Brunede kartofler

Ingredients

The potatoes

• 1 kgsmall waxy potatoes
• walnut sized or smaller
• boiled and peeled
• ideally cooked the day before
• or 2 tins small peeled potatoes
• drained and dried thoroughly

The caramel

• 100 gcaster sugar
• 50 gbutter
• a pinch of salt

Sometimes added

• 1 tablespoonsingle cream
• or a splash of the potato water
• to loosen the caramel

To serve

• with roast pork or duck
• or goose
• alongside plain boiled potatoes
• with red cabbage, rødkål
• and brown gravy

Directions

1. Butter is added to it. Cooked potatoes are turned in that caramel until coated. Use small waxy potatoes. They should be walnut sized or smaller.
2. Boil them in salted water until just tender. Test them with a knife tip at fifteen minutes. Peel them while still warm. Cold potato skins cling stubbornly. Rub them off with your thumb or a cloth. The potatoes must be completely cold and dry. Cook them the day before if you can.
3. Warm damp potatoes release steam into the caramel. Cold dry potatoes take the glaze properly. Drain them and dry them very thoroughly. Leave them on a cloth for an hour. Molten sugar reaches about one hundred and seventy degrees.
4. Keep children well away from the pan. Have a bowl of cold water ready in case. Keep it there for twenty minutes. Adding anything wet to hot caramel makes it spit violently. Butter contains water and it will bubble hard. Stand back as you add it. Add it in pieces rather than all at once.
5. Use a wide heavy frying pan. A pale-coloured pan helps you judge the colour. Spread the sugar evenly across the pan. Put it over a medium heat. Do not stir it while it melts.
6. Let the sugar melt at the edges first. That takes about five minutes. Take the pan off the heat first. Add the butter in pieces. Stand back and let it settle. The mixture becomes a smooth glossy sauce. Add a pinch of salt. Return it to a low heat and stir.
7. Add a spoonful of cream or hot water. Do not panic and do not throw it out. Put the pan back on a medium-low heat. Add the cold dry potatoes. Turn them gently and constantly.
8. Use a spoon or shake the pan. Do not stir hard or they will break. Keep turning for eight to ten minutes. The caramel thickens as the potatoes warm. Serve them hot, straight from the pan. They are best within minutes. Serve them alongside plain boiled potatoes. Serve them with roast pork, flæskesteg.
9. Serve rødkål, the pickled red cabbage, alongside. Serve brown gravy over everything. They keep two days refrigerated. Add a splash of water to loosen the caramel. They do not freeze usefully.

Technique

• The potatoes must be completely cold and dry. Cook them the day before and refrigerate uncovered overnight — warm damp potatoes release steam that makes the caramel seize and slide off. This single step decides whether the dish works.
• Molten sugar reaches around 170 degrees, far hotter than boiling water, and it sticks to skin and keeps burning. Never touch or taste it hot, keep children away, and if it touches skin run it under cold water for twenty minutes.
• Take the pan off the heat before adding the butter, and add it in pieces. Butter contains water and hot caramel spits violently — stand back.
• Do not stir the sugar while it melts. Stirring makes it crystallise into lumps; swirl the pan instead and let it melt inward from the edges.
• Aim for light amber. Caramel goes from golden to burnt in seconds, burnt caramel is bitter beyond rescue, and pale caramel tastes only of sugar. Use a pale-coloured pan so you can see the colour developing.
• If the caramel seizes or separates when the butter goes in, it is fixable. Return it to a low heat, stir, and add a spoonful of cream or hot water — it comes back together.
• Use small waxy potatoes, walnut sized or smaller. Larger ones have too little surface for the glaze and floury ones fall apart as you turn them.
• Peel them while warm, when the skins slip off. Cold skins cling stubbornly.
• Turn them gently and constantly for eight to ten minutes rather than stirring hard. Patience is what gets the glaze onto every potato; if they stay pale it usually means they were damp or the heat is wrong.
• Tinned small potatoes are widely used in Denmark for this and are not a compromise. Drain and dry them very thoroughly — pat each one and leave them on a cloth for an hour.
• These are genuinely divisive among Danes — essential to some, too sweet beside savoury meat to others. Both sweet and plain boiled potatoes go on the same Christmas plate, which is the point.

Substitutions

• Tinned small peeled potatoes replace fresh and are widely used, provided they are dried thoroughly.
• Brown sugar replaces caster sugar for a deeper, less clean caramel.
• A splash of cream loosens a seizing caramel; hot water does the same job.
• Golden syrup can replace some of the sugar for a more forgiving caramel.
• Small shallots or parsnips can be glazed the same way.
• The butter can be increased for a softer, more sauce-like glaze.

Variations

• Rødkål, red cabbage cooked long with vinegar and sugar, is the other essential side on the same plate.
• Flæskesteg, roast pork with crackling, is the classic Danish Christmas roast.
• Risalamande, almond rice pudding with cherry sauce, ends the meal and hides a whole almond.
• Glazed carrots and parsnips are made by the same caramel method.
• Brunede kartofler with a splash of the roasting juices stirred in is a richer variation.
• Norwegian and Swedish Christmas tables have their own sweet potato and root dishes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Brunede kartofler?

Brunede kartofler is a salad & side from Denmark: potatoes caramelised in butter and sugar for Christmas dinner.

How long does Brunede kartofler take to make?

Brunede kartofler takes 15 minutes plus cooling of preparation and 20 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6 as a side. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Brunede kartofler?

Yes, within limits. Tinned small peeled potatoes replace fresh and are widely used, provided they are dried thoroughly. Brown sugar replaces caster sugar for a deeper, less clean caramel. A splash of cream loosens a seizing caramel; hot water does the same job. Golden syrup can replace some of the sugar for a more forgiving caramel. Small shallots or parsnips can be glazed the same way. The butter can be increased for a softer, more sauce-like glaze.

What is the most important thing to get right in Brunede kartofler?

Boil them in salted water until just tender. Test them with a knife tip at fifteen minutes. Peel them while still warm. Cold potato skins cling stubbornly. Rub them off with your thumb or a cloth. The potatoes must be completely cold and dry. Cook them the day before if you can.