Potato Chocolate Cake

Potatoes in chocolate cake? Why not! Actually, mashed potatoes (or instant potato flakes, though much more processed) are common in many sweet baked goods as a way of adding moisture, richness, texture, or simply using up leftover potatoes! I have seen mashed potatoes in cakes, cookies, breads, rolls, frostings, candies, and of course my infamous chocolate potato fudge. Bread recipes often utilizes the cooking water from the potatoes as well, as does this cake. Here I had an excess of potatoes, and I tend to eat potatoes as a side dish most days already. I also remember recently seeing this recipe, and it looked really good, so I tried it out today!

Potato Chocolate Cake
1/3 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup hot mashed potatoes
1 cup warm water (from cooking the potatoes) 

Preheat oven to 350◦F. Line a 9x13 inch rectangular baking pan with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, beat together the oil, applesauce, honey, and vanilla until well blended. Beat in the eggs, two at a time. Beat in the cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda. Beat in one cup of the flour.
Meanwhile, blend the potatoes and water together to form a smooth paste. Beat half of this into the batter. Beat in the remaining flour, then the remaining potato, blend well.
Pour batter into prepared pan, bake for about 30 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm or cooled, with frosting, icing sugar, whipped cream, or simply by itself! 

Most potato baked goods simply use the potato as an enrichment, they are not actually healthier because they contain potatoes. However, this is a healthy cake recipe - it contains less fat, and the fat used is healthy coconut oil. It has less sugar and is a dark chocolate potato cake, sweetened by natural honey. Finally, this recipe is made with all whole wheat flour - but you would never know it!