Uploaded December 2021 | Updated September 2026, 12 hours ago
This is a somewhat old-fashioned potato treatment, popular with caterers during the last half of the 20th century. I do not see these in the wild all that often. The potatoes are first made into creamy, enriched mashed potatoes, and then piped into mounds, chilled, perhaps basted with a wash of some sort, and then roasted. The roasting makes the relief contours of the potato mounds become toasty and browned and delicious.
Recipes seem to differ as to whether to use butter, or some sort of egg / egg-yolk / cream-or-milk wash on the potatoes. We present an egg-yolk and cream wash in this recipe, but using just melted butter would probably also produce excellent results.
Get the mashed potatoes ready, seasoned and piped early, so they can chill thoroughly. It would be possible to freeze the mounds for a day or two in a conventional freezer, or for longer in a non-defrosting freezer. Chill the potato mounds for at least half an hour, preferably overnight, before baking them.
Makes enough for 4-6 people.
Equipment:
• parchment or wax-paper lined pan for chilling potato mounds
• larger, lined baking sheet for baking the mounds
• large saucepan for boiling potatoes
• potato masher, fork, possibly immersion blender for mashing potatoes
• optionally, a piping bag with a star tip
Ingredients:
1-1 1/2 lb potatoes Yukon gold is ideal; we used three potatoes of avg size
2 Tbsp butter
2 ea egg yolk used separately
1 tsp salt
1/16 tsp nutmeg (just think about nutmeg while mixing)
1 tsp heavy cream or whole milk
to taste pepper, vermouth
Procedure:
1. Cut the potatoes into large chunks and place in the saucepan; cover them with cold water. Add optional aromatics such as bay leaves.
2. Bring the potatoes to a simmer over medium heat, reducing the heat as needed so that they do not boil roughly.
3. Simmer 20 minutes or until a fork pierces the potato easily.
4. Ensure that the lined pan meant for cooling the potato mounds is ready.
5. Drain the potatoes, and allow them to cool a little; apply some salt, pepper, the thought of nutmeg, and the butter, and lightly break them up and start to mix them. Add optional liquid aromatics like vermouth or Tabasco sauce during this step.
6. Add the yolk and rapidly work the yolk through all the potato mixture before it can cook into large chunks.
7. If using a piping bag, scrape all of the potato mixture into the piping bag w/ the star tip already installed.
8. Pipe the potato into a number of even mounds; we got 5 of a reasonable serving size. The key is that they all be about the same size.
9. If not using a piping bag, just portion tallish mounds with a spoon, and then if desired, add texture with a fork.
10.Allow the mounds to chill for at least half an hour. First, they must cool, so situate them in a cold place to cool off, and then allow them to chill, refrigerated, for half an hour. They will firm up better if left refrigerated (not frozen) overnight.
11.Preheat the oven to 400F.
12.When the time comes to bake them, paint them with a wash made from the second egg yolk and a teaspoon of cream. If making a large amount of creamy egg wash, use the whole egg before increasing the cream. Alternatively, use melted butter (not ghee).
13.Bake the potato mounds for 35-40 minutes; the peaks should darken, and they should be hot all the way through. They will puff a little in the oven, so they will sag a bit shortly after emerging from the oven.
14.Enjoy immediately next to something hearty, like a steak and some braised rapini.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
This is a somewhat old-fashioned potato treatment, popular with caterers during the last half of the 20th century. I do not see these in the wild all that often. The potatoes are first made into creamy, enriched mashed potatoes, and then piped into mounds, chilled, perhaps basted with a wash of some sort, and then roasted. The roasting makes the relief contours of the potato mounds become toasty and browned and delicious.
Recipes seem to differ as to whether to use butter, or some sort of egg / egg-yolk / cream-or-milk wash on the potatoes. We present an egg-yolk and cream wash in this recipe, but using just melted butter would probably also produce excellent results.
Get the mashed potatoes ready, seasoned and piped early, so they can chill thoroughly. It would be possible to freeze the mounds for a day or two in a conventional freezer, or for longer in a non-defrosting freezer. Chill the potato mounds for at least half an hour, preferably overnight, before baking them.
Makes enough for 4-6 people.
Equipment:
• parchment or wax-paper lined pan for chilling potato mounds
• larger, lined baking sheet for baking the mounds
• large saucepan for boiling potatoes
• potato masher, fork, possibly immersion blender for mashing potatoes
• optionally, a piping bag with a star tip
Ingredients:
1-1 1/2 lb potatoes Yukon gold is ideal; we used three potatoes of avg size
2 Tbsp butter
2 ea egg yolk used separately
1 tsp salt
1/16 tsp nutmeg (just think about nutmeg while mixing)
1 tsp heavy cream or whole milk
to taste pepper, vermouth
Procedure:
1. Cut the potatoes into large chunks and place in the saucepan; cover them with cold water. Add optional aromatics such as bay leaves.
2. Bring the potatoes to a simmer over medium heat, reducing the heat as needed so that they do not boil roughly.
3. Simmer 20 minutes or until a fork pierces the potato easily.
4. Ensure that the lined pan meant for cooling the potato mounds is ready.
5. Drain the potatoes, and allow them to cool a little; apply some salt, pepper, the thought of nutmeg, and the butter, and lightly break them up and start to mix them. Add optional liquid aromatics like vermouth or Tabasco sauce during this step.
6. Add the yolk and rapidly work the yolk through all the potato mixture before it can cook into large chunks.
7. If using a piping bag, scrape all of the potato mixture into the piping bag w/ the star tip already installed.
8. Pipe the potato into a number of even mounds; we got 5 of a reasonable serving size. The key is that they all be about the same size.
9. If not using a piping bag, just portion tallish mounds with a spoon, and then if desired, add texture with a fork.
10.Allow the mounds to chill for at least half an hour. First, they must cool, so situate them in a cold place to cool off, and then allow them to chill, refrigerated, for half an hour. They will firm up better if left refrigerated (not frozen) overnight.
11.Preheat the oven to 400F.
12.When the time comes to bake them, paint them with a wash made from the second egg yolk and a teaspoon of cream. If making a large amount of creamy egg wash, use the whole egg before increasing the cream. Alternatively, use melted butter (not ghee).
13.Bake the potato mounds for 35-40 minutes; the peaks should darken, and they should be hot all the way through. They will puff a little in the oven, so they will sag a bit shortly after emerging from the oven.
14.Enjoy immediately next to something hearty, like a steak and some braised rapini.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
