Duck egg en cocotte is the kind of refined and impressive-sounding dish that you can throw casually at your dinner party guests - but it's refreshingly easy to make. Here Daniel Doherty, head chef of Duck & Waffle, shares his recipe for the classic dish. The Duck & Waffle is appearing at The Lab festival is weekend.

The Lab in sponsored_longform with AEG is a brand new food event at Tobacco Dock (25-27 April). Featuring the Noma Taste Test and much more. The event is sold-out, but a limited number of additional tickets have just been released, to access quote FLAVOUR on labevent.com

Ingredients

• Duck egg
• 1 shallot, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 sprig of thyme
• 100ml white wine
• 300ml double cream
• Handful mushrooms, chopped
• Handful grated Gruyere cheese
• Knob of butter
• Olive oil

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

2. Sweat the shallots, garlic and thyme in a little olive oil for a few minutes. Before they start to colour, add the white wine and reduce, and then add the cream. Bring the sauce to the boil, strain and season.

3. Meanwhile, heat a knob of butter in a pan and sauté the mushrooms for a few minutes.

4. Butter a ramequin and line the bottom with some of the sautéed mushrooms, then a spoonful of sauce. Crack in the egg, followed by the remaining mushrooms and sauce, and finish with grated Gruyere cheese.

5. Bake in the oven for 5-6 minutes, until the egg in set.