Christmas in the town of Hafnarfjörður
„This has been a dream of mine since I was a kid,“ says chef Knútur Hreiðarsson, who, together with the owners of Sydhavn, has breathed new life into Hellisgerði, Hafnarfjörður's botanical garden. Hot chocolate, sandwiches and apple fritters will be among the refreshments on offer. Ham hocks and flatbread will also be on offer in the garden's newly refurbished premises. Knútur told the story in the Christmas issue of the Hafnarfjörður municipal newspaper.
„We honour Icelandic-Scandinavian Christmas traditions. Here you can get some nibbles after a stroll around the Christmas Village,“ says Knútur, who grew up a stone's throw from this beautiful park. He founded Le Kock and Deig and is the head chef at Sydhavn in Hafnarfjörður, who now also plans to run Hellisgerði in the style of Flóra in Laugardal.
„My sisters and I have discussed this many times,“ he says of Katla and María Kristín, who run Sisters and Partners. The dreams are big: concerts, silent cinema, Halloween. „We want to make the most of the garden.“
Helgi Tómas Sigurðarson, Knútur and his son Vilberg. Knútur is back on home turf, cooking at Sydhavn and has breathed new life into Hellisgerði. „We want to make the most of the garden.“
Knútur now lives with his family behind Sydhavn, the restaurant where he is the head chef. „I take three bald eagles and I'm at work. It's every restaurateur's dream to have the restaurant in their back garden.“ He says the three children pop in during his shift. The Greek waiter Nico then comes over to their house on Christmas Eve for the Christmas roast. „Yes, that's how it's been for the last few years, and he's one of our and my children's best friends.“
Christmas is just around the corner, but he's looking forward to the summer. Hellisgerði will be a place to enjoy it. „Picnic baskets with cheese, perhaps even a bottle of wine. Yes, we will enjoy this family paradise here in Hafnarfjörður.“
Hafnarfjörður's Christmas Magazine 2025 – online edition:
Erla's Grandma's Mocha Roll Cake
Sponge bottom
4 eggs
100 g sugar
32 g flour
7 g baking powder
Whisk the eggs and sugar together. Add the dry ingredients and whisk for 2-4 minutes. Pour onto a baking tray and spread out. Bake at 190°C for 10 minutes. Cool and lift off the tray.
Filling
100 g butter
85 g icing sugar
100 g dark chocolate
2 tbsp instant coffee, NESCAFFE
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy and it forms stiff peaks. Spread the filling over the cold sponge base in a 0.6 cm thick layer covering the entire base. Chop the dark chocolate into rough pieces, but not too large. Sprinkle the chocolate evenly over the cream.
Then sprinkle the instant coffee over the cream and roll up the base. Wrap it in greaseproof paper and chill. Once the cake has been chilled, roll it in caster sugar and then cut it into 2-2.5 cm slices. It is then served cold.
Dad wants to keep it frozen, but we'll settle for two degrees.
The story of the cake
„There's been a scramble for Erla's grandmother's mocha cake at my dinner parties. So many people's favourite dessert. The perfect Christmas treat,“ says Knútur Hreiðarsson, a chef at Sydhavn.
„Grandma Erla lives next to the Co-op block of flats here in Hafnarfjörður, but she's originally from Siglufjörður. She's the Italian grandma in my life. Everything is made from scratch, which inspired me to go into cooking. I got to cook everything from scratch and make blood sausage with her,“ he says.
„There are many recipe books that she has handwritten, and I keep one of them in a reinforced cupboard. My grandfather bound many of them, Ragnar Sveinsson – always called Sófus. You hardly dare touch the recipes, and that's certainly the case for many others, as the book is in such fantastic condition. There's a scramble within the family to get secret recipes from the book.“
