Every December, the Konditoreien in Salzburg fill their display cases with rows of tiny, perfect confections. Rum truffles, marzipan potatoes, Vanillekipferl, and always, always Kokoskugeln. Coconut balls dipped in dark chocolate, lined up in little paper cases, catching the light.

Gretel always said that Austrian sweets tell you what season it is. In summer, you eat fruit. In winter, you make things that keep. Kokoskugeln are winter food. They sit in a tin and get better over a few days as the coconut softens and the rum comes forward. My grandmother Eva used to start making them the first week of Advent, and the tin lived on top of the wardrobe where she thought I couldn't reach it. I could reach it. She knew.

The recipe is almost absurdly simple. Toasted coconut, condensed milk, rum, vanilla sugar, rolled into balls and dipped in good dark chocolate. No baking, no complicated technique, nothing that should intimidate anyone. What matters is the details. Toast the coconut properly and you get a warm, nutty depth that raw coconut can't give you. Use real Vanillezucker instead of extract. Don't skip the rum: Austrians use Inländer-Rum for baking and confections, and it's the background note that makes the whole thing taste like Christmas in Vienna instead of a generic coconut candy.

These are the sweets I set out on the counter at my restaurant when the Christmas markets open. Regulars expect them. If the Kokoskugeln aren't there by the first of December, someone will ask.