Milcao
Chiloé potato cakes combine cooked mashed potatoes with drained raw grated potato; this measured version is fried and yields 20.
Modern adaptation
Chapalele
Chapaleles
A baked Chiloé chapalele based on Gourmet's recipe: smooth cooked potato mixed with wheat flour, baking powder, sea salt and butter, shaped into 16 pieces.
One baked Chiloé version
Chapalele is a potato-and-wheat preparation associated with Chiloé. ODEPA, Chile's agricultural studies office, describes the savoury version as cooked mashed potato mixed with wheat flour and salt, usually steamed with curanto. It describes a separate sweet form boiled in water and served with honey or sugar.
This recipe follows Gourmet's measured oven-baked version, not the curanto-steamed or sweet boiled forms. It adds baking powder and softened butter to cooked potato and flour, then bakes 16 small pieces. The page identifies its recipe with Chiloé and says other methods exist.
Cook and shape the potato dough
Heat the oven to 180°C. Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces about 1.5 cm across. Cook them in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain them and return them to the hot pot for one minute so leftover cooking water evaporates.
Mash until smooth. Mix the potato with flour, baking powder and softened butter to make a soft dough. The recipe lists one teaspoon of sea salt and calls for salted cooking water, but does not explain whether to divide the teaspoon between the water and dough. This version uses the listed measure in the water and adds no unmeasured extra salt. Divide the dough into 16 portions, roll them into balls and flatten slightly.
Bake and serve
Set the pieces on parchment or a silicone-lined tray. Bake at 180°C for 20–25 minutes, until golden, and serve warm. Gourmet provides no internal temperature or storage limit. Its measured formula and bake sequence apply only to this oven version; no time or quantity has been transferred to the boiled or curanto-steamed styles.
Flour and hot-equipment handling
Do not taste the uncooked dough. The FDA notes that raw flour can carry harmful bacteria and advises washing hands and surfaces after handling it. Drain the boiling potatoes carefully and use oven mitts for the hot pot and tray.
No internal bread temperature or validated storage limit is supplied by the recipe source. The golden bake cue is reported as its cooking instruction, not a measured safety limit.
History
ODEPA's 2009 Chilean Ministry of Agriculture bulletin lists chapalele among Chiloé potato foods and distinguishes savoury pieces used with curanto from sweet boiled pieces served with honey or sugar. Gourmet's 2024 recipe specifically identifies its baked recipe with Chiloé. Neither source establishes a first attestation.
Ingredients
Yield 16 pieces · Scaling: source batch only
PotatoesPeeled and cut into pieces about 1.5 cm.
1 kg
Wheat flourThe Gourmet recipe says flour; ODEPA describes traditional chapalele with wheat flour.
250 g
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Sea salt1 tsp total. The Gourmet method calls for salted cooking water but does not say whether to divide this measure between the water and dough; this version uses it to salt the cooking water.
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
ButterSoftened.
59 mL4 tbsp as recorded
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Raw wheat flour and dough
Flour is a raw food and may carry harmful bacteria; do not taste the uncooked mixture.
Hazard sourceHot water and oven equipment
Boiling water, hot potatoes and a heated baking tray can burn.
Hazard sourceDo not taste raw flour or dough; wash hands, utensils and work surfaces after handling flour and dough.
Control sourceUse oven mitts for the hot pot and tray, drain the potatoes carefully, and keep hands clear of boiling water and steam.
Control sourceThe bake cue and temperature are taken from the source; no internal temperature or validated storage limit is provided.
This baked recipe is separate from savoury chapalele steamed with curanto and sweet chapalele boiled in water.
- Heat the oven to 180°C (356°F). Line a baking tray with parchment or a silicone baking mat.
- Peel the potatoes and cut them into pieces about 1.5 cm across. Cook them in salted water until tender, about 15 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes. Return them to the hot pot for about 1 minute to evaporate water clinging to them.
- Mash the potatoes until smooth. Mix with the wheat flour, baking powder and softened butter to make a soft dough. The source lists 1 teaspoon sea salt and calls the potato water salted but does not clarify whether that quantity is divided; this version uses the listed teaspoon in the cooking water and adds no extra salt.
- Divide the dough into 16 equal portions. Roll each into a ball and press it slightly flat. Place the pieces on the lined tray.
- Bake at 180°C (356°F) for 20–25 minutes, until golden. The source supplies no internal temperature. Serve warm.
Conditions
Yield16 pieces
Active time15 min
Places
Chiloé
Documented preparation · Region evidenceGourmet identifies its baked recipe as typical of southern Chile, specifically Chiloé; ODEPA describes chapalele among Chiloé's potato foods. This records a regional association, not an exclusive birthplace or a universal method.
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Sources
GourmetInspiration · Method · Geography
ChapaleleThis recipe identifies chapalele with Chiloé and gives a baked batch of 1 kg potatoes, 250 g flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp sea salt and 4 tbsp softened butter, yielding 16.
It cooks peeled potato pieces in salted water for about 15 minutes, returns drained potatoes to the hot pot for one minute, mashes and mixes them with the remaining ingredients, forms 16 portions, and bakes at 180°C for 20–25 minutes.
The page notes that fried, boiled and baked forms exist and that chapalele accompanies curanto; this recipe records only its baked version.
ODEPA, Chilean Ministry of Agriculture; Bárbara Barrios AguirreHistory · Geography · Context
Boletín de los consumidores: La papaODEPA's 2009 bulletin names chapalele among traditional Chiloé potato foods used as a bread substitute.
It describes savoury chapalele as cooked mashed potato mixed with wheat flour and salt, commonly steamed with curanto; its sweet form is cooked in boiling water and served with honey or sugar. These are separate methods from Gourmet's measured oven-baked recipe.
U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationSafety
Handling Flour Safely: What You Need to KnowFDA says flour is raw, advises against tasting raw dough and recommends washing hands and surfaces after handling flour.