Sweet Potato & Corn Cakes with Tamarind Bacon & Avocado

Name: Sweet Potato & Corn Cakes with Tamarind Bacon & Avocado
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 1 h 10 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: jamaican
Ingredients: 2 sweet potatoes (500g); 1 potato (325g); 2 ripe avocados peeled and stoned; 4 spring onions thinly sliced; 1/4-1/2 scotch bonnet chilli finely chopped (optional); 1 lime juiced; 2 corn cobs (or 300g drained canned sweetcorn); 100g cassava flour; 1 tsp tamarind extract; 1/2 tsp honey; 8 slices thick-cut bacon; 100ml vegetable oil; 8 tbsp soured cream to serve (optional)

⏱ 90 mins 🍽 Serves 4 🌶 jamaican ✅ More effort 🏷 Main course

These Jamaican-inspired cakes combine roasted sweet potato and potato with fresh corn, bound with cassava flour and pan-fried until golden. They are served with a quick chilli and lime avocado mash and bacon glazed with a tamarind and honey mixture. The dish is finished with optional soured cream for a complete and satisfying dinner.

Ingredients

2 sweet potatoes (500g)
1 potato (325g)
2 ripe avocados peeled and stoned
4 spring onions thinly sliced
1/4-1/2 scotch bonnet chilli finely chopped (optional)
1 lime juiced
2 corn cobs (or 300g drained canned sweetcorn)
100g cassava flour
1 tsp tamarind extract
1/2 tsp honey
8 slices thick-cut bacon
100ml vegetable oil
8 tbsp soured cream to serve (optional)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Pierce the sweet potatoes and potato with a knife and roast them until tender, which takes about 45 mins-1 hr for the potato and 40-50 mins for the sweet potato, turning halfway. Once cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh from the skins and mash it together lightly, keeping a chunky texture.
As the potatoes roast, place the avocado flesh in a bowl and give it a rough mash. Stir in half the spring onions, the chopped scotch bonnet if using, the lime juice and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Refrigerate this mixture until needed.
For fresh corn, cut the kernels from the cob and boil them in salted water for 3 mins. Cool under cold running water. Mix the sweetcorn into the potato mash with the rest of the spring onions and seasoning. Take a tomato-sized handful, roll it into a ball and flatten to about 1-inch thick. Repeat to make 12-14 cakes. Coat each cake lightly by rolling it in cassava flour placed in a shallow dish.
Combine the tamarind extract and honey with 1 tbsp warm water until smooth. Warm a frying pan and add the bacon. After 1 minute, brush the tamarind glaze over the top, flip the bacon and brush the other side. Continue turning and glazing two more times until the bacon caramelises and browns nicely on both sides. Set aside and keep warm.
Pour vegetable oil into a non-stick pan to a depth that reaches halfway up the cakes. Heat the oil and fry the cakes for 3-4 mins per side until golden. Drain on kitchen paper. Serve two or three cakes per plate with the mashed avocado and two bacon slices on top. Add 2 tbsp of soured cream to each plate if desired.