Brunede Kartofler – Caramelized Potatoes

November 19, 2012 by mydanishkitchen

Brunede Kartofler is a classic Danish side dish which was always served with Christmas dinner when I was a child. Of course it was also served occasionally at other times but I think probably most Danes associate the dish with Christmas in particular. The sweetness of the caramelized potatoes is wonderful with the other classic side dish Rødkål (sweet and sour red cabbage) which is slightly tangy and the two dishes are often found on the same table.

When making Brunede Kartofler make sure to watch the sugar so it doesn’t burn and when you add the butter it will bubble up briefly, so please be very careful.

Caramelized Potatoes

Brunede Kartofler

Ingredients:

potatoes (approx 20 small white)

1 cup sugar

5 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Boil potatoes in salted water until fork tender. Drain potatoes and place in refrigerator to cool. Once potatoes are cold, remove peel. In a pan over medium-low heat melt sugar. Watch sugar carefully so it does not burn. When sugar has melted add butter, please note that it will bubble up, stir to combine. Add potatoes and cook low and slow, gently stirring occasionally until potatoes are warmed through. Enjoy!

Source: My mother Åse Frandsen

17 Responses

on December 8, 2016 at 12:45 Unique holidays meals worth trying - Delysia Chocolatier

[…] as you can remember. But if you live in Denmark you’re familiar with another potato side dish. Brunede Kartofler, or Danish sugar browned potatoes, is a traditional part of Christmas Eve dinners in Denmark. […]
on February 8, 2016 at 14:44 Christmas wrap up and beyond » and baby makes 6!

[…] Christmas Eve they decided to change things around for the first time in over a decade. Instead of celebrating the Italian Feast of the 7 Fishes, they made a Danish feast to honor their Grandfather, John Rasmussen and their Viking roots. Crisp roast duck, red cabbage and Brunede Kartofler. […]
on August 11, 2015 at 03:20 Sally Kjaer

Hi, thank you for your recipes 🙂 would you tell me why did my sugar turn hard like a fudge/toffy?
- on August 11, 2015 at 16:53 mydanishkitchen
  
  Hi Sally, sounds like perhaps the temperature got too low. Turn the stove up a little more and the caramel should melt again.
- on August 11, 2015 at 18:15 Sally Kjaer
  
  Thank you, I will do that next time, they were still delishes 🙂
on December 24, 2012 at 21:13 lethia01

Thank you for posting this! My Aunt made a traditional Danish Christmas Eve meal every year when I was growing up. She died of cancer when I was in High School and I was never able to get the recipes from her. I’ve been trying to keep the tradition with my family through the Rice Pudding with Almonds. Hopefully next year I’ll be able to recreate our traditional Christmas Eve meal.
- on December 25, 2012 at 06:55 mydanishkitchen
  
  Keeping traditions alive is so important. I hope you have fun with and enjoy the process of making all these wonderful Christmas dishes. Merry Christmas!!
on December 3, 2012 at 15:14 Holly

I’m curious as to your take on brunkulør in this recipe. My husband is Danish, and whenever we are served these in Denmark, the sauce (I guess it’s sauce, or maybe I should call it the carmelization?) is always brown–and I’m told this is from the brunkulør, but that not everyone uses it. Do you ever bring some from Denmark to put in Danish food here? Or if you wanted to do that, would you just use American food coloring? I find the whole concept of it fascinating! And, by the way, I love your site. I surprised my husband with some authentic-tasting remoulade from your recipe not long ago!
- on December 3, 2012 at 19:00 mydanishkitchen
  
  I have never heard of using Kulør when making Brunede Kartofler. The brown color comes from the caramelization process, cooking the potatoes over low heat for quite some time. It also helps to cook the potatoes the day before (so the potatoes are cold and dry, maybe even slightly tacky when starting the cooking process) so the sugar will adhere to the surface more easily.
  As for Kulør (a dark coloring liquid) most Danes use it for giving gravy a deeper brown color. I use it as well but only for gravy and yes I do get my Kulør from home (Denmark). I don’t make gravy all that often so a bottle will last me forever. Btw Kulør can also be purchased from online Scandinavian stores. So happy to hear you are enjoying the blog. 🙂
on November 27, 2012 at 17:13 Anita

I use a shortcut….and use canned small white potatoes! If I don’t use the canned potatoes I cannot get them to caramelize properly for some reason!
- on November 28, 2012 at 06:18 mydanishkitchen
  
  If you boil the potatoes ahead of time (I do mine one day ahead) and allow them to cool completely before making Brunede Kartofler, you should not have any problems with the caramelization. But like you said, canned potatoes is definitely a shortcut.
on November 26, 2012 at 03:24 sheryloben

I love these! Already looking forward to Danish Christmas dinner! 🙂
on November 23, 2012 at 13:00 Sophie33

Gitte, what a lovely & fancy potatoes recipe! Thy look so tasty & delcious too!
- on November 25, 2012 at 00:34 mydanishkitchen
  
  Thank you Sophie 🙂
on November 22, 2012 at 01:15 Fahrenbite

Brunede kartofler! Christmas is nigh. I would say it’s the Danish version of the yams served for Thanksgiving in the States — in that the taste is almost the same — and the Danes love their potatoes as much as the Americans love their yams!
on November 20, 2012 at 17:44 My Daily Denmark

Umnn…very delicious, – the sight makes me look forward to the Christmas dinner!
on November 20, 2012 at 13:09 the second serving

My host family made these for me when I studied in Denmark, and I thought they were delicious!