What is a sugar plum?

Wondering why the Sugar Plum Fairy is named as she is?  Does the idea of sugar plums leave you with less-than-desirable images of shriveled prunes?  Well, let the truth be known.

Sugar plums are just hard candies.  The word "plum" refers more to the shape of the sweets (round) than the flavor.  This term dates back to the 1600s, and since at that time hard candies were dipped by hand, such sweets were very expensive and luxurious.  This sort of leads into the connection with holidays and gifts, as such fine sweets were probably only eaten occasionally as part of a celebration. 

The Sugar Plum Fairy is basically just the candy fairy.  She's elegant and pretty, like perfectly formed candies.  She has a sugary personality, and she is the leader of the Kingdom of Sweets.

When you see the Sugar Plum Fairy in the future, try to associate her with elegant brightly colored candies rather than actual plums.  Also--since sugar plum sweets can be any color or flavor, the Sugar Plum Fairy can also be dressed in any color.  She's not wrong or inauthentic if she's a color other than purple.