Preheat oven to 180°C. Wash the potatoes, but leave the skins on.Use a mandolin or very sharp knife and cut the potatoes and butternut in very thin slices, like you would do for a potato bake. Do all this over or in a bowl of water so that all the starch can rinse off the potatoes.

When you are done, dry the vegetable slices in a salad spinner or a dry cloth and begin layering your cake. Use a spring form pan otherwise it will be hard to get the cake from the pan. Alternatively, use a pie dish and just make a pie. Butter the pan or spray with non-stick spray. Pack a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the pan; making sure the potatoes overlap with each other.

Sprinkle with a tiny bit of salt, a grinding of nutmeg and some black pepper. Do another two layers of potatoes the same way and then do a layer of butternut. Every third layer or so, drizzle some of your cream over the vegetables, I'd say about 1 tablespoon. Repeat the layer until the pan is full. Halfway though use your hands and compress the vegetables.When the pan is full and you are sure that there is no more space, cover the cake with foil and place in oven.

In fact I place some foil over the bottom of the pan too, just in case some of the cream leaks out. Place a heavy oven proof plate or some river stones on the foil to compress the cake while it bakes. Bake for about an hour, test with a knife and bake more if necessary. Once the vegetables are cooked, beat the remaining cream and mix with the grated Parmesan. Spoon over the top of the cake and bake for another 10 minutes to form a gratin topping.

Remove from the oven, rest for a few minutes and remove the spring form pan if you used one. Serve slices of this with some rustic onion rings and a salad of baby spinach and a light vinaigrette.

Reprinted with permission of My Easy Cooking.

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