We are thrilled to be back at Independence Elementary School this spring. John Alexander, Vanessa Austin and I are working with three 1st grade classes. We have sown seeds and cut potatoes in preparation for planting out in the garden a little later in April. The kids are full of excitement and energy and questions and it’s great to have 2 assistants in addition to help from the teachers! It’s really fun because the teachers are as excited as the kids about gardening.
We asked kids to name their favorite way to eat potatoes during the potato class. We got answers ranging from “mashed with lots of butter!” to potato soup. And John surprised us with potato candy. Who knew? Wikipedia did! Here’s a recipe Here’s a recipe. https://sugarspunrun.com/potato-candy/#recipe and the Wikipedia entry is below.
The potato candy pinwheel, sometimes shortened to just potato candy, is a rolled candy prepared by mixing mashed potatoes with large amounts of powdered sugar to create a dough-like consistency, and then adding a filling, traditionally peanut butter, and rolling the mix to produce a log-like confection. Potato candy does not require baking and is instead refrigerated in order to fully harden the candy, though it can stay at room temperature following the refrigeration process. Most sources indicate that the potato candy has a shelf life of roughly one to two weeks.
Origin
Potato candy does not have a concrete origin, though it is cited as originating from European immigrants to the Appalachian region, and became a popular Depression-era recipe in the region due to the few and relatively cheap ingredients it utilizes. Origins of the candy could possibly be traced to recipes brought to America by Russian, Irish, or German immigrants to the country during the late 18th and early 19th century, though no concrete proof of origin exists and the recipe only appears to be popular in the United States.