i’m your sugar plum fairy
Recipe: sugar plums
As a child, I only knew of sugar plums through The Nutcracker and Twas the Night Before Christmas. Several years ago when I had a subscription to Saveur, I jotted down a recipe for sugar plums, mostly because I had never tasted one before. These sugar plums are confections, not the fruits that you can read about on Wikipedia. They are quite easy to make and tend to be a huge hit with people who either don’t care for chocolate or just enjoy the autumny spices and dried fruits. It’s a heady aroma that wafts through your house when you make a batch: orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, toasted almonds, honey.
almonds, dried dates, dried apricots
I have used Medjool dates in the past, but while shopping for dates this weekend, I saw Deglet dates and had to get them. They are not as juicy, not as mushy, not as sugary as Medjool, but I love Deglets. It dates (ha ha!) back to my time spent in Death Valley. We used to go there a lot to climb, hike, camp, and to catch spring desert blooms in March. They sell Deglets at Furnace Creek in large bags and I tried them over ten years ago and have been hooked ever since.
The almonds get toasted and chopped. Since I bought Deglets, they weren’t pitted, so be sure to pit your dates unless you don’t mind killing your food processor. The dates and apricots were also chopped. In a small bowl, I combined the spices with grated orange peel and some honey.
cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, orange peel, honey
Mix everything together in a large bowl. It’s sort of ludicrous to mix by spoon because it’s such a sticky mess. I use a clean hand to make sure the spice mix is well distributed.
you need to mix it with your hand
To roll the sugar plums, pinch off about a teaspoon of the mixture and roll it into a ball. Your hands will become coated with gooey goodness after a while and soon all of the ingredients will stick to you rather than each other. Scrape as much off as possible and wash your hands periodically.
a delicious bite-size morsel
Dust the sugar plums with confectioners sugar before serving. They have a decent lifetime, and are perfect for the holidays. I’m sending some to my pal, Sam, for Thanksgiving.
great to serve or to ship
Sugar Plums
from Saveur Magazine
2 cups whole almonds
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp grated orange zest
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup dried apricots, finely chopped
1 cup pitted dates, finely chopped
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 400F. Arrange almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer and toast in oven for ten minutes. Set aside to cool and then finely chop. Meanwhile, combine honey, orange zest, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Mix almonds, apricots, dates and spice mix in a large bowl. Mix well. Pinch off rounded teaspoon-sized pieces and roll into balls. Dust the sugar plums with powdered sugar and refrigerate in single layers between sheets of wax paper in airtight containers for up to one month.
November 19th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Hello these , stumbled onto your blog and i simply love these sugar plums. I ‘ve tried something similar to this but with saffron and never with cinnamon , honey and orange zest. I can almost smell these and am too tempted to try them. And the packing too looks amazing.
November 19th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Jen, is Kaweah taking the photos of you pouring the honey and rolling the sugar plums ? :)
I love all these ingredients, they take me to a caravan in Morocco. Now it’s this recipe or your candied orange peels for my holiday gift-giving…what to do, what to do…
November 19th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
I made something similar to these last weekend. I used chopped dates, macadamia nuts, and honey mixed together. I then formed them into balls and rolled them in coconut flakes. But I have to say that I love the idea of adding the orange zest and spices. These are definitely on my to do list this weekend!!
November 19th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Ya know, I have never had a sugar plum…never had any idea what they were either. I think I am going to make these…thanks for the inspiration.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I have never had a sugar plum. They look great! Nice photos. Bookmarked
November 19th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
I’ve never even *seen* one, much less eaten one, but now that I have I’m intrigued. They’re so cute, and I love to make candy.
November 19th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Kate - thanks! I think you’ll find these pleasantly delicious and healthy (!!). A keeper of a recipe.
HolyBasil - ha ha, I don’t think Kaweah can be trusted around my camera ;) That’s why my tripod is important - takes the action shots while keeping the lens above dog-nose level. As for holiday gift-giving, let me just say that these are ten times easier to make than the orange peels (I just made a batch of the orange peels today and that involved a lot of swearing). But people love chocolate-dipped candied orange peels too :)
Amy - oh, that sounds like a neat recipe! I think you’ll find this one pretty easy on the tastebuds.
Peabody - these struck me as Peabody-type ingredients ;) I almost brought these to your housewarming party!
Kevin - thanks man, I bet you’ll enjoy eating them as well as making them.
Abby - funny how most of us had never seen a sugar plum before. I finally saw a pic on wikipedia, but I think the name is fitting for these morsels too.
December 8th, 2007 at 7:18 am
[...] Mainly so I don’t lose it, here’s a recipe for sugar plums. [...]
December 10th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
A very nice visual step-by-step presentation!
I do my sugarplums with figs, cinnamon, almonds and a pinch of cocoa powder, but I’d love to try the apricot-honey date preparation.
Your version reminds me of some of the really delicious and nutty Turkish Delight candies my boyfriend brought back from Istanbul. I wonder if Sugarplums were originally inspired by Turkish Delight?
December 11th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
MG - I think there are several versions floating about out there and they all sound lovely! You know, I sampled a Turkish jelly (it’s Turkish Delight, but the chocolatier’s own recipe) that was just heavenly… it was only jelly, no nuts, but pure bliss. Oh, it was from Wen Chocolates in Denver. Best stuff EVER! :)
December 16th, 2007 at 10:58 am
When I was a kid my neighbors made sugar plums.
Reading the recipes now, it seems they may have just called them sugar plums for the shape of them.
Has anyone heard of any recipes that would be for a frosting like ball called a sugarplum?
I remember they were on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator and they were like a cold butter frosting cookie.
December 20th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Laura - I think you’re right about naming them for the shape. A few other recipes I’ve seen vary the ingredients but the shape is always the same. I haven’t heard of the frosting cookie version though.
December 22nd, 2007 at 4:34 pm
There actually is a real sugar plum. They are about the size of a very large grape, and they don’t have the bitter skin like other plums do, hence the name sugar plum. They are very rare and expensive. That is why the victorians made a confection and named it a sugar plum. I’ve only seen the chocolate versions of this, so I’m very eager to try yours. It does seem very Turkish. Since vitorians were enamored of exotic foods this seems about right. Thank you for letting me put my two cents in. I love history and knowing where things come from. I’ll bet you couldn’t tell ;)
December 24th, 2007 at 12:07 am
[...] Read the recipe and see more pictures here. [...]
December 27th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Breandan - You are correct! I have actually seen them in markets before and have heard they are delicious, but I’ve never had the pleasure of trying one myself. I too have heard that there are some Turkish sweets that are similar to this recipe. I think Turkish confections are amazing and delicious, so I’m not surprised. Thanks for the tidbits of info!!
October 9th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
Thanks for the step by step instructions and great photos! These look exactly like the ones my daughter made this summer when she was volunteering as a costumed character at a historic re-enactment village near us. Half of the prairie school girls made sugar plums while the other half worked on making homemade ice cream. Both were delicious, but I think the sugar plums were truly magical, like taking a bite of Christmas! We’re going to make some from your recipe and pass them out to friends over the holidays. Thanks again!
October 12th, 2008 at 11:32 pm
Sevina - oh, that’s great. I am happy you like them. It’s a great treat that is pretty healthy too. I hope all of your friends appreciate how nice you are to them :)
December 15th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
[...] For those interested in drying their own plums, check it out here. I also found an interesting discussion about a dried fruit and nut version, inspired by Turkish candies. Given that The Nutcracker has an [...]
December 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
First I want to gush, I mean say, what a great (new) fan I am of your site Jenny, thank you! You are bright, talented and down right awesometastic! These sugarplums are going into my holiday gifts post haste - keep your spirits up around the orange peels and think of all the moments of sinful pleasure your recipients will have at first bite - you are my new daily vacation, thank you.
December 18th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Alexsandra - you’re so sweet. Thanks. I hope you like this recipe, they are some of my favorites.