Elegant Duchess Potatoes

Elegant Duchess potatoes are a fancy addition to your holiday table and perfect alongside roasted meats.  Serve them with Easy Cornish Game Hens, Grilled BBQ Pork Chops, or a Perfect Oven Roasted Beef Brisket.

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Plate of Elegant Duchess Potatoes - cheesy mashed potatoes piped into rounds, slathere in butter, and baked till golden brown.

These potatoes are a staple for New Year’s Eve.  They feel luxurious and fancy, yet are simple to make.  If you can make mashed potatoes, you can make this recipe.

Pretty, individual, ruffled mounds of mashed potatoes that have been baked to golden, buttery perfect on the outside with a fluffy, creamy interior.  What could be better than that?  

WHAT ARE DUCHESS POTATOES?

Duchess potatoes are mashed potatoes that are piped into round mounds, drenched in butter, and baked until golden.  It’s a classic French recipe that is rumored to have originated when a British Duchess visited French aristocrats.

WHAT IS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE?

  • Potatoes – I like using Yukon Gold because of their buttery texture, golden color, and creamy consistency.  Russet potatoes also work well.
  • Salt – for the boiling water.
  • Gruyere and fontina cheese – I like the nuttiness of the gruyere and creaminess of the fontina.  Use any cheese that you like, but be sure to grate it yourself.
  • Heavy cream 
  • Butter – truffle butter is a luxurious treat and lovely for special occasions and holidays, but everyday butter works just as well.
  • Onion powder, garlic powder, and white pepper – used to add flavor, but not flecks of spice.
  • Egg yolks – this enhances the creaminess of the potatoes and helps them keep their shape while baking.

Plate of Elegant Duchess Potatoes - cheesy mashed potatoes piped into rounds, slathere in butter, and baked till golden brown.

TIPS FOR MAKING ELEGANT DUCHESS POTATOES

  • Dice the potatoes into consistently sized cubes so that they cook evenly.
  • Start cooking the potatoes in cold water that is salted heavily.  The water should taste like seawater.
  • Room temperature or warm cream, cheese, and butter makes it easier to incorporate them into the potatoes.
  • Add the eggs and instantly begin to whip them into the potatoes.  You don’t want the eggs to begin to scramble.
  • If you don’t have a star tip and piping bag, you can snip the corner off of a ziplock bag and use that to make the mounds.  They won’t have the pretty edges, but they’ll still be golden and beautiful.

This is my favorite ‘go-to’ NYE menu.  If you give it a try, let me know how you like it!

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Plate of Elegant Duchess Potatoes - cheesy mashed potatoes piped into rounds, slathere in butter, and baked till golden brown.

ELEGANT DUCHESS POTATOES


Description

Elegant Duchess Potatoes are luxurious, ruffled mounds of cheesy mashed potatoes that are baked to golden perfection.  They’re the perfect side dish for your holiday table.


Ingredients

Scale

3 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes

Handful of Kosher salt

2 large garlic cloves

1 cup shredded gruyere cheese, room temperature

¼ cup grated fontina cheese, room temperature

⅓ cup heavy cream, warmed

6 tablespoons truffle butter, divided and softened

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon white pepper

4 large egg yolks, room temperature


Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a Silpat mat.

In a large pot, place the potatoes, salt, garlic, and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are fork-tender.

Drain the potatoes in a colander and spread them out onto paper towels to dry.  Discard the garlic cloves.

Add the potatoes back to the pot and place the pot over medium-low heat.

Add the cheese, cream, 2 tablespoons truffle butter, onion powder, garlic powder, and white pepper.

Use a potato masher to mash the potatoes and mix the ingredients together.  Continue mashing until the potatoes have a smooth texture.  Alternatively, you could use a ricer to pulverize the potatoes for an even smoother mash.

Pour in the egg yolks and quickly whip them into the potatoes.

Using a large piping bag that has been fitted with a large star tip, spoon the potatoes into the bag. Fold down the top and squeeze the potato mixture down into the tip.  If the bag is too hot to handle, wrap a dish towel around it.

Pipe about a ½ cup mound of potato onto the baking sheet, leaving at least an inch between mounds.  Pipe the mounds high as they will spread a little while baking.

Melt the remaining 4 tablespoons of truffle butter.  Use a pastry brush to gently brush the tops of the potatoes with the melted butter.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the tops are golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 1-2 minutes.

Use a spatula to carefully lift the mounds from the baking pan and place them onto your serving platter.

Serve hot.

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Method: Bake
  • Cuisine: French

Keywords: elegant duchess potatoes, French food, potatoes, mashed potatoes, side dish, holiday food, holiday recipes

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