Spiced Cauliflower pancakes

I could be pretentious and call these blinis, but I think they are more pancakes, albeit small podgy ones. I saw a version of these awhile ago in one of those recycled women magazines whilst I was waiting at the doctors. The article was on how to get your children to eat more vegetable by disguising them into something they liked. I think the cauliflower pancake even had smiley face squirted on it made from tomato sauce to make it look more child-friendly.

Anyway, I did not have the guts to tear this simple recipe from the magazine. I dare not, such a small waiting room and the sound of ripping paper would just sound so loud and make me cringe. Instead I tried to memorise the ingredients and quantities; and for the first time attempted to make it this weekend with one of the seasonal cauliflowers I had purchased for £1.50. Here is my version of the cauliflower pancake. They were actually not too bad.
I originally put in a 100g grated cheddar cheese, which made them a little too greasy and fragile when flipping over, so I have reduced the quantity of the cheese, other than that, they were quite nice actually. I think you can even substitute the cheddar cheese with another, perhaps blue cheese as well as add some fresh minced herbs like parsley. We had this with rocket salad leaves, a fry egg and a drizzle of pesto dressing.
Spiced Cauliflower pancakes
8 – 12 pancakes
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
1 medium potato
1 large egg
50g cheddar cheese, grated
100g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt
olive oil for frying
Method
Cut cauliflower into florets and the potato into cubes and steam until tender about 15 minutes. Drain. Mash the cauliflower and potato while still warm. Gently stir eggs and plain flour, then cheese, cayenne and salt to taste. Drizzle a little oil in a large frying pan and heat. Drop about 2- 3 tablespoons of the cauliflower mixture to form patties about 3 inches across. Cook until golden brown and set, about 3 minutes then flip over and cook the other side. Keep each batch warm in the oven while you cook the rest. Best eaten on the day.