Sugar plum fairies symbolize kindness, compassion, and celebration – so what better way to celebrate the holidays than to incorporate some of these things into your festive food?
We sat down and thought about what kind of dessert would best represent the iconic sugar plum fairy, and we came up with sugar plum fairy puffs!
These delicious pastries have a plum and vanilla filling, and a sweet sugary glaze.
But you can’t have the sugar without the spice if you want everything nice, so we also created our very own recipe for spicy raw cocoa.
These two recipes compliment each other perfectly, and they’re both so easy to make.
Here’s how to prepare the perfect festive treat duo:
Sugar Plum Fairy Puffs Recipe
Ingredients
Pastry
All-purpose flour (1 cup)
Unsalted butter (1 stick, cubed)
Sugar (1 ½ tbsp)
Water (1 cup)
Salt (½ tsp)
Eggs (4)
Pastry Cream
Plum jam (½ cup)
Milk (2 ½ cups)
Vanilla bean (1)
Sugar (½ cup)
Flour (¾ cup)
Egg (1)
Egg yolk (3)
Glaze
Milk (2 tbsp)
Confectioner’s sugar (1 cup)
Food coloring (optional)
Instructions
Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Take a medium-sized saucepan and add your water, sugar, salt, and butter. Heat up all these ingredients until the butter melts and the mixture starts simmering.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the flour. Make sure to stir continuously before replacing the pan on the heat. Continue to stir for approximately 1 minute.
Allow 5 minutes for the contents of the pan to cool down before adding the eggs. Only add a single egg at a time, and stir thoroughly after adding each egg.
By this point, you should have a thick batter with a glossy consistency.
Transfer the batter to a pastry bag and pipe rounds measuring 1 inch and 2 inches onto some baking parchment.
Place the rounds in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes (up to 30 minutes if necessary). When the pastry is fully cooked, you should have some adorable-looking choux.
To start the process of making the pastry cream, pour your milk into a saucepan and add the vanilla bean. Turn the heat to a low-medium setting and allow the milk to heat up while the flavor of the vanilla bean infuses through the milk.
Meanwhile, take a large bowl and whisk the yolks, egg, and sugar into the flour so that the ingredients combine fully.
By now, your milk should be simmering. Take it off the heat and pour a splash of the milk into the bowl, stirring thoroughly, before adding the rest of the bowl’s contents to the pan.
Continue to stir all the ingredients together consistently over the heat so that it doesn’t catch and burn. Within 3 minutes, you should notice that the mixture is thicker. This is your sign to remove the pan from the heat and let everything cool down.
Once the pastry cream mixture has cooled, you can mix one cup of the cream with your jam.
Next, combine the milk and sugar for the glaze by stirring. If you want, you can also add any color of food coloring.
Using a piping bag, pipe your pastry cream into one of the larger rounds of baked pastry. Keep adding the cream until the bottom pastry is full.
Now take a smaller round of pastry and pipe the plum-flavored cream into it.
Go back to the bigger of the two choux and dip it gently into your glaze first, followed by the smaller choux.
Carefully stack the smaller choux on top of the larger one. Repeat until you have used up all of your choux and pastry cream.
Spicy Raw Cocoa Recipe
Ingredients
Whole milk (1 quart)
Cacao powder (5 tbsp)
Granulated sugar (1 tbsp)
Ground cinnamon (1 tsp)
Cayenne pepper (⅛ tsp)
Instructions
Add all of your ingredients into a single pan and turn the heat up to a high setting.
Stir continuously as the mixture heats up to blend all the ingredients together.
Take the mixture off the heat before it reaches boiling point. Don’t allow the mixture to start boiling.
Transfer your spicy, raw cocoa to your cup of choice and serve while hot.
Serving Suggestions For Sugar Plum Fairy Puffs And Spicy Raw Cocoa
We created our spicy raw cocoa recipe as the perfect accompaniment for our sugar plum fairy puffs, so there’s no need to add anything to the pastries before serving them.
With that being said, there are plenty of fun ways to decorate and add to your hot chocolate before serving.
Marshmallows are a classic addition to hot chocolate, and their sweetness can help to balance out the spice from the cayenne pepper.
Whipped cream has the same effect.
If you want to make your hot chocolate look as festive as the sugar plum fairy puffs taste, you might even want to consider serving a candy cane with your hot beverage!
Final Thoughts
We know there are so many delicious treats to choose from over the festive season, but we can’t get enough of our sugar plum fairy puffs, especially when served with our raw cacao hot chocolate!
Remember, cayenne pepper is extremely spicy, so only add ⅛ of a teaspoon.
You can taste the mixture before serving and add a tiny bit more if you want an extra kick, but it’s important not to add too much at once.
Also, bear in mind that choux pastry requires the eggs to be mixed in gradually, so don’t add them all at the same time.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Special About Choux Pastry?
You may have noticed that we refer to the pastry in our sugar plum fairy puffs as choux pastry.
Choux pastry is different from puff pastry and shortcrust pastry because its main ingredients are flour and water, and it’s made very light and fluffy by the gradual addition of eggs into the batter.
Choux pastry should be hollow in the middle (allowing you to fill the pastry with creams and jams of your choice) and moist on the outside.
Is Raw Cacao Healthier Than Chocolate?
Yes, raw cacao is a healthier option than processed chocolate.
In fact, where most chocolate contains a lot of sugar and saturated fat, neither of which are associated with optimal health, raw cacao has been associated with numerous health benefits.
The health benefits of raw cacao include improved circulation, lower blood pressure, and a lower risk of developing blood clots.
It’s better for your heart and contains antioxidants that may help to reduce inflammation in the body.
What’s The Difference Between Plum Jam And Plum Jelly?
We have specifically recommended using plum jam rather than plum jelly in our sugar plum fairy puff recipe because jam tends to taste more like the fruit it’s made from, and the consistency lends itself better to baking.
However, you can also make these pastries using plum jelly.
Just be prepared for the flavor to be slightly different because it will be made with fruit juice rather than real fruit, and the consistency will be smoother and less textured.
Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Take a medium-sized saucepan and add your water, sugar, salt, and butter. Heat up all these ingredients until the butter melts and the mixture starts simmering.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour in the flour. Make sure to stir continuously before replacing the pan on the heat. Continue to stir for approximately 1 minute.
Allow 5 minutes for the contents of the pan to cool down before adding the eggs. Only add a single egg at a time, and stir thoroughly after adding each egg.
By this point, you should have a thick batter with a glossy consistency.
Transfer the batter to a pastry bag and pipe rounds measuring 1 inch and 2 inches onto some baking parchment.
Place the rounds in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes (up to 30 minutes if necessary). When the pastry is fully cooked, you should have some adorable-looking choux.
To start the process of making the pastry cream, pour your milk into a saucepan and add the vanilla bean. Turn the heat to a low-medium setting and allow the milk to heat up while the flavor of the vanilla bean infuses through the milk.
Meanwhile, take a large bowl and whisk the yolks, egg, and sugar into the flour so that the ingredients combine fully.
By now, your milk should be simmering. Take it off the heat and pour a splash of the milk into the bowl, stirring thoroughly, before adding the rest of the bowl’s contents to the pan.
Continue to stir all the ingredients together consistently over the heat so that it doesn’t catch and burn. Within 3 minutes, you should notice that the mixture is thicker. This is your sign to remove the pan from the heat and let everything cool down.
Once the pastry cream mixture has cooled, you can mix one cup of the cream with your jam.
Next, combine the milk and sugar for the glaze by stirring. If you want, you can also add any color of food coloring.
Using a piping bag, pipe your pastry cream into one of the larger rounds of baked pastry. Keep adding the cream until the bottom pastry is full.
Now take a smaller round of pastry and pipe the plum-flavored cream into it.
Go back to the bigger of the two choux and dip it gently into your glaze first, followed by the smaller choux.
Carefully stack the smaller choux on top of the larger one. Repeat until you have used up all of your choux and pastry cream.
Spicy Raw Cocoa
Add all of your ingredients into a single pan and turn the heat up to a high setting.
Stir continuously as the mixture heats up to blend all the ingredients together.
Take the mixture off the heat before it reaches boiling point. Don’t allow the mixture to start boiling.
Transfer your spicy, raw cocoa to your cup of choice and serve while hot.
Hello, I’m Jenna Hansen, the creator of ImpatientFoodie.com. As a mom of two, I know how hard it is to plan meals everyday, especially healthy, tasty, and interesting foods that the whole family will like.
This is what inspired me to create ImpatientFoodie.com. I wanted to share my recipes, and my love of good food with the world.
I hope that you love reading about our dishes as much as I have enjoyed making them, and start making a change to your lifestyle today with balanced, healthy, and oh-so delicious meals.
