A kaneelstok is a stick of sugar candy flavoured with cinnamon, similar in shape to the striped zuurstok. The best-known Dutch version is the Oosterhoutse kaneelstok, a long stick — around 23 centimetres — of brown, cinnamon-flavoured sugar candy coated in ground cinnamon. According to its current sellers it has been made in Oosterhout to an old recipe since 1894. A red-striped variety, slightly spicier, is also sold.
Ingredients and texture
The ingredient list is short: sugar, glucose syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon and cinnamon oil. Depending on the maker, kaneelstokken range from glassy hard candy to a softer, more crumbly stick with a powdery bite. Smaller kaneelstokjes and cinnamon "cushions" are sold in bags as part of old-Dutch assortments.
Kaneelstok, zuurstok, candy cane
The kaneelstok is a member of the same family as the zuurtje and the zuurstok: boiled sugar, flavoured and shaped into a stick. It differs from the American candy cane in flavour (warm cinnamon rather than peppermint), in shape (straight rather than hooked), and in having no particular link to Christmas. Its flavour is closer to baked cinnamon than to the fiery "red hot" cinnamon of American candies.