TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Pommes DuchesseDuchess Potatoes
- Total
- 1 hr 10 min
- Difficulty
- ★★★☆☆
- Serves
- 4 servings
- Prep 30 min
- Cook 40 min
Strained potato purée is bound with egg yolks, piped into roses with a star tip and browned in the oven. A classical accompaniment to roast meat.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
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Ingredients (4 servings)
100Authenticity- Floury potatoes1000 gAbout 800g after peeling. Quarter into even-sized pieces.
- Salt for boiling15 g15g per 1.5L water.
- Unsalted butter for the purée80 gWork into the purée.
- Salt for seasoning3 gFor seasoning the purée.
- Ground white pepper0.5 g1/8 teaspoon.
- Ground nutmeg0.5 g1/8 teaspoon.
- Egg yolks3 yolksUse yolks from 3 eggs weighing at least 58g and under 64g each, including the shell; do not use the whites.
- Hen eggs1 eggBeat the egg and weigh about 40 g for the dough and about 10 g for the egg wash; keep any excess for another use.
- Unsalted butter for the baking sheet5 gFor greasing the baking sheet.
Method
Peel, quarter and start the potatoes in cold salted water
- 1 Peel 1kg potatoes and quarter into evenly sized pieces, yielding about 800g.
- 2 Put the potatoes and 1.5L water in a pot, add the 15g boiling salt and set over high heat.
Ready when
Continue when the water boils.
Boil until cooked but slightly firm
- 1 Once boiling, reduce to medium-high heat and maintain a boil for 15–18 minutes.
- 2 Meanwhile(While boiling) Preheat the oven to 220°C and lightly grease a baking sheet with 5g unsalted butter.
Ready when
The potatoes are cooked when a skewer reaches the center with a little resistance remaining.
Caution
Overcooking causes them to absorb water and break down, making the dough watery.
Dry in the oven and strain while hot
- 1 Drain in a strainer, spread in an ovenproof dish and put in the 220°C oven for 3 minutes to dry the surface.
- 2 While hot, press through a fine potato sieve from above with a wooden spatula.
Ready when
Move to straining when the surfaces look dry and floury white.
Continue when a fluffy purée without particles has fallen beneath the sieve.
Caution
Rubbing the spatula along the mesh makes the purée sticky and heavy.
Add butter and work over low heat to dry
- 1 Put the strained purée in a pot with 80g unsalted butter and set over low heat.
- 2 Work it for 3–4 minutes, folding from the bottom with a wooden spatula to evaporate moisture.
- 3 Mix in the 3g seasoning salt, 1/8 teaspoon white pepper and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg.
Ready when
Continue when the purée pulls away from the bottom as one mass and holds the marks of the spatula.
Tips
Remaining moisture makes the dough loose after eggs are added and the piped ridges slump during baking.
Bind the purée with yolks and beaten egg off the heat
- 1 Beat 1 egg thoroughly in a small bowl.
- 2 Weigh about 10 g of the beaten egg into a separate dish for glazing and about 40 g into another dish for the dough; keep any excess for another use.
- 3 Remove the pot from the heat and wait 1–2 minutes. Add the 3 yolks and the measured 40 g beaten egg for the dough and mix briskly with a wooden spatula until smooth.
Ready when
Continue when the eggs are fully incorporated and the dough is smooth and glossy.
Caution
Adding eggs while the pot is still on the heat coagulates them and makes the dough crumbly.
Pipe the warm dough into roses with a star tip
- 1 Fill a sturdy piping bag fitted with a 15mm, 8-point star tip while the dough is warm.
- 2 Hold the tip vertically 1cm above the buttered sheet, pipe a circle 4.5cm in diameter and spiral toward the center to form a rose 4cm high.
- 3 Pipe 16 equal roses, leaving 3cm between them.
Ready when
Continue when the ridges are distinct and the shapes stand without collapsing.
Caution
Cold, firm dough can split the piping bag and crack the ridges.
Brush with egg and brown the ridges at 220°C
- 1 Lightly brush the ridges with the reserved beaten egg.
- 2 Bake on the upper rack at 220°C for 10–12 minutes.
- 3 Lift off the sheet with an offset spatula and serve immediately alongside the meat.
Ready when
The potatoes are baked when the raised ridges are deep golden and the grooves remain pale.
Caution
Egg wash that runs onto the sheet can burn and stick the bases down.
About this dish
The French hypermarket Auchan sells star-shaped pommes duchesse as a frozen product labeled for festive meals.
In Jules Gouffé’s 1877 cookery book, the potato dish with the same name was shaped into oval slabs on a work surface and cooked in clarified butter. In Escoffier’s early-20th-century Guide Culinaire, the dough was piped, brushed with beaten egg and browned in the oven, then arranged around beef fillet or tournedos.
The dough itself is the same as that used for croquettes: deep-frying makes pommes croquettes, while adding choux pastry makes pommes dauphine. A 2004 French BEP vocational cookery examination also required candidates to prepare duchess potato dough and turn it directly into croquettes.
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