Recipe: Sweet Potato Cakes

I love a sweet potato cake. When I came up with this recipe, I was thinking along the lines of potato croquettes, as they are such a comforting food. Sweet potatoes have a great colour and they are more nutritious than potatoes. Go easy on them if you’re looking to lose weight though.

This recipe is lovely to have as a treat meal or if you are entertaining, as it’s super easy to make. Once you’ve got the hang of the sweet potato cakes, have a go at using other combinations of ingredients, like broccoli and spinach, to make a patty with this method, or simply combine potato and fish to make a fishcake.

Ingredients

3 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled (approx. 750g)
1 egg, preferably free-range or organic 25g coconut flour
3 spring onions, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
coconut oil
16 raw tiger prawns, peeled and deveined

Ginger-Saffron Yoghurt

a pinch of saffron threads
125g coconut yoghurt
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a squeeze of lemon juice
optional: a tablespoon each of freshly chopped coriander and mint

Method

Steam or boil your sweet potatoes for 10 to 12 minutes until soft. Drain and dry the potatoes in the pan for 1 to 2 minutes, then mash them until smooth.
Mix in the egg, coconut flour, spring onions, salt and pepper.
Form 12 lime-sized balls and press these into patties, about 1 cm thick. If making ahead, chill the cakes in the fridge until you are ready to cook them.
Add ½ tablespoon of boiling water to the saffron threads and leave to cool. Remove from the water and mix them into the coconut yoghurt with the ginger, olive oil, salt and pepper. Squeeze in a little lemon juice. You can add coriander and mint as well, if you wish!
Put 2 tablespoons of coconut oil into a large non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Fry the cakes for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.
Quickly sauté the prawns in a non-stick pan in a little coconut oil for 2 minutes on each side, until pink and cooked through.
Serve the patties with a dollop of ginger- saffron yoghurt over the top and the prawns on the side.

Serves 4