A sugar plum originated as a piece of dragée or hard candy made of hardened sugar in a small round or oval shape. "Plum" in the name of this confection does not always mean

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found ...

in the sense of the fruit of the same name, but commonly refers to small size and spherical or oval shape. Traditional sugar plums often contained no fruit, but were instead hardened sugar balls. These hardened sugar balls were

comfit Comfits are confectionery consisting of dried fruits, nuts, seeds or spices coated with sugar candy, often through sugar panning. Almond comfits (also known as "sugared almonds" or " Jordan almonds") in a muslin bag or other decorative conta ...

s, and often surrounded a seed, nut, or spice.

History

A cookbook from 1609, ''Delights for Ladies'', describes boiling fruits with sugar as “the most kindly way to preserve plums.” The term sugar plum was applied to a wide variety of candied fruits, nuts, and roots by the 16th century. The term sugar plum came into general usage in the 17th century. During that time, adding layers of sweet which give sugar plums and

s their hard shell was done through a slow and labor-intensive process called panning. Before mechanization of the process, it often took several days, and thus the sugar plum was largely a luxury product. In fact, in the 18th century the word plum became British slang for a large pile of money or a bribe. However, by the 1860s manufacturers were using steam heat and mechanized rotating pans, and it was then available for mass consumption. Today, some candy manufacturers have taken "sugar plum" literally, creating plum-flavored, plum-shaped candies and marketing them as "sugar plum candy". Another 21st-century take on the "sugar plum" instructs home cooks to combine dried fruits and almonds with

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

and aromatic seeds (

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to Eurasia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, such as star anise, fennel, licorice, and t ...

fennel Fennel (''Foeniculum vulgare'') is a flowering plant species in the carrot family. It is a hardy, perennial herb with yellow flowers and feathery leaves. It is indigenous to the shores of the Mediterranean but has become widely naturalized ...

caraway Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin (''Carum carvi''), is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Etymology The etymology of "caraway" is unclear. Caraway has bee ...

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

), form this mixture into balls, then coat in sugar or shredded coconut.

In popular culture

Sugar plums are widely associated with

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, through cultural phenomena such as the Sugar Plum Fairy in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' ( rus, Щелкунчик, Shchelkunchik, links=no ) is an 1892 two-act ballet (""; russian: балет-феерия, link=no, ), originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaiko ...

'' (composed by

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most pop ...

, 1892), as well as the line "While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads," from Clement C. Moore's poem '' A Visit from St. Nicholas'' (1823), better known as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas". Sugar plums have also gained widespread recognition through the poem ''"The Sugar Plum Tree"'' by

Eugene Field Eugene Field Sr. (September 2, 1850 – November 4, 1895) was an American writer, best known for his children's poetry and humorous essays. He was known as the "poet of childhood". Early life and education Field was born in St. Louis, Missour ...

. The poem begins "Have you ever heard of the Sugar-Plum Tree? 'Tis a marvel of great renown!"The Sugar Plum Tree, by

(fro
FirstScience
). Sugar Plum Fairies were a Norwegian folk and pop band formed in 2000.

References

{{reflist Christmas food Confectionery