My Dutch great-grandmother would be proud, I tell ya’. Her now locally-famous chocolate Dutch Potato Cake has given birth to a new and delicious, mouth-watering cake.
A couple days ago, when I made the mini version of the birthday cake from last week, I was reminded of how much it seems like what I imagine a chocolate gingerbread cake would taste. Today I looked through all her recipes for a gingerbread recipe, found one (but it didn’t include mashed spuds) and found that most of her many cake recipes include spices.
I wondered if the family recipe for Dutch Potato Cake could be adapted for a moist and dense gingerbread cake, decided to experiment, leave out the cocoa powder, adjust the sugars, flour and spices but add the mash since I know the benefit it adds.
Oh boy, oh boy, and next time — there will definitely be a next time, especially since this was a mini version — I will finely slice and dice and add some crystallized ginger. Today I lacked patience to make a grocery run for that, plus the cake was an alpha test, but my palate loves those teeny flavorful nuggets and maybe a bit of fresh grated ginger, too.
The cake could be lemon glazed or lightly dusted with powdered sugar if made in a single pan or cream-cheese frosted if layered. I decided to go minimal, with a dollop of slightly sweetened whipped cream. This was a test of the cake, after all, and a success.
The Dutch love of what I think of as winter spices lives on in me (and I await one of my Dutch friend’s annual speculaas in a couple weeks.)
Ms Chef in Seattle 
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