Delia Smith​ Dauphinoise Potatoes

Delia Smith’s dauphinoise potatoes are thin slices of floury potato baked slowly in cream, milk and garlic until meltingly soft, with a golden top and a little nutmeg. There’s no cheese and no par-boiling. It bakes low at 150C for an hour and a half and serves three to four as a rich side.

This is her gratin dauphinois from Delia’s Complete Cookery Course, and two choices define it. She leaves cheese out on purpose, because she finds it masks the potato flavour, and she splits the dairy between double cream and milk rather than drowning the potatoes in cream alone. The low, slow oven is what sets the custard gently around the raw slices.

The one thing that decides the texture is how you handle the potatoes before they go in. Delia slices them very, very thinly, rinses them in cold water to wash off the starch, then dries them very thoroughly in a tea towel. Leave them wet or thick and the gratin turns gluey and watery instead of tender and set.

Delia Smith​ Dauphinoise Potatoes

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DinnerCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

1

hour 

50

minutes

Calories

325

kcal

Total time

2

hours 

10

minutes

From Delia’s Complete Cookery Course. A pared-back French classic with no cheese, baked low and slow in cream and milk, and best served straight from the oven.

Ingredients

• 450g (1lb) good-quality potatoes (King Edward or Desirée)

• 1 small clove garlic, crushed

• 150ml (5fl oz) double cream

• 150ml (5fl oz) milk

• 25g (1oz) butter

• salt and freshly milled black pepper

Directions

• Preheat: Preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F/Gas 2). Butter an 8½ inch (21cm) oval, shallow gratin dish well.
• Prep the potatoes: Peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly, using a mandolin if you have one. Plunge the slices into a bowl of cold water and swill them around to rinse off some of the starch, then dry them very thoroughly in a clean tea towel.
• Layer: Arrange a layer of potato slices in the gratin dish, then scatter over a little crushed garlic and season with salt and pepper. Add another layer of potatoes and seasoning, building up the dish.
• Add the dairy: Mix the cream and milk together and pour over the potatoes. Grate over a little fresh nutmeg, then dot the surface with flecks of the butter.
• Bake: Bake on the highest shelf of the oven for 1½ hours, until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden.

FAQs

Why is there no cheese in Delia’s dauphinoise?

Delia leaves it out deliberately, because she feels cheese masks the potato flavour that the dish is meant to celebrate. A true gratin dauphinois is about potato, cream and garlic, not a cheesy bake. If you really want cheese you can scatter a little over the top, but you’ll be making something closer to a gratin savoyard than Delia’s version.

Why bake it so low and slow?

The gentle 150C heat lets the raw potato slices soften and drink in the cream without the dairy splitting or catching. Over 1½ hours the cream and milk set into a soft custard around the potatoes rather than boiling and curdling. A hotter oven would brown the top long before the middle was tender.

Do I need to par-boil the potatoes first?

No, and that’s part of what makes this version simple. The slices go in raw, thinly cut, and the long slow bake does all the cooking. This is different from some recipes that par-boil or pre-simmer the slices, which Delia’s low-oven method makes unnecessary.

What potatoes should I use?

Delia calls for King Edward or Desirée, both floury varieties that turn soft and absorb the cream. Waxy salad potatoes stay firm and won’t give you that melting texture. Slice them thinly and evenly so every layer cooks at the same rate.

How is Delia’s dauphinoise different from Mary Berry’s?

The two are almost opposites, which is what makes them interesting to compare. Delia bakes low at 150C with no cheese and pure potato, while Mary Berry’s dauphinoise potatoes go into a hot 220C oven with a Parmesan crust and a mix of sweet potato and King Edward. Delia’s is the purist’s version, Berry’s is richer and quicker.

Can I make it ahead or does it need to be fresh?

Delia calls this one of the great classics straight from the oven, and that’s how it’s best. The top is at its most golden and the texture at its silkiest right after baking. You can reheat leftovers gently, though the surface dries a little, so it’s worth timing it to land on the table fresh.