Sparkly Sugar Plums for Christmas

What is a Sugar Plum?

You have probably heard 'Twas the Night Before Christmas several hundred times, but if you are like me, you may not have stopped to find out just what a sugar plum is after hearing the sugar plum verse:

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.

I always assumed that sugar plums referred to sugared and baked plums.  Even the sugar plum fairy from The Nutcracker didn't give me a clue as to what to expect from sugar plums.

When I began my search to answer "What is a sugar plum," I found two excellent sugar plum recipes, one from Nourished Kitchen and another from Running to the Kitchen (inspired by Alton Brown's recipe); both treat a sugar plum as a a no-bake dessert made with dried fruit (including prunes, dried plums), nuts, honey, and spices, and rolled in sugar.  These glittery sugar plums are my take on these two recipes.

Only after I created my sugar plum recipe did I discover the truth about sugar plums - traditional sugar plums have nothing at all to do with plums!  For the full story, I highly encourage you to read an article in The Atlantic entitled Sugar Plums: They Are Not What You Think They Are by Samira Kawash, author of Candy Professor.

I was saddened to discover that my sugar plums are not quite authentic. However, Kawash's article in The Atlantic states that "plum doesn't just mean fruit; it can mean all manner of good things."  By that definition, my recipe certainly fits the bill. 

What Do My Sugar Plums Taste Like?

I made my sugar plums with a few of my favorite things - toasted walnuts, dried fruit, honey, and lots of spices.  They could be called healthy - before you roll them in sugar.  The sugar plums taste more like energy bars than cookies, which is actually a good thing around Christmas time when we are bombarded with sweet after sweet.  

Sugar Plum Recipe

As noted above, my recipe is a meld of recipes from Nourished Kitchen and Running to the Kitchen (inspired by Alton Brown's recipe).  You'll notice that the recipe uses coriander.  It's an unusual spice in modern day desserts, but if you read The Atlantic article that I referenced above, you'll see that the original sugar plum was a coriander candy.

Although completely non-traditional, I rolled my sugar plums in plum-colored disco dust (edible glitter).  It helps them garner the special place that they deserve on the holiday table.

Yield:  About 50 teaspoon-sized sugar plums

Ingredients:

• 2 cups toasted walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 cup pitted prunes, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
• 1/2 cut pitted dates, finely chopped
• powdered sugar for rolling coating the balls
• plum purple disco dust (I got mine from Layer Cake Shop)

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients except the sugar and disco dust together in a large bowl.  Optionally, place the whole mixture in the food processor and process for a few seconds - this will help everything to stick together, especially if you aren't the best at finely chopping. (I'm raising my hand high on this one.)
2. Form the mixture into teaspoon-sized balls.
3. Roll the balls in powdered sugar and then roll in disco dust.  Note:  If you let the balls sit overnight, the powdered sugar will absorb into the balls and will be less visible.

Coming Soon

Sugar plum cupcakes are coming soon!