Duchess potatoes

They are basically mashed potatoes that have been piped out into a 'fancy' swirl and then baked until the tops are lightly brown.

Followed recipe from here.

4 potatoes

2 tbsp butter

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1/2 cup grated cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp paprika

cracked black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees.

2. Boil potatoes until tender, drain and mash them until you get a smooth mixture.

3. Mix in butter, egg, milk, cheese, paprika, salt and pepper.

4. Pipe potato mixture into ramekins or baking tray. They expand a little while baking so make sure you give them a little room.

6. Bake on middle rack at 180 degrees for 30 min or until edges are evenly brown.

Bench notes - Will probably not make these again unless (i) decide to deep fry them as they were not as crunchy as fries and (ii) if I have a lot of time. Don't get me wrong, it was tasty (MP loved them) and did look really pretty but somehow didn't justify the extra effort taken - should have just serve mash potatoes as is - unless of course the duchess herself or some other royalty is coming for dinner, that would be a whole different scenario!!

These can be prepared ahead of time and then baked before serving. Much easier to pipe them whilst mash potato is still warm.