Compiled by Staff and Suzanne Corbett, Food / Travel Editor

We’ve all heard the famous poem by Clement Moore  “Twas the Night Before Christmas” with the lines:

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

Moore wrote the poem in 1823 and the world of candy has changed over the years so most children today probably don’t even know what a sugar plum is so they would not have that vision.

“Visions of sugar plums”– what is your vision of a sugar plum? Did you just assume it was a type of plum, that grows on trees? It’s not.

According to National Geographic, “They most likely started life as medicine, devised by Arab apothecaries as treatments for indigestion, and were brought to Europe.”

Time Magazine says, “back in the day, the word sugarplum was also often used interchangeably with the term comfit, defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “a sweet consisting of a nut, seed, or other center coated in sugar.”

STLSportsPage.com’s Food / Travel Editor was at the Ulysses S. Grant Historical Site, White Haven this week doing a food demonstration of holiday foods that were likely served in the days of Grant and his wife, Julia Dent Grant and sugar-plums were on the menu.

She dressed in period clothing and as visitors came in, they got to sample all of her desserts as well as hear her talk about manners and etiquette of the day.

The event was to be held outside  on the grounds of the historic Whitehaven, and she was to be in one of the buildings. It was scheduled as on old-fashioned outdoor event with carolers and guitar player, but the frigid temperatures moved it inside.  It was stioll a great event sponsored by the National Parks Department.

The following are some of the old recipes. Sugar Plums, which are shown at the top of the page, are relatively easy to make.

Sugar Plums

Combine the following ingredients together: 1½ cups finely chopped dried fruit ( dates, raisins, figs);  ½ cup finely chopped toasted almonds;  2 teaspoons honey; 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, nutmeg and clove (which can be replaced with 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice). Mix together, shape into balls and roll in sugar.  Place on a tray and allow to dry or chill for 30 minutes. Store in refrigerator.

Cranberry Steamed Plum Pudding

1 1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsps cinnamon

1/4 tsps nutmeg

1/4 tsps cloves

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup molasses

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups chopped cranberries

Combine the flour, baking soda and spices. Combine hot water, molasses and brown sugar; stir into flour mixture. Fold in cranberries, then pour into a greased one quart mold. Cover top with a piece of buttered foil. Place on a rack in the bottom of a large kettle which has been filled with two inches of water, Bring to a boil, place the filled mold on the rack, cover kettle and steam pudding for 55 – 75 minutes. Pudding is done when the dough has set and test clean when pierced with a knife. Remove from kettle, cool ten minutes and unmold. Serve warm or at room temp.  Makes one pudding.

Another traditional recipe, Cider Cake, was a favorite cake in the 1800s when hard cider was abundant and cheap. Because of the alcohol content in hard cider this desert  fell from the menu during prohibition. Now it is being rediscovered, Cider Cake is perfect to bake for the holiday season.

Apple Hard Cider Cake 

1 cup butter
2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 cup hard cider
3 tablespoon rosewater or vanilla
3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cloves
1 ½ cup raisins (optional)
½ cup candied citron (optional)

 Butter and lightly flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Preheat the oven to 350° Chop the citron fine. Toss the citron and raisins with a little of the flour and set aside. Whisk the baking soda and spices into the rest of the flour and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat until very light and fluffy. Beat in the rosewater. Add the cider and the flour alternately, in several additions, beginning and ending with the flour, then add the raisins and citron.Bake approximately 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

There were some singers from The Christmas Carolers Association and they ended the evening with “We Wish You A Merry Christmas.”

That brings us to the question of “what is Figgy Pudding?” And why would anyone want someone to bring it to them.

But that’s for another day.