Visions of Sugar Plums and Rosettes

I just had my oldest bring me a piece of fudge.  This should be a clue as to what you have in store this week.  It is Christmas Cookie Week!!!! 

If you didn’t get in on the Christmas cookie countdown last year, you can read about it starting here.  I’ll link to the original posts on the bottom.

When the boys were littler I remember thinking that it was going to be a great tradition to read them “The Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve. After midnight mass (really around 8 PM), they got to open one present (always pajamas so they looked cute on Christmas morning).  The plan was that we would all change into our pajamas and sit down on the couch and read those magical words. 

Now, I don’t know if you have spent a lot of time with small children already up past their bedtimes on Christmas Eve. I have since learned all of our limits better.  By 9 o’clock on Christmas Eve after making sure everything has resembled perfect for weeks, I’m not in any mood to try to hold wriggling children close while trying to read to them over their demands to know when Santa is coming.  

 The poem usually gets read, or at least thought about, at some point during the Christmas season.  Between that, the Nutcracker, and the Sugar Plum tree in Shut-eye town, I have been asked what a sugar plum is many, many times.  I didn’t have an exact answer before now. 

Sugar plums, according to one of the two recipes I have for them is nothing more than a softly gummy candy made from applesauce, red hots, Jell-O and sugar boiled together and left to solidify after adding pecans.  The texture is sort of like what happens if you mix cornstarch with gelatin.  And even that doesn’t really describe it.  It’s that weird velvety feeling.  Softer and less sticky than a marshmallow.  The flavor is red.  

You may want to argue that red isn’t a flavor, but you are wrong.  It’s sweet, almost hot, somewhat fruity, kind of artificial.  Not much of anything exactly, but everything generally.  And most of all, nothing like a plum. (Go figure).  

The entire experience of this was weird, but in kind of a good way.  It’s experiential and sort of like the predecessor to modern molecular gastronomy.  I don’t expect Marcel Vigneron to be jumping at the chance to use this technique any more, but perhaps as a kid…

Speaking of kids…I just asked my kid to bring me a piece of Christmas memory.  A rosette.

While growing up, there was this cute little gift shop that would have an annual holiday open house.  This shop was adorable and sold lotions from Crabtree & Evelyn, funky jewelry, beautiful bowls and vases and home decor.  It was magical.  It was in this little old house across from the lake.

I know mom is going to correct me when I inevitably tell this wrong, but for the sake of a story, let’s just explore this vision a moment.  It’s nighttime, or at least dark.  Most of the buildings on the lakefront are dark and closed.  The parking lot for the bank is mostly empty.  The snow has been plowed up and there are mountains lining the street.

The air is crisp on our faces as we get out of the warm car.  Our breath is visible as we scurry into the warmth of the glowing lights of the shop.  The air is scented with cinnamon and mulling spices.  One of the counters has been cleared off and is draped with lace-trimmed linens. 

There is a buzz of excitement among the shoppers.  We stop to admire things on the porch.  We exclaim over the cunning little Snowbabies (they were brand new at the time).  

My sister and I make all the appropriate noises, but I am pretty sure we are both contemplating how fast we can get to the goodies.  Because we were both raised to be polite and good little girls, I am sure we murmured words of excuse and apology as we trampled sweet old women in our haste to the cookies.  The cookies…I’m sure there were all sorts of fabulous things.  It was that sort of place, but my favorite of all of them were the rosettes.  

Rosettes are some of the most delicate Christmas cookies.  They are fried with a special iron and sprinkled with powdered sugar.  Rosettes are crisp, but melty as you bite into them.  The powdered sugar gets all over everything, but it doesn’t matter. 

By the time the cookie was gone, my hot apple cider was cool enough to sip.  I remember picking out some special Santas to hang on our tree during some of those open houses.  I remember the smell, but most of all, I remember the cookies.

My sister and I have both gotten much older. I haven’t gone Christmas shopping with either her or my mom in ages.  Last Christmas or so, my sister called me when she was making rosettes.  This year, I returned the favor and sent her pictures of my work.

As I stood over the stove sacrificing my first few cookies to the Norse gods, I realized how much I miss making Christmas cookies with my family.  It’s bittersweet to know that my children may someday say the same thing about me.

The Recipes:

Sugar Plums

1 cup canned applesauce
1 TB red cinnamon candies

Bring to a boil and then stir in:
1 3 oz package of Strawberry Jell-O
1 cup of Sugar

Boil for 2 minutes.  Add red food coloring (optional) and 3/4 cup of nuts.  

Mix well and pour into a buttered loaf pan (9 x 5 x 3).  Chill overnight.

When firm, cut and roll in granulated sugar.  After 24 hours, sugar again if needed.  Make a week or so before you need them.  Keep in a tight closed pan.

If you liked this post and want to know more about what I made last year, check out last year’s Christmas cookie countdown:  Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, and Day 6,  (They might be out of order).