Recipe

Pommes Anna – French Melted Potatoes

Pommes Anna

Indulge in the timeless culinary delight of our golden-baked Yukon potato cake, a dish that artfully marries the velvety texture of Yukon gold potatoes with the aromatic essence of fresh thyme leaves. This dish, carefully layered in a cast iron skillet and enriched with the lusciousness of clarified butter or ghee, promises a bite that's both crispy and soft. Ideal for both everyday meals and special occasions, this recipe ensures a sophisticated touch to your table. Whether you're a seasoned chef or a home cook, the blend of ingredients and the straightforward method make this Yukon potato cake a must-try. Dive into this post to unveil the secrets behind achieving that perfect golden crust and let your food blog journey be flavored with success. Key ingredients include Yukon gold potatoes, fresh thyme, clarified butter, and ghee.

Course Side Dish
Cuisine French
Keyword baking, potatoes, side
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Servings 4 servings
Author we are all magic

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, hand-peeled and finely sliced you can also use a mandoline
  • 1 stick Butter, clarified or 8 tablespoons of melted Ghee
  • 1 tbsp Fresh thyme leaves
  • Salt and freshly milled black pepper, according to preference

Instructions

  1. Set the oven's temperature to 450°F. If you're using butter, melt it and let the milky white solids rise to the surface. Carefully remove and discard these white solids from the top. This ensures the potatoes won't adhere to the pan. Alternatively, you can simply melt pre-purchased Ghee.

  2. In a 6-inch cast iron skillet or a copper charlotte mold, pour ¼ cup of the clarified butter. Neatly place the potato slices at the base, ensuring they form overlapping circles. Season this layer with salt, black pepper, and a touch of thyme. Drizzle a little more butter or ghee over this.

  3. Keep layering the potatoes, seasoning with salt, pepper, and thyme as you go, until all ingredients are layered.

  4. Take another pan with a flat base and press it over the potatoes to mold them into a firm cake shape.

  5. Place the potato-filled pan on a baking tray and bake for 30 minutes. Once baked, take it out and press the potatoes once again. Put the pan back into the oven and bake for another 25 minutes. After that, remove and press down one more time. Finally, bake for an additional 5 minutes or until they achieve a lovely golden hue. Turn the pan upside down on a plate, and slice into desired pieces.

There’s a kind of magic that takes place when simple ingredients transform into something truly exquisite. The Yukon potato cake is the perfect epitome of this culinary alchemy. Using the gentle gold of Yukon potatoes, a fragrant whisper of fresh thyme, and the rich embrace of clarified butter or ghee, this dish brings a symphony of textures and flavors to the palate. Each bite offers a delightful contrast – the outer layer boasts a golden crispness while the inside melts into a velvety softness.

Making the Yukon potato cake is akin to crafting a piece of art. The meticulous layering process in a cast iron skillet or a charlotte mold is both therapeutic and rewarding. As you arrange the thinly sliced potatoes, season them, and drizzle that luxurious butter or ghee, you’re not just building layers of a dish; you’re constructing layers of flavor. The repetitive pressing of the potatoes ensures a unified, compact cake that, when inverted, stands tall and proud on the plate. It’s a dance of patience and passion, and the oven does its part, crisping and browning the edges to perfection.


A Tribute to the French Classic: Pommes Anna

Diving deeper into the culinary world, one discovers that the Yukon potato cake has its roots in the esteemed French dish, Pommes Anna. A timeless classic, Pommes Anna is a testament to the French’s ability to turn basic ingredients into gastronomic wonders. Named after a 19th-century Parisian belle, this dish epitomizes elegance in simplicity. Thinly sliced potatoes, copious amounts of butter, and precise seasoning come together in a harmonious meld, creating layers of crispy exteriors and a tender heart. Traditionally cooked in a special double-sided pan, this iconic dish is flipped during cooking to ensure an even, golden crust on both sides. Pommes Anna isn’t just food; it’s a rich tapestry of history, technique, and taste, serving as a reminder that sometimes, the most basic ingredients can produce the most memorable dishes when crafted with care and expertise.

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