Chef Poppy O'Toole, known online as Poppy Cooks, has shared her method for making roast potatoes with an unexpected ingredient: clotted cream. In a video posted to her Instagram account, which has 1.4 million followers, the 32-year-old revealed the technique, noting the caramelisation achieved is "phenomenal".
The 'Potato Queen's' Unusual Recipe
O'Toole, an English chef, internet personality, and author widely called the "Potato Queen", spent a decade working in fine-dining and Michelin-starred establishments before gaining fame for sharing accessible comfort food on social media. In the reel, she said: "So I saw you can cook roast potatoes with clotted cream, and I have to give it a go."
Displaying the finished result, she praised the "beautiful colour, and a super glisten crispiness". Sampling the potatoes, she dipped them in the clotted cream, acknowledging it "could be a step too far", but added: "It's only like having a scone, isn't it?"
Preparation Steps for Fluffy Roasties
O'Toole demonstrated the method, noting she had made many potato recipes in her career and this ranked among the "weirdest". She admitted: "I just don't know how I feel about it. I do love a clotted cream though."
To begin, she sliced the potatoes into quarters and placed them in a pan of cold, heavily salted water, which she described as "key" when cooking anything from the ground. After boiling for about 15 minutes until "fork tender", she drained them and left them to steam dry, an "important step" for roast potatoes. She placed them in a colander over the pan, covered with a clean tea towel, and left them for 5-10 minutes to ensure they were thoroughly dry.
Caramelised Finish and Serving Advice
While still hot, she returned the potatoes to the pan and added roughly half a tub of clotted cream, folding it through. She confessed it felt "wild" but remained resolute. The chef advised allowing the cream to melt into the potatoes, exclaiming it was "like butter", then seasoned lightly with salt before transferring them to a warmed baking tray for the oven.
Once cooked, O'Toole remarked they "looked good", with the cream caramelised beautifully. She described the texture as "very soft", with the cream dissolving on the tongue, and suggested the roasties would suit a summer roast dinner, warning that thick gravy would "melt into nothing". Taking another bite, she commented: "They're just like fluffy clouds of potato. They are good actually."
