Visions of sugarplums

The definition of this holiday confection varies, depending on who you ask.

Tomorrow is Christmas. That means tonight no creatures, not even mice, will be stirring, stockings will be carefully hung by chimneys and children will be snugly nestled in their beds. Moreover, dancing in their heads will be visions of sugarplums.

I must have read the poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas," hundreds of times -- even had to memorize it for a school play when I was in the first grade. And yet, despite all those readings, I never thought much about what sugarplums are, let alone why they were dancing.

It turns out that the question, "What is a sugarplum?" is not that easy to answer. I've found at least eight distinctly different definitions of the term, some citing chocolate, some fondant and others coriander as a chief ingredient. Part of the reason for this imprecision, no doubt, is the fact that the word "plum," according to the Oxford Companion to Food, has "a long history of often ill-defined use."

As far back as the Middle Ages it referred to virtually any dried fruit, including raisins. When in the 16th century, as Francesca Greenoak observes, Little Jack Horner stuck his thumb into his Christmas pie, what he pulled out was most certainly not a plum, but a raisin. Such ambiguity is what accounts for the fact that the British holiday staple, plum pudding, typically does not contain any plums at all.

Further compounding the problem of definition, as food writer Lisa M. Sodders notes, is the fact that the meaning of many traditional Christmas foods has been lost over the centuries as tastes have changed and new ingredients have been developed. The sugarplum is no exception.

The sugarplums referred to in "A Visit from St. Nicholas" may have actually been a form of fruit, now nearly extinct, that was smaller than a regular plum, gold colored, and intensely sweet. Even then they were scarce and so were considered something rather special for a holiday stocking.

More commonly, at least since 1668 when the term was first used, sugarplums are considered a confection, or a comfit, to use an archaic English word. Probably originating in Portugal where they originally contained green plums but now are just as likely to feature black figs, they were fruits poached for days in syrup and rolled in sugar to preserve them through the winter.

Small plums were especially well suited to this preparation, but as Tim Richardson notes in his exhaustive history of candy, the term "sugarplum" was never restricted to plums alone but came to refer to practically any sweetmeat and, indeed, other fruits, seeds, and even green walnuts were candied in this fashion. Since these confections, regardless of the fruit used, were roughly the size and shape of plums, the name persisted.

These days the term "sugarplum" generally refers to a confection made of dried fruit and rolled into balls. As such they're easy to make, especially if you have a food processor -- much easier than the poached variety which, according to 17th century recipes, you had to "boile" for days on end.

Though you may be hard pressed to whip up a batch of sugarplums yet today or tomorrow, that's OK. The best time to eat them is actually Jan. 2, the Feast of St. Macarius, the patron saint of confectioners. A desert (or should that be dessert?) monk in Upper Egypt in the 4th century, before becoming an ascetic he was a successful sugarplum merchant. What better way to honor him on his feast day than by gulping down a few of his favorite delicacies?

Byzantine Sugarplums

You can use whatever dried fruits and nuts you like in this recipe, adapted from a little Christmas cookbook by Mimi Sheraton. The ones listed here and their proportions are what I like best, but after some experimentation you'll surely develop your own vision of the perfect sugarplum.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups dates

1 1/2 cups figs

1 1/2 cups raisins

1 cup dried apricots

1 cup crystallized ginger

1 cup walnuts

1 cup almonds

2 tablespoons brandy

Sugar

Directions:

Coarsely chop dried fruits and place in food processor along with brandy. Pulse until mixture just starts to stick together. Add nuts and pulse until chopped and incorporated. Shape mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Roll in sugar. Makes about 4 dozen. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

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