Maison Kelder The Hague

If you're like me, you believe with all of your soul that, when it comes to desserts, the more sugar and cream there is, the better.

Enter Maison Kelder. While it's a perfectly fine place for having a coffee alone or with a friend, Maison Kelder is famous in the Netherlands for its sweets--tarts, cakes, cookies and so on. And the biggest draw by far is the "Hazelnoot gebak" (hazelnut pastry). This only sounds harmless, folks. In reality, all of that stiff, Northern European rigidity that the Dutch are known for goes right out the window when faced with the opportunity to eat these bite-sized pastries. You want your hazelnut pastry filled with heavy cream? No problem. Icing? Done. How about whipped cream, or meringue? You got it. Or maybe you want to buy a jumbo-sized version for the whole family? Now we're talking!

While there have been no recorded deaths from sugar overdoses at Maison Kelder, numerous eyewitnesses report countless adults entering with frowns and exiting with the gleeful grins of candy-mouthed children. You've been warned... or should I say tempted?