My second attempt at potato cakes

I mentioned in this article that I once tried to make potato cakes out of leftover mashed potatoes, but all I got was a brown crust stuck on the pan and hot mashed potatoes.

I wondered what I had done wrong?

So I tried it a little differently this time.

I sprayed the pan generously with Pam; One batch I cooked cold out of the fridge, and the other batch after the potatoes got to room temperature.

This time, at least the brown crust didn't get stuck to the pan...

It was essentially, a patty of hot mashed potatoes, with a very thin brown crust on the outside.

Every recipe I find, says to cook them while they're still cold. Personally I didn't see any difference between the two.

I'd have liked if they were crispier. I wonder if there's a trick to that, besides maybe cooking them longer?

Or perhaps adding bread crumbs...