Clam Cakes Block Island

By Addie

This recipe is best made with freshly ground clams, although it would still be good with finely chopped clams. Canned would be OK, and better to make it with canned than not at all, but please, please, please make this at least once with fresh clams. You will not be sorry.

Use cake flour if you can get it; it will make a lighter, fluffier cake. All-purpose is fine if you can’t find cake flour. Use a “regular” beer, not a fancy one. Think Budweiser, Miller or Corona. For the remoulade, I used a recipe I developed with Elise from Simply Recipes.

Be sure to keep your oil as close to 350 degrees as you can. The cakes will come out greasy if your oil gets too cool. Fry in batches to prevent this. You can use a Dutch oven with about 3-4 inches of oil in it, but I use a DeLonghi electric fryer, as it’s easier to control temperature with a dedicated fryer. Besides, it’s covered so I don’t get vaporized oil in the air.

If you can’t eat all the cakes in one sitting, leave the oil in the fryer overnight; it’ll be fine. Then reheat and refry the leftover cakes for 2-3 minutes, turning once.

Ingredients

• 1-1 1/4 cup minced clams, Quahogs preferred, or other hard shell clams
• 3 eggs
• 1/2-3/4 cup corn cut off the cob, raw or cooked, silver queen or shoepeg preferred
• 1/2 cup buttermilk (or regular milk otherwise)
• 1/2 cup clam broth
• 1/2 cup beer, Narragansett suggested, or more clam broth
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar or maple syrup
• Vegetable oil for deep frying

Preparation

Step 1

Mix the eggs, milk, broth, and beer together. Stir in the minced clams and corn. If I have leftover corn on the cob, then I use cooked. If I have fresh corn, then I use it raw off the cob, as long as it is a tender kind of corn.

Mix the dry ingredients together. Stir in the wet ingredients.

When your oil is sizzling, (350 degrees) drop a tablespoon at a time of the batter into the fat. I just cooked three batches, 10-12 as a batch, in a small Dutch oven in oil about 3 inches deep . These puff up quickly, within 5 minutes. When each has turned golden brown and floats to the top, drain on paper towels. Serve in parchment cones while hot, about 6 per person. I do not like to keep these warm and serve later. So be ready to gobble them right after you cook them. Serve these up plain or with some bread and butter pickles for our odd New England tradition.