Part 3/8:
The fascination with sugar plums dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries, but definitive recipes have remained scarce. This is due in part to professional confectioners guarding their secrets and the general impracticality of making such sweets at home. Yet one vintage cookbook, The Art of Confectionery from 1865, provided several recipes, revealing varieties like cinnamon, liqueur, and mint sugar plums.
Among these, the host decided to focus on a simpler recipe for cherry sugar plums instead of the more complex ones that would take months to prepare. The process, however, still involved laborious steps.