Danish sugar-browned potatoes

These very sweet potatoes are a must for most Danes at Christmas. They are often served with Danish roast pork or with roast birds, like goose or duck. You sometimes see them in Norway although it’s not as common.

Credit: Erik Olsson

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 85 g sugar
• 1 kg small waxy potatoes, boiled, peeled and cooled
• 50 g butter
• salt, to taste

Instructions

Sprinkle the sugar in an even layer over the bottom of a cold frying pan. Place the pan over a medium heat and let the sugar melt and brown. Do not stir, or it will form lumps that don’t melt.

When the sugar is evenly caramelised, add the butter, increase the heat a little and add the potatoes. Turn them around very gently in the caramel to glaze them. Be careful not to break them up.

Once the caramel has thickened and coated the potatoes and they are warmed through, season and serve.

Recipe from The Nordic Cookbook by Magnus Nilsson, with photography by Erik Olsson (Phaidon, $59.99, hbk).

View our Readable feasts review and more recipes from the book here.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.