Potato Paste/Peppermint Chocolates (1912)

 Candy-making Revolutionized: Confectionary from Vegetables

Readers may recognize this book as the origin of the disastrous potato fondant.  But my love for potatoes overcomes all, and I gave it another go!  

Potato Paste 

As the foundation for one sort of decorative confectionery, potato paste must be made. Steam or boil Irish potatoes, drain them, and force them through a fine sieve,—the finer the better. With one-half cupful of Irish potato, so prepared, mix one tablespoonful of corn starch. Gradually and carefully work in enough confectioner's sugar so that the mixture can be rolled.

A Cheeto, grapes, and a banana!

A banana tree!

A rose!

Peppermint Chocolates.—Potato paste—described on page 52—is the basis for them. Make a softer paste by using less sugar, work in peppermint to taste, form it into balls, flatten and dry for a couple of hours. Then dip them in chocolate as usual. After the finished candy has stood for a time long enough for the chocolate covering to have mellowed the center, the result will be a cream of excellent flavor and a texture unusually attractive because of its grain. The difference between this and the ordinary peppermint chocolate is so great that they really are not the same confection.

Verdict: I once again riced the potatoes to make them nice and smooth. I say I, but in fact I convinced my 12 year old to invite a friend over and do it for me. We made green peppermint, yellow banana, orange pineapple, purple raspberry, and pink almond. After some trial and error, I ended up with about 2 T of cornstarch and 2 T. of powdered sugar. If the mixture ends up wet, add cornstarch, not powdered sugar. The powdered sugar liquifies and makes it wetter and wetter the more you add, despite what the book says.  

I turned it over to my child sweatshop, and they swiftly made a variety of shapes. The leftovers were formed into patties and dunked in chocolate (also by the child sweatshop team).  

The flavor of the potato paste is… fine. I would much rather eat a cake covered with potato paste than fondant. I think it could really shine in a decorative capacity. I mean, are sprinkles delicious?  No. Are those weird crunchy candy letters for birthday cakes delicious?  Also no. But this tastes better than either of those!  

It is also a very good homemade Play-Doh recipe!  Lots of other ones are either inedible, difficult, or expensive. This one is dirt cheap, easy, and just good enough to nibble at, but (unlike the honey/peanut butter/dry milk recipe) not delicious enough to gorge on and low fat!  The powdered sugar being a structural liability rather than a necessity means you could use sugar substitute as well!  

 Verdict when covered in chocolate: Pretty nice!  The texture is weirdly satisfying and pleasant. The kiddos and husband came back for more.  

All in all, I will keep this recipe in my back pocket!  Especially if I have to entertain some kids who love potatoes.