Who doesn’t love a Dauphinoise Potato?

Just look at her, in all her potato-y glory. The dauphinoise potato is packed full of cream, garlic and spuds – what more does a girl need? This is my all-inclusive guide to making the most decadent, delicious dauphinoise. This isn’t a recipe for the faint hearted. It’s perfect to slap on the side of your next Sunday roast, with a roasted chicken breast or a stuffed pepper for the veggies amongst you. For this dish, you’re going to need a lot of spuds – I’ll tell you a little tip about them in a moment.

You’re also going to need:

Maris Pipers/Yukon Gold potatoes (see below for a tip to know how many potatoes you will need!),

Around 600ml/20fl oz double cream,

3-4 garlic cloves crushed but in their skins,

Salt, white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. And that’s it! You can start adding in onions and spices if you like, but I’m keeping it classic for today.

Have a look at my new YouTube channel to get the full video recipe!

Get Slicing

Unfortunately, this recipe does require a LOT of slicing potatoes. In the UK I like to use a Maris Piper or King Edward, so in the US you’d need a Yukon Gold or a russet. Basically, you need a starchy potato that will go soft when cooking, not a waxy variety that will hold its shape too much. You can leave the skins on, but I always peel potatoes for a dauphinoise. Slice all of the potatoes into 2mm thick slices (you can also use a mandolin if you have one, just watch your fingers!). One of my favourite tricks for traybake dishes is to get your baking dish and fill it with potatoes, then add 1 more for good luck. This little hack works well for dishes cooked in a pan too, like pomme Anna and rosti. Just before you start slicing, get the cream on to infuse.

Flavour the cream

Pour the double cream into a large saucepan (make sure it’s large enough to get all of the potato slices in when it’s infused). Throw in a few cloves of smashed garlic. Season the cream heavily with salt, white pepper and a pinch of nutmeg – a little goes a long way! But it is a match made in heaven. Pop the pan on a medium-low heat and leave it to bubble away and thicken up. It will turn an off-white, magnolia kind of colour, which is what we’re looking for. This is the time to add in some extra flavourings if you want to. Curry powder, whole spices and woody herbs like rosemary and thyme all work well.

Layer upon layer upon layer

Remove the garlic from your thickened cream and tip in all of the potato slices. Give it a mix so they are coated, then leave to cool slightly so you can handle them. If you’re wanting to turn the dauphinoise out and slice into perfect portions, line your baking dish with parchment paper. But if you are going to serve it as a traybake you can skip that step. When the potato slices and cream are cool enough to touch, begin layering them into the dish. There is a cheats method to do this quickly; just tip all of the potatoes into the dish and flatten it all down with your hands. It doesn’t have the same effect when it’s sliced, but still tastes delicious. Make sure to season with salt and white pepper between each layer of potato.

Time to cook

Preheat the oven to 160ºc/325ºf. Cover the top of your dauphinoise with a sheet of baking paper and place into the oven for around 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, remove the sheet of parchment from the top of the potatoes. Return to the oven for another 20-30 minutes, until beautifully golden brown on top. You can serve this up at this point, it’s delicious! Again, if you’re going to turn this out, cover with a sheet of parchment and top with tins, the same as a 15 hour potato. Pop in the fridge overnight, then remove the tins and parchment and slice into portions. Reheat in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes until warm all the way through for your next dinner party.