Sugar Plums

Most of us have heard the line from the famous poem “and visions of sugar plums danced in their heads.”  But what exactly is a sugar plum?  I have always thought it was some kind of Victorian treat that no one bothers to make anymore.  

Of course, some say that the words “sugar plum” have come to mean any small, round candy, and there are a lot of recipes available for this type of confection.  That may well be, but I have found a recipe for actual sugared plums that will take up whatever small amount of time you have left this holiday season.  As with many of these old treasures, the confections were not simple to make.  People in those days may have had more time (and maybe more servants) then.

Ingredients:

            Sugar (approximately 2 pounds)
            1 jar whole plums (preserved in syrup)

Recipe

In earlier times, these treats would have been left to dry out on the top of a hot wood-or coal burning stove for a few days. In modern kitchens, this is probably not an option, so the sugar plums will have to be baked in a very low oven for several hours to get the same result.

Pour the sugar into a large bowl.  Remove any excess syrup from the plums. Roll each piece in the sugar until completely coated. Place each sugar-coated fruit onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper and set aside for 30 minutes, then roll the plums in the sugar yet again. 

Transfer the plum-filled tray to the oven, set to its lowest setting. Heat gently for several hours, until the juice has seeped out of the plums. Coat the plums in sugar again, then place the coated plums onto a clean, lined baking tray and repeat the drying process again.     

Re-coat plums in sugar. Repeat the re-coating and drying process 3 or 4 times more, over a period of several days, until the plums have completely dried out and the sugar coating is crisp.  As the plums dry, the juices will seep out, so they will need to be re-coated in sugar and transferred to a clean, lined, baking sheet every 1-2 hours. 

Perhaps we can understand now why we have probably never even seen a sugar plum.  When finished, wrap the plums in colored paper and add to your Christmas candy dish.  Or you might thread the plums onto strings to hang on the tree. 

Maybe it would be easier on the teeth and the waistline to use these treats as decoration rather than to eat them.  Better yet, buy a box of chocolates instead.