What even is Potato Candy?

When I first found out about Potato Candy, I was in the middle of mindlessly scrolling through YouTube and came across a video by Tastemade. And my first thought as the host Jen Phanomrat delicately rolled potato dough into a pinwheel was, ‘I have officially gone too far down the internet hole’. But when Jen added that the candy, she was making was a southern staple I began to question if I ever really lived in the South. I was born and raised in Texas and lived in the Carolina’s for a time, I’d never heard of this thing before. Then I scrolled  down to the comment section, and lots of people seemed to remember these- so why didn’t I? Soon after I took to my trusty Wikipedia and was led to a page that started a year’s long obsession.

First thing I found out was that there were at least three kinds of potato candy. Second, I had never learned about this candy- and neither had my parents- because one of these confections, the one in the video, is from the depression era South. The potato candy that had led me on this wild research hunt has three ingredients-all were easy to afford during the 1930’s: peanut butter, potatoes, and confectioners’ sugar. So, with all this research, I made them. They probably taste how you would imagine, incredibly sweet with a starchy texture and taste. You’re making cinnamon rolls with a potato and sugar-based dough with a peanut butter filling. As I was making the potato dough, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the texture of marzipan. To make the potato
dough, all you need to do is peel and boil a potato until fork tender. Next you must mash the potatoes and place the cooled potato in a stand mixer. You slowly mix in the powdered sugar until a dough forms. Then you liberally dust a work surface with powdered sugar and roll the potato dough into a rectangle. Spread peanut butter onto the rectangle of dough, leaving a small border, and gently roll into a log. Then you chill and slice to make pinwheels.

A more appetizing option is the North American version (as much as it hurts me as a Southerner to say). It is called Irish Potato Candy and is a coconut cream rolled in cocoa powder and shaped to look like a mini potato. Sometimes pine nuts are added to make little ‘eyes’ for decoration. There is no one person credited for creating this candy, but it is thought that when Irish immigrants first came to America, they wanted to honor their heritage and ingratiate themselves to their new neighbors by  creating a candy in the shape of their homelands most famous crop- the potato.

This third example of potato confectionery is a candy bar that is still in circulation today, the Idaho Spud. The spud is only shaped like a potato and is a chocolate marshmallow dipped in chocolate and rolled in coconut. While I have been attempting recreations of the first two, the Spud is something I have been dying to get my hands on in its original form before I make it myself.