Potato Fritters (German Lippischer Pickert)

Pickert is a German dish originating from Westphalia. It can best be described as a combination of a fritter, a potato pancake and a waffle. The key ingredients include; flour, grated potatoes, eggs, milk, yeast, salt, sugar, oil and raisins. When the batter is prepared, pickert can be fried or baked. Lippischer Pickert used to be a dish for the poor; the preparation as well as the ingredients are simple. It can be enjoyed with a compôte, sugar and cinnamon, or with "Leberwurst" (liver sausage), the original topping.

5 eggs
all-purpose flour, unbleached (500 g)
raw potatoes, peeled (500 g)
yeast (40 g)
milk, soy milk or water (250 mL)
kosher or sea salt
sugar
raisins
oil

To Serve:
compôte
sugar and cinnamon
Leberwurst (liver sausage)

Mix the yeast with the milk/ water and warm up slightly so the yeast can ferment.

Finely grate the raw potatoes.

Mix the potatoes with all other ingredients until you have a creamy dough.

Cover with a clean cloth and let rest for about an hour so the dough can ferment.

Stir the dough and add as many raisins as you like.

Heat up an iron pan with some oil or if you have with some lard.

Take a small portion with two spoons and spread in a hot iron pan. Repeat this for as many Pickerts you manage to place in the pan. The pickerts don’t need to be of a perfect shape.

Fry them slowly at medium temperature and turn when brown / golden.

Serve with confectioners' sugar, fruit compôte, cinnamon-sugar or liver sausage.

Makes 6 servings.