Kaneelkussentjes (Dutch Cinnamon Pillows)

The name already tells you almost everything: kaneel is cinnamon, kussentjes are little pillows. Not grand pillows, mind you. Small ones. The Dutch language is fond of making things modest just when they are most charming, and these sweets are exactly that: little amber cushions of boiled sugar, sharp with cinnamon, the kind that lived in glass jars behind the counter of an old snoepwinkel, a sweet shop, where children spent coins slowly and with the seriousness of bankers.

But let me tell you a secret. These are not only children's sweets. Cinnamon in the Dutch kitchen is never innocent. It smells of speculaas, apple pie, rice pudding, Sinterklaas, and the ships that made such spices ordinary in a country that still pretended to be frugal. Exuberant cookery in a frugal country. A kaneelkussentje is the VOC spice trade reduced to one hard little sweet you can keep in your coat pocket.

The method is simple, but hot sugar asks for respect. You cook sugar, glucose, and water until the syrup reaches hard crack, then work quickly while it is still pliable enough to pull into ropes and snip into cushions. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: measure the temperature, oil the scissors, do not touch the syrup with bare fingers, and let the little pillows cool before you pretend patience was easy.