Few Icelandic Christmas plates are complete without a bowl of small, shiny, amber potatoes. They are called brúnaðar kartöflur, which simply means browned potatoes, and they taste exactly as they look: soft inside, sticky and buttery-sweet outside.
In English you will see them called caramelized potatoes, sugar browned potatoes or sugar glazed potatoes. Whatever the name, the method is the same. Boiled, peeled potatoes are rolled in a pan of melted sugar and butter until every one wears a thin golden coat.
It sounds like an odd idea if you grew up with roast or mashed potatoes. Then you eat one next to a slice of salty smoked meat and it suddenly makes sense.
Where caramelized potatoes come from
The dish arrived in Iceland from Denmark, where brunede kartofler are still a fixture of the Christmas Eve dinner. Iceland was under Danish rule for centuries, and plenty of festive habits travelled north along with the officials and merchants.
Danish caramelised potatoes and the Icelandic version are close to identical. Both use small, firm potatoes, plain white sugar and butter, and both are made on the stovetop in a wide pan rather than in the oven.
What changes is the company they keep. In Denmark they sit next to roast pork or duck with red cabbage. In Iceland they turn up beside the big Christmas meats, from smoked pork to lamb.
What they are served with in Iceland
On Christmas Eve many Icelandic families eat hamborgarhryggur, a cured and lightly smoked pork loin that is boiled, glazed and finished in the oven. Sugar browned potatoes are almost a given with it, along with red cabbage, green peas and often a sweet Waldorf-style salad.
They also appear with roast leg of lamb, which is the classic Sunday dinner in Iceland. If you are planning one, our guide to roasting an Icelandic leg of lamb pairs naturally with this recipe.
Some households serve them with hangikjöt, the smoked lamb eaten over the holidays, although the creamy white sauce called uppstúfur and plain boiled potatoes are the more traditional partners there.
For the bigger picture of what lands on the table between Þorláksmessa and New Year, see our overview of Icelandic Christmas food and traditions.
Ingredients
This amount serves four to six people as a side dish. It scales up easily, but work in batches if your pan gets crowded.
- 1 kg (about 2 lb) small waxy potatoes, roughly the size of a golf ball
- 100 g (1/2 cup) granulated white sugar
- 40 to 50 g (about 3 tablespoons) butter
- A pinch of flaky salt
- 1 to 2 tablespoons water or cream, only if the caramel needs loosening
Icelandic recipes vary more than you might expect. Some use as little as 50 g of sugar per kilo of potatoes for a light glaze, while others go up to 125 g for a thicker, stickier coat. Start in the middle and adjust next time.
Choosing and preparing the potatoes
Small, even potatoes are the secret to a good batch. Each one should be bite-sized so the ratio of caramel to potato stays high, and so they all heat through at the same pace.
If you only have larger potatoes, cut them into even chunks after boiling. Waxy varieties hold their shape far better than floury ones, which tend to crumble when you roll them in the pan.
Boil the potatoes in their skins in lightly salted water, starting from cold. They are done when the tip of a knife slides into the centre with no resistance, usually 12 to 15 minutes for small ones.
Drain them well and let them cool enough to handle, then peel. Peeling after boiling is easier, and the soft cooked surface takes up the caramel better than a raw-peeled one.
Many Icelandic cooks boil and peel the potatoes the day before and keep them in the fridge. Cold, firm potatoes are less likely to break, which is one less thing to think about on a busy holiday afternoon.
How to make brúnaðar kartöflur
Pat the peeled potatoes dry. A damp surface is fine, but they should not be dripping wet.
Scatter the sugar in an even layer over the base of a cold, wide frying pan or sauté pan. Set it over medium heat.
Leave the sugar alone as it melts. Do not stir it, or it may crystallise into clumps. Tilt the pan gently if one side is browning faster than the other.
Once the sugar has turned a clear, glossy golden brown, like dark honey, add the butter. It will foam up, so stand back a little. Stir gently until the butter and caramel come together into a smooth sauce.
Lower the heat and add the potatoes. Let them sit for a minute to warm up, then start turning them carefully with a wooden spoon or by shaking the pan.
Keep rolling them for about five minutes, until each potato is evenly coated and hot all the way through. Sprinkle with a little flaky salt and serve straight away.
Tips for a glossy coat that sticks
Watch the colour of the caramel closely. A golden to reddish brown gives the best flavour, but if it turns very dark or smells sharp and smoky it will taste bitter. In that case, it is worth starting again.
If the caramel hardens into a crunchy shell on the potatoes, the pan was too hot. Add a splash of water or cream and keep turning over low heat until it softens back into a sauce.
Sugar lumps sometimes form when the cold potatoes go in. Be patient and keep the heat low. They will melt back into the glaze as everything warms up.
Be careful with canned or vacuum-packed precooked potatoes. They hold a lot of water, which can make hot caramel spit violently. Drain and dry them thoroughly, or better still, boil your own.
Melted sugar is far hotter than boiling water, so keep children well away from the stove and never taste the caramel from the spoon.
Making them ahead
Brúnaðar kartöflur are best made just before serving, but you can do almost all the work in advance. Boil and peel the potatoes up to a day ahead, and the final caramelizing takes only about ten minutes.
If they have to wait, keep them warm in the pan over the lowest heat and give them a turn now and then. Reheated in a pan, leftovers are surprisingly good the next day, especially with cold cuts of smoked meat.
Other names and close cousins
Ask for caramelized potatoes in Denmark and you will be served brunede kartofler, made the same way and eaten with Christmas roast pork. In Icelandic you may also hear sykurbrúnaðar kartöflur, which spells out the sugar.
Do not confuse them with candied sweet potatoes. Those are baked in a sweet syrup, often with spices or marshmallows, and they are a very different dish. The Nordic version keeps the potato itself plain and lets the butter and caramel do all the work.
Once you have made them a couple of times, sugar browned potatoes become one of those dishes you no longer measure. A handful of sugar, a knob of butter, a pan of small potatoes, and the smell alone tells everyone that a festive dinner is on its way.
About Sigrún Ólafsdóttir
Sigrún grew up baking rúgbrauð with her grandmother in Akureyri and has spent the last decade collecting recipes from kitchens all over Iceland. She writes Icelandic MAT's recipes, one dish at a time.