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Duchess Sweet Potatoes are made with mashed potatoes that have been piped into a swirled mound, then baked until golden and crispy. A quintessential French side dish!
Sometimes a meal calls for a little something extra, and these Duchess Sweet Potatoes are perfect for a holiday, special occasion, or when you’re simply looking to give an everyday meal an extra special touch.
What are Duchess Potatoes?
Duchess potatoes are an elegantly displayed, rich and delicious mashed potato side dish. Once they are formed, they are baked to create a light and crispy outside, and a soft and creamy inside.
How do you make Duchess Potatoes?
Traditionally, Duchess potatoes are made with white potatoes, but our version incorporates a mix of both Yukon gold and sweet potatoes for added flavor and added color. We also added grated Romano cheese to the potato mixture. A touch of nutmeg along with some salt and pepper seasons the potatoes perfectly in our recipe.
While these Duchess Sweet Potatoes look very fancy, they are actually quite simple to make – simply use a pastry bag and a large star tip to pipe the potato swirls on a baking sheet. We added an extra little sprinkle of Romano cheese on top, then baked the potatoes to crispy perfection after spraying with pan spray.
Your dinner guests will surely be impressed by this elegant and delicious side dish! The Duchess Sweet Potatoes are crispy on the outside, and soft, creamy and rich on the inside.
This post originally appeared on A Family Feast in February 2013. We’ve updated both the recipe and the photos.
You may enjoy these other Potato side dish recipes:
- Asiago Potato Stacks
- Rosemary Garlic Baby Potatoes
- Potato Roesti
- Sliced Potatoes with Herbs and Cheese
- Ginger Maple Sweet Potato Casserole
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Duchess Sweet Potatoes
Duchess Sweet Potatoes are made with mashed potatoes that have been piped into a swirled mound, then baked until golden and crispy. A quintessential French side dish!
Ingredients
1 1/4 pounds sweet potatoes
2 pounds yellow potatoes
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Few grinds fresh nutmeg
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese, plus more for tops
3 tablespoons heavy cream
4 egg yolks
Cooking spray
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Wrap each yellow and sweet potato individually in foil then place on a foil lined pan and bake until tender, 60-90 minutes depending on potato size. Squeeze to test doneness. Shut off oven.
Once tender, remove foil and place both potato types in a zip lock gallon bag for 10 minutes. This will loosen the skin.
Remove from the zip lock bag and peel off the sweet potato skin with your fingers. Use a paring knife to scrape the skin from the yellow potatoes. Discard skins.
Place the potatoes into a potato ricer using the smallest holes. Rice directly into a stand mixer.
Add butter, salt, pepper, nutmeg, Romano cheese and the heavy cream and whisk to mix the ingredients.
Separate the egg yolks into a medium bowl and start whisking in a little of the mixture at a time to temper the eggs. Then add that back into the bowl and whisk again.
Place the mixture into a large piping bag with a large star tip with the wide openings at the end. (You may need to fill the bag twice)
Pipe into circles about three inches wide and two inches tall onto two parchment lined sheet trays that have been lightly sprayed with kitchen pan spray.
You can pipe any amount or size you want. We did 12 per tray for a total of 24 but you could make them larger and pipe nine per tray for a total of 18.
Place both pans in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes, longer of you have the time.
Preheat oven back to 425 degrees F.
Remove one pan at a time and spray a quick burst of cooking spray over the tops of each then sprinkle on a little bit of additional grated Romano cheese.
Bake in the upper third of the oven for 15 minutes, then remove and check bottoms. If they are lightly browned, return and bake for 10 more minutes. If they are already browned, slide the parchment onto a rack and place rack back into the sheet tray and bake for the last 10 minutes. Ovens vary so this step is a precaution so you don’t burn the bottoms. It elevates the potato off of direct heat.
If you bake both pans at once, swap oven location half way through and rotate for even browning.
Let sit out of the oven for a few minutes then remove with a small spatula and serve.
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Jane says
Can I use all sweet potatoes instead of a mix with yellow potatoes?
Martha says
Hi Jane – We originally tried making this recipe with just sweet potatoes and needed to include the yellow as well to add some structure. The sweet potatoes on their own are just too soft. I suppose you could try some other changes to the recipe to thicken the sweet potatoes but we’d need to do some kitchen testing to give you any specific guidance.
Kat says
Can the potatoes be made and shaped the day before and stored in the frig?
Martha says
Hi Kat – We do state to refrigerate the potatoes before baking, but we’ve never piped them as far in advance as a day before, just a few hours before baking. I think they should be OK, although not 100% certain. Please let us know how it works out for you!
Pam says
love your recipes. I was wondering on the Duchess sweet potatoes if you can make them up ahead of time and then bake them right before you eat
Martha says
Hi Pam – Yes – You could pipe them a few hours ahead of time and chill until you are ready to bake! If they are chilled, they might take a little bit longer to bake. Hope that helps!
Kristen @ The Endless Meal says
These look so pretty! Do you think they would transfer from a plater without losing their prettiness? Or would they kind of smoosh (is that even a really word?)
Martha says
Hi Kristin! The egg added to the recipe gives them just enough firmness that they won’t smoosh (yes – I think it’s a word!!) when you need to plate them for the meal! Thanks for stopping by! I’m a fan of your blog!! Martha
Kristen @ The Endless Meal says
Thank you for letting me know, Martha. Can’t wait to try out this recipe at a dinner party I’m having soon!