but still-fluffy mash. This will also mean the cakes rise slightly in the oven, so don't pack them down too much into the bacon rings.

*Please note that the amount of calories per serve is provided as a guide only, as ingredients and cooking methods can vary greatly*

Nutrition