Sugarplums

"'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugarplums danced in their heads..."

Sugarplums! Doesn't just the name sound luscious? What confection could be so delicious that a child would dream about them?

Sugarplums is a catch-all term for a whole array of fruit confections. Back in 1823, when The Night Before Christmas was written, both sugar and fruit were expensive luxuries. At Christmas time, candied fruits were wrapped and placed on the Christmas tree as a special treat.

You can put almost anything in a sugarplum, as long as it is round, contains fruit, and is very sweet. I created the recipe below by combining elements of several different recipes. I've left it fairly general so you can create your own personal sugarplums.

These are easy to make and great for last-minute gifts. My writer's group not only loved the taste, but everyone was thrilled to finally find out what a sugarplum actually is.

Number of sugarplums varies with size. From this recipe I made 56 sugarplums, about 3/4" in diameter

1/2 cup toasted almonds, finely chopped (or other nuts)
2 cups dried fruits, finely chopped (I used figs, dates, and raisins)
3 cups fine cookie crumbs (I used my Shortbread / "Sugar" Cookies)
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
about 1/2 cup honey
about 3/4 cup powdered unrefined cane sugar (sold as "organic" powdered sugar)
small gold paper candy cups or gold foil candy wrappers (optional)

1. Combine chopped nuts, chopped dried fruits, and cookie crumbs in a large bowl and mix well with one hand (keep the other clean for adding ingredients).
2. Add cocoa powder, cinnamon, and flavoring extract and continue to mix.
3. Add the honey a little at a time. Use just enough to hold the nuts, fruits, and crumbs together. When it looks like it is starting to hold together, but still crumbly, squeeze a bit in your hand to see if it sticks. I found that if I squeezed the mixture several times it would hold together without using so much honey as to be sticky.
4. Form the mixture into balls of any size you want. I made them bite-size as they are very rich and sweet. I made an assembly line, using a small scoop to measure the mixture, then formed them all into balls.
5. Place the powdered unrefined cane sugar in a shallow dish and coat the balls with the powder.
6. Place each ball in it's own paper candy cup or wrap it in a gold foil wrapper. This is optional, but keeps the sugarplums from sticking together and suggests their history of being expensive, special, and highly valued.