Kaneelkussentjes (Dutch Cinnamon Pillows)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •Sugar thermometer
• •Silicone mat or lightly oiled baking paper
• •Oiled kitchen scissors
• •Heatproof gloves, recommended

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the station

   Line a baking tray with a silicone mat or lightly oiled baking paper. Oil a pair of sturdy kitchen scissors and, if you have them, wear thin heatproof gloves with a little oil rubbed over the fingertips. Once sugar reaches the right stage it waits for no scholar, no child, and no misplaced scissors.

2. 2

   Boil the sugar

   Put the sugar, glucose syrup, water, and cream of tartar into a heavy saucepan. Stir only until the sugar is wet, then bring it to a steady boil over medium heat. Clip on a sugar thermometer and cook without stirring until the syrup reaches 150C, the hard-crack stage.

   If sugar crystals cling to the side of the pan, brush them down with a pastry brush dipped in water. Stray crystals can make the whole batch grainy, and candy should crack cleanly under the teeth, not crumble like old mortar.
3. 3

   Add the cinnamon

   Take the pan off the heat. Stir in the ground cinnamon, cinnamon oil or extract, salt, and colouring if using. It will bubble fiercely for a moment, so keep your face and hands clear. Stir just long enough to spread the cinnamon through the syrup; too much fuss now cools the candy before you can shape it.

4. 4

   Pour and fold

   Pour the syrup onto the prepared tray and let it sit for one to two minutes, until the edges are thick enough to lift with an oiled spatula. Fold the edges toward the centre again and again, gently, until the mass is glossy, still flexible, and just cool enough to handle with protected hands.

5. 5

   Pull into ropes

   Divide the warm candy into two or three pieces and roll each one into a rope about 1.5 centimetres thick. Work quickly but calmly. If a rope firms up too fast, set the tray in a very low oven for a minute or two to soften it again; history forgives reheating better than burnt fingers.

6. 6

   Snip the pillows

   Use the oiled scissors to snip the ropes into small cushions, about 1.5 centimetres long. Each cut pinches the ends slightly, giving the kussentjes their pillow shape. Drop them apart on the tray so they don't glue themselves into one long cinnamon argument.

7. 7

   Cool and dust

   Let the candies cool completely until hard. Dust very lightly with icing sugar and shake off the excess. The sugar keeps them from sticking in the jar, but do not bury them in it; you want cinnamon first, powder second.

Chef Tips

• •Use cinnamon oil if you can find it, and measure carefully. It gives the clean old sweet-shop bite; too much turns generous into medicinal, and nobody wants a cough drop wearing holiday clothes.
• •A thermometer is the honest shortcut. The cold-water test works, but hard sugar is unforgiving, and a few degrees decide whether you have neat pillows or sticky amber regret.
• •Keep children away from the shaping stage. Let them dust and jar the cooled sweets instead; hot sugar burns deeply and does not negotiate.
• •Store the candies airtight with a small piece of baking paper between layers if your kitchen is damp. Dutch weather is very good at turning boiled sweets tacky.

Advance Preparation

• •Make up to three weeks ahead and store in an airtight jar at cool room temperature.
• •Do not refrigerate; moisture is the enemy of hard sugar candy and will make the kussentjes sticky.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 5g)