Potato Birthday Cake Is The Perfect Treat For Savory-Over-Sweet Foodies

Birthday cakes are delicious. Whether you get a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting, chocolate cake with chocolate icing, a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, or an ice cream cake ... whew, the options are just truly endless. But what do those all have in common? They're sweet. But what if you don't have a sweet tooth? You could always try this off-the-wall idea: a potato birthday cake made with layers of hash browns and coated with mashed potato "frosting."

Many people aren't fans of cake. For these people, when the celebration is all about them, they wouldn't choose a sweet, frosting-filled cake as a first choice. You could stick a candle in a slab of meat and sing "Happy Birthday" but it doesn't really have the same fun birthday vibes as a cake or dessert. The potato birthday cake, on the other hand, is still perfectly fun for a birthday celebration and just as customizable as a traditional cake. And, it can even double as a meal — a win-win.

At its most basic, all you need for a potato cake are some cake "layers" and "frosting." To acquire these components, one option is to buy pre-made hash browns and instant mashed potatoes for easy preparation. Or, instead, you could make the ingredients yourself, with homemade hash browns (use Gordon Ramsey's genius trick of waxy potatoes) and mashed potatoes, which you could make pink with this pretty potato variety. 

Once you have your ingredients, decide what size and shape you want the cake to be, then fry your hash browns accordingly; round is probably easiest and looks most cake-like. You can make the layers as thick or thin as you want, but you may want to stick to the thinner side because even with potatoes, too much can be a bad thing.

Next: assembly! First, put a small dollop of mashed potatoes on your serving plate, then put the first layer of hash browns down. Then, pipe a border of mashed potatoes around the edge of the hash brown layer, perhaps using a 1A Wilton Round Cake Decorating Tip. Next, add a thin layer of mashed potatoes in the middle, where you can also add fillings if you'd like. Keep layering until you have your desired cake size, then either leave it "naked" or finish with a layer of mashed potato frosting or gravy. And voilà, you have a savory cake for your birthday.

Potato birthday cake can be as simple or as complex as you want. Change the flavors of the hash browns or mashed potatoes with herbs or spices or add different fillings. If you like onions, caramelized onions in a thin spread on each layer make a delicious, ever-so-slightly sweet addition; just make sure to add the right amount of vinegar to give your onions the perfect flavor. If onions aren't your thing, add a cheesy filling with cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Or, you could add a heartier filling of meat, with either small pieces of breaded chicken and gravy or shredded beef with gravy.

Finally, add the ultimate birthday adornment: a candle. Only, it doesn't have to be a normal candle. Instead, top off your potato cake with a simple butter candle. You'll need butter and any flavors you want to add, like garlic or rosemary, something to mold the candle (a paper cup works well), and a food-safe wick made of beeswax or organic hemp. To make the candle, first melt the butter. Next, poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup and string the wick through the hole. Pull the string until there's about an inch sticking out of the top. Finally, pour the melted butter into the cup, then refrigerate until it's hardened. Peel away the paper cup and place the candle on your potato cake. Light it, and enjoy your savory birthday treat topped with melting butter.