Why Mashed Potatoes Belong In Your Chocolate Cake

There are a lot of ingredients out there for revamping your classic chocolate cake, from the understandable, like pudding mix, to the head-scratching, like mayo (it's a real "hear us out" and "trust the process" type of thing). But perhaps one of the most unpredictable ingredients you can use, according to Marissa Stevens, recipe developer and food blogger at Pinch and Swirl, is the simple but iconic mashed potatoes. "Mashed potatoes sound odd in cake," she admitted to Food Republic, "but they make sense."

Stevens elaborated by telling us that they add moisture, softness, and give the cake a fine crumb. "The starch helps the cake stay tender and gives it staying power — it doesn't dry out as quickly." The result is a fudgy, brownie-like consistency. If you're less concerned about the texture and more worried about the flavor, she was quick to assure us that, provided you use the right kind of mashed potato, "the flavor disappears," so all that's left is just an ultra-soft, not-cloyingly-sweet treat.

Before you go making your Thanksgiving side do double-duty as dessert, too, there is a certain kind of mashed potato that you should use — and a kind that you should steer clear from. "Smooth, unsalted, and unseasoned is the way to go," Marissa Stevens informed us. She recommended actually making a small batch (made with milk for the best texture and flavor) whose sole purpose is to use in baking. Stevens advised that using "starchy potatoes, like Russets," would yield the best results. "About a half-cup works well in most standard cake recipes," she said.

Taters that should stay out of your chocolate cake, on the other hand? "Leftover mashed potatoes with garlic or butter won't work here," Stevens told us. It's not so much the leftover part (you can absolutely keep some plain mashed potatoes off to the side for use the next day), as it is the garlic and butter, which can affect either the flavor or the consistency of the cake.

Oh, and if you want to save yourself the hassle of making mashed potatoes from scratch (it's easy to do, but waiting for the potatoes to boil can be such a pain), you can use instant mashed taters, too. You'll have to prepare them first, but it's a much quicker process than waiting for a big old pot of water to boil.