Chocolate Potato Cake with Caramel Buttercream

Well now I'm convinced the Irish really do put potato in everything.
The potato addition in this cake is incredibly genius. While you can't taste any potato, it made the cake incredibly soft and fluffy. I might start adding mashed potato into more cakes now...
In my picture the buttercream looks more like a glaze. That is because I thinned it down with a bit of almond milk so I could drizzle it. If you want to frost cupcakes or layer a cake, don't worry, follow the recipe and it will turn out thick and creamy.

Chocolate Potato Cake
2-6" layers
1 cup earth balance vegan butter, softened
2 cups organic light brown sugar
1 tbl ener-g egg replacer
1/4 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 cup cold mashed potatoes (plain no butter or milk)*
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp instant espresso powder

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease 2-9" cake pans with cooking spray and coat with a little bit of flour.
* For the potatoes, peel, dice and cook 1 large russet potato in boiling un-salted water until tender. Mash completely until smooth and cool completely.
Whisk together the butter, brown sugar, egg replacer, water, vanilla, almond milk, vinegar and cocoa powder. Add the mashed potatoes and whisk to combine.
In another bowl combine the flour, salt, baking soda and espresso powder. Combine the dry into the wet in two additions. Evenly distribute into two cake pans or cupcake tins and bake for 15-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Caramel Buttercream
1/2 cup earth balance vegan butter
1 cup organic light brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut cream
2 cups organic powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small pot, melt the butter and brown sugar and boil for 2 minutes. Add the coconut cream and stir to combine. Remove from heat and chill completely.
Once chilled, whip with powdered sugar and vanilla.