- ‘Allo- I’m Sugar Plum, a ballerina fairy from the Candy Cane Ballet Troupe. Here is my recipe for old fashioned sugar plums! Truly old fashioned sugar plums were just that- plums sliced and simmered in sugar until the sugar syrup was very thick. They were then wrapped in foil and hung from Christmas trees. It can be hard to find fresh plums this time of year in the North Pole, so this classic recipe uses dates, figs or even raisins! Hope you enjoy!
On the same branch of the treat tree but a bit further into the cookie section is lebkutchen, a spicy cookie from Germany packed with nuts and candied citrus. You can substitute in any candied fruit of your choice to make these dream cookies! They are traditionally dipped in chocolate or a glaze, but an eggnog glaze would be fantastic, just add 2 tbs eggnog instead of water and lemon juice to the confectioners sugar to flavor.
Life, dancing and baking all are made better with a bit of improvisation, have fun with your creativity and have a leaping good Christmas! love, Sugar Plum.
Byzantine Sugar Plums
from Mimi Sheraton's book, Visions of Sugar Plums
Ingredients
- 3 lbs dates, figs, raisins or candied plums
- 1/2 lb almonds
- 1/2 lb pistachios
- 1/2 lb crystallized ginger
- zest from 2 oranges
- 3 tbs brandy or lemon juice
- confectioners sugar for coating
Instructions
- grind all ingredients except brandy and juice in food processor
- add a tbs of orange juice or brandy at a time until a thick paste is created
- shape into balls and roll in confectioners sugar
- wrap in foil
- have visions of them while you sleep
Notes
t
candied fruit
Ingredients
- 9 oz sliced fruit (plums, orange peel, lemon peel, sliced figs, etc) (slice into 1/4'' strips for peels, slice into 1/4'' at large edge wedges for figs and plum)
- 2 c sugar
- 1 c water
- sanding sugar for coating (optional)
Instructions
- bring water and sugar to a simmer, plop in fruit, cook over low for about 45 minutes, stirring every few minutes and making sure the syrup is thickening but not leaving your fruit dry and to burn
- pull out your fruit and set on rack, keep any excess syrup for cocktails!
- coat in sanding sugar if using
- let fruit dry on rack overnight
lebkutchen
Ingredients
- 5 eggs
- 2 1/4 c packed brown sugar (or 1 3/4 c sugar and 1/4 c honey)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 c candied fruit (orange, lemon, plum) tossed with 1/4 c flour and minced in food processor, or very finely chopped
- 4 c almond flour (or 2 c almond, 2 cup other nut flour)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3 tsp spice mix (recipe in notes)
- communion wafers or backoblaten (don't steal these from a church, that would be really bad, just order on amazon or from a german grocery store)
- glaze (1 c sugar to 1 tbs lemon juice and add in 1 tbs water as needed to thin) or chocolate (melt 3 oz chocolate with 1 tbs vegetable oil in microwave)
Instructions
- heat oven to 325, set out your wafers on a parchment lined baking sheet, spaced about 1''
- in a standing mixer bowl, beat eggs until foamy, add sugar (and honey if using), vanilla
- beat in the rest of the ingredients except the wafers
- place about 3 tbs of batter over each wafer, smoothing to the edge of the wafer
- bake for at least 30 minutes, they should get a darker color and not look wet when done, it might take 40 mintues
- let cool on cookie rack, then dip in glaze of choice
Notes
spice mix:
2 1/2 tbs cinnamon
2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp star anise
1/4 tsp mace
1/4 nutmeg
combine- can be used in any spicy baking application, or even in a tagine with chicken and rice.