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Home » Recipes » All the best vegan recipes from Sweeter than Oats

published: Dec 20, 2022 · modified: Dec 20, 2022 by Freya · This post may contain affiliate links ·

How to make festive Sugar plums

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Sugarplums pin

A Sugar Plum is old-fashioned candy (dating back to the 16th century!) that has evolved over time from a hard sugar candy, to an altogether more enjoyable fruit and nut confection. Read on to find out how to make some this Christmas!

PIN my Fruit and Nut Sugar Plums to make later

Sugar Plums on a cake dish
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Without doubt, sugar plums are a truly festive confectionary. Although not quite up there with the ubiquitous candy cane or After Eights, I think it's time for a resurgence of this elegant and delicious sweetmeat.

Inspired by my dairy-free caramels (another festive essential), sugar plums work equally well on a plant-based charcuterie or cheeses board.

Jump to:
  • Ingredients
  • Instructions
  • Substitutions
  • Equipment
  • Storage
  • Top tip
  • 📋 Recipe
Sugar plums in a dish

You mat not have heard of sugarplums outside of a Dickensian novel, but they were commonplace in the 19th Century. And you can imagine piles of this adorning huge tables, heaving with Victorian feasts.

These sugar plums are not made from plums in the traditional sense (although some recipes involve taking fresh plums and roasting them, coated in sugar). My sugar plums are made with delicious dried fruits like figs, dates, and, I think you could use prunes (so you have used real plums somewhere!).

Because of the ingredients, they will last quite a while, and although you may see a little syrup leaking at the bottom of the sugarplums (from the sugar dissolving), do not worry, this just makes them even more sticky and unctuous to eat!

These sugarplums don't have any sugar in them as dried fruit is particularly sweet anyway, and they are then rolled in sugar, which adds colour, texture and additional sweetness!

Ingredients

Ingredients for Sugar Plums
  • dried fruit, like figs, prunes, dates
  • nuts
  • spices
  • orange zest and juice
  • brandy or rum (optional)
  • granulated sugar for rolling

(This is ONLY a list of ingredients for the recipe; please see recipe card below for complete printable recipe. Or if you use the JUMP TO RECIPE at the top of the page, it will take you directly to the complete recipe.)

Instructions

Toasting some nuts

Mix the nuts with the spices and toast gently until just starting to smell fragrant, and have toasted.

Sugarplum paste

Place the nuts (cooled a little) and soaked dried fruit into a large food processor and blend until you have a thick paste.

Sugarplums rolled in sugar

Mold the paste into the size of small plums and roll in sugar.

A sugarplum sliced in half

Chill a couple of days to allow the flavours to develop, then serve.

Hint: vintage recipes suggest using a meat grinder to mix up the fruit and nuts together. Fortunately we have food processors these day, but don't even consider doing it without access to a large processor. This makes a thick, sticky paste that needs quite a powerful processor.

Substitutions

  • Dried Fruit - change up the combination of the dried fruit to suit your budget or what you have in the cupboard. I do recommend keeping either the figs or dates as they add a stickiness that raisins or sultanas alone cannot.
  • Nuts - use your favourite nuts or a combination in this mixture. If you cannot eat nuts, then try some toasted seeds instead.
  • Rum - you could use a flavoured liqueur instead, orange or cherry would be really delicious

Equipment

A high power food processor is essential for this. This Ninja one is perfect for the job.

Storage

Store the rolled sugar plums in the refrigerator for a couple of days, then you can keep them on display in a festive dish, or if you prefer, in an airtight container until you are ready to serve. They will keep for up to a month.

I wouldn't recommend freezing sugar plums.

Top tip

Try and find the softest dried fruit for this recipe, and make sure to soak it in the orange juice to make the processing much easier!

To make coloured sugar, I add the tip of a teaspoons worth of powdered food colouring to a quarter cup of sugar placed in a Ziplock bag. Shake well, and voila! Coloured sugar!

📋 Recipe

Sugar Plums on a cake dish
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5 from 2 votes

Festive Sugar Plums

YIELD 18 sugarplums
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 4 minutes
chilling time: 2 days
Total Time: 2 days 19 minutes
A delightful, fruity addition to the festive table

Equipment

  • 1 food mixer

Ingredients

  • 600 g dried fruit I used a mixture of figs, dates, raisins
  • 25 g Crystalized Ginger
  • 200 g Nuts I used a combination of almonds, pistachios and pine nuts
  • 1 Orange large, zest and juice
  • 1 tablespoon Brandy or rum, optional
  • ¼ teaspoon Cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powdered
  • ¼ teaspoon Ginger powdered
  • ¼ teaspoon Caraway Seeds
  • ⅛ teaspoon Cloves powdered

Instructions

  • Mix the dried fruit together in a bowl, along with the orange zest, orange juice and brandy (if using). Leave to absorb the liquid whilst you toast the nuts
  • Coat the nuts in the spices and toast for about 5 minutes.
  • Leave the nuts to cool for a couple of minutes.
  • Place all the ingredients (except the sugar) in a large food processor and blend until you have a thick paste that you can mold between your hands.
  • Roll the mixture into plum size balls and roll in the sugar.
  • Place in the fridge overnight to setup and roll in the sugar once more.
  • Place in an airtight container for a couple of days to let the flavors mature.
  • Ready to serve any time after this now.
RECIPE BY Freya

Nutrition

Calories: 155kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Sodium: 5mg | Potassium: 307mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 22IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 65mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried it and Loved it?Mention @sweeterthanoats or tag sweeterthanoats!

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Hi, I'm Freya! I'm a plant-based foodie, obsessed with true crime, collecting cookbooks and photographing everything I eat.

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