"What's marzipan?" is what I asked my hubby, then boyfriend, the first Christmas we were dating. My hubby is part German and Austrian and marzipan is very much part of their culture, especially during the Christmas holidays.
I was given a chocolate-covered marzipan treat to try. It is soft in texture with a sweet, aromatic almond taste. Very delectable.
Marzipan is also very common in the decorating world. It can be used to cover cakes when rolled out as a thin sheet, much like fondant. Have you seen those cute little animals or other cake decorations? They are made out of marzipan! And in my hubby's case, marzipan is used in baking, found in traditional German Christmas Stollen.
Last year, my hubby made all sorts of little animals for the kids to eat. This year, marzipan was made specifically for his stollen making, which I will post about next time.
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Marzipan
4 cup almond flour or finely ground almonds
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp almond extract
Add almond flour, sugar and water into a pot. Bring to a boil until it gets soft.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Add almond extract.
Knead lightly onto a powdered sugar surface. Use in a recipe or roll into a ball, cover in airtight container and store in refrigerator.
Too weird, I was just reading a post on marzipan then had to google it to find out what it was and then you posted about this. Teehee. Here's the post if you're interested.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.anediblemosaic.com/?p=4600
I've never attempted making it because I thought it would be more complicated. Thank you for the post!
ReplyDeleteLeQuan: Us food bloggers think alike I guess :)
ReplyDeleteLisa: I know, pretty easy. I was surprised too!
Some recipes have egg white. As your hubby what he thinks about that. I make my own and have finally hit on a recipe I love (it is part of my Venetian Rainbow Cookie Recipe - I should pull it out and do it separately.) But, I do use my Thermomix as that is so incredible making all nut pastes. I would love you to have your hubby read my recipe and give me feedback on it regarding its "traditional" value - am I staying true to the course?
ReplyDeleteI have been a marzipan lover for years... and there is nothing like homemade everything. I cannot WAIT for the post on your hubby's stollen. You are SO lucky! He takes care of the grow-op AND bakes!!! ... and STOLEN, no less. I love it!
Merry Christmas, Maki! I have no doubt it is the magical time in your house. I love that so much!
:)
Valerie
Hey Valerie, I'm pretty new to the making of marzipan, and I don't recall anybody in my family ever making it, so it's hard to comment on how 'traditional' recipes are.
ReplyDeleteHowever, from my own research, I just don't think there is any place for eggs or egg white's in marzipan. Speaking to a chef friend of ours, she tells me they made marzipan with just sugar and almonds, not even going to the trouble of boiling down the sugar. She's going to get me the recipe they used, and I'll try it out and post the results and recipe here.