Duchess Potatoes are creamy and buttery on the inside and crispy on the outside. They are an impressive and elegant dish to serve at your holiday dinners. Even though they look complicated, Duchess Potatoes are simple to make and can be made in advance. These Duchess Potatoes freeze beautifully for an impressive make-ahead side dish for your Christmas dinner or other special occasions.
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Why You Should Make This Recipe
Duchess Potatoes will definitely add a shine during the holiday season to your Thanksgiving or Christmas festivities.
- They can be made in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container for up to a day or frozen for several months. All that is necessary before the meal is to cook the Duchess Potatoes in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
- Duchess Potatoes are super simple to make but impressive to serve.
- Duchess Potatoes make an awesome side dish for many main dishes like roast turkey or roast chicken, grilled seafood or steaks, baked ham, and everything in between.
- These potatoes are not only impressive to serve but also amazingly delicious.
Ingredients: Here’s What You’ll Need
- The Potatoes: My potato of choice for this recipe is the Russet potato.
- The Liquid: Once the potatoes have been cooked, I add unsalted butter, egg yolks, and heavy cream to provide the proper piping consistency.
- The Seasonings: To season the Duchess Potatoes, I add Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and a small amount of ground nutmeg.
Preparing the Potatoes
For best results, the potatoes should be baked in the oven or microwaved. Therefore, I pricked the potatoes all over with a fork. Then I microwaved them for 18 minutes on high, turning them over twice.
After 18 minutes, the potatoes were perfectly cooked. I let them sit for about 10 minutes to cool a bit before making the Duchess potatoes.
Steps in Making Duchess Potatoes
- I started by scooping the potatoes into my potato ricer. I could have also used a food mill.
- Next, I riced the potatoes in batches into a large bowl.
- After that, I added room-temperature butter to the hot potatoes. I stirred the potatoes and butter together with a wooden spoon until the butter was well incorporated.
- Then, I added the salt, pepper, and nutmeg to the potato mixture and stirred everything together with a wooden spoon.
- Next, I stirred the egg yolks, one at a time, into the potato mixture.
- Finally, I added the cream to the potatoes and stirred the mixture until everything was well incorporated.
- Once the Duchess Potato mixture was well mixed, I transferred it to a large piping bag fitted with a large star tip. My favorite tip is the 1M star tip.
I piped a 3-inch circle onto a parchment lined baking sheet and built it upward to produce the classic shape of the Duchess Potatoes. I repeated this for the remaining mixture, ending up with 12 Duchess potatoes.
At this point, the Duchess Potatoes can be frozen for later use or brushed with an egg wash and baked at 400°F for about 30 minutes until they are lightly brown. I chose to freeze most of the Duchess Potatoes and use the rest for tonight’s dinner.
After 30 minutes, the Duchess Potatoes were lightly brown and absolutely delicious. From past experience, the frozen ones will be equally delicious. Yum!
Frequently Asked Questions
The egg yolks are an important addition to this recipe. They provide structure to the potatoes and allow the potatoes to retain their shape during baking.
This recipe is best made with Russet potatoes because of the high starch content.
Even though I use an electric mixer when I make mashed potatoes, I prefer to stir this potato mixture with a wooden spoon. The reason is that stirring minimizes gluten formation and results in a more tender Duchess Potato.
Helpful Tips
- I fitted a pastry bag with a 1M star tip and placed the bag into a tall glass. Then, using a large ice cream scoop, I added some of the mixture to the bag. This was a trick that I learned from Susan, and it makes it much easier to fill piping bags!
- To freeze the Duchess Potatoes, pipe the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer until Duchess Potatoes are frozen. Transfer to Ziploc bag, seal, and place in freezer. To heat, place the frozen Duchess Potatoes on a baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 35 minutes or until lightly browned.
- In the past, when I made Duchess Potatoes, I peeled, sliced, and boiled the potatoes. However, doing it this way introduces a lot of water into the potatoes, impacting their final consistency. Therefore, for best results, I recommend either microwaving the potatoes or baking them. If the potatoes are microwaved, the skins are super easy to remove.
- Sometimes, after I have brushed the Duchess potatoes with the egg wash, I’ll sprinkle on some freshly grated parmesan cheese. This adds a special touch to an already impressive recipe.
Other Impressive Potato Side Dishes
If you’re looking for some more elegant yet impressive potato side dishes, check out these delicious recipes:
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Make Ahead Duchess Potatoes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds Russet potatoes
- ¼ cup (2 ounces, ½ stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 Tablespoon heavy cream (See Tip 1)
Instructions
- Wash potatoes; prick all over with fork. Microwave for 18 minutes, turning twice, or until fully cooked. Let cool 10 minutes.
- Cut potatoes in half; scoop pulp into potato ricer and process into a large bowl. Add butter and mix well with a wooden spoon until the butter is melted and well blended (do not use an electric mixer). Add salt, freshly ground pepper, and nutmeg; stir to combine. Correct the seasonings.
- Add egg yolks, one at a time; mix well with a wooden spoon until well blended. Add cream; mix well with wooden spoon until well blended.
- While still warm, place the mixture in a pastry bag with a 1M star tip. Pipe onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper or non-stick aluminum foil. May be made in advance up to this point and refrigerated or frozen. (See Tip 2)
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Brush potatoes lightly with egg wash. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Yield: 12 Duchess Potatoes.
Video
Tips/Notes
- You may need to add another tablespoon of cream to achieve the proper piping consistency of the potatoes.
- To freeze the Duchess Potatoes, I pipe them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, I put the piped Duchess Potatoes on the baking sheet in the freezer. Once they are frozen, I transfer the Duchess Potatoes to a Ziploc bag and place them in the freezer. To heat, I place the frozen Duchess Potatoes on a baking sheet and brush them with an egg wash. Then, I place them in a preheated 400°F oven for 35 minutes. If the Duchess Potatoes have thawed, then I bake them with the egg wash for 30 minutes in a preheated 400°F oven.
Nicole Da Silva says
Hi, thanks for posting this. I am making my parents a 45th anniversary dinner and thought these potatoes would go great with beef wellington. I want to make them a day in advance, but I am terrified to freeze these. Are you sure they tast just as good from frozen? I want them to tast fresh, but don’t want to the stress of making everything on the day.
Chula King says
Nicole,
I have consistently had great results freezing the Duchess Potatoes. In fact, when I serve them at a dinner party, always I make the Duchess Potatoes ahead of time, pipe them into the desired shape and freeze them. Once they are frozen, I store the Duchess Potatoes in a freezer Ziploc bag.
Chula
JJ says
Thank you so much. I’m looking forward to making these over the holidays!
PudgeFactor says
They really make an elegant and delicious side dish! Happy holidays!
JJ says
I am VERY confused with the cooking time for these. The main bog says to cook at “400° F for about 30 minutes”. The instructions for freezing says to freeze them after piping (no cooking mentioned). Then in the comments it says to reheat at 350 for 15 mins if frrozen or 10 mins if not. So were we supposed to cook before freezing? Then a later comment says to reduce the cooking time to 25 mins if they are not frozen. If we want to freeze there do they cook before or after freezing? Once they are frozen what temp and how long do they go in the oven for? Thanks so much.
PudgeFactor says
JJ, I’d be confused as well! Sorry. I’ve updated the post and the comments to reflect the correct procedure for cooking the Duchess Potatoes after they have been frozen. The Duchess Potatoes are frozen after they have been piped. When you’re ready to serve them, place the frozen Duchess Potatoes on a baking sheet, brush with egg wash, and bake at 400°F for 35 minutes or until they are lightly browned.
Carol says
Must I thaw these before cooking?how how long would I cook them if not thawed?
PudgeFactor says
Carol, I never thaw the Duchess Potatoes before I cook them. I would reduce the cooking time by about 5 minutes to 30 minutes total if they are not frozen.
Chula
Holly Frohloff says
Best way to reheat these?
c2king says
I put the frozen ones in a 400°F oven for about 35 minutes. If they’re not frozen, then I reheat them in a 400°F oven for about 30 minutes. They’re incredible!