Recipes Almond paste (marzipan)

[jeremyjuicewah]

If you cannot find marzipan in your own cookbooks it may be under almond paste. This is to follow on from the thread about xmas cakes from last week. From Rosemary Hume and Constance Spry, its the old fashioned way and will yield a delicious comestible rather than the bright yellow tough as boots old muck you can buy in shops.

One pound of ground almonds
Half pound of icing sugar (sieved)
Half pound of castor sugar
2 small eggs
Juice of half a lemon
1 table spoon of sherry or rum
1 teaspoon of orange flower water (rose water is fine too)
Few drops of almond essence
(you can also use vanilla but do not overdo these flavourings or you will have toxic marzipan)

First hide the booze or your other half may guzzle the lot leaving you with a problem in the marzipan dept.

Then:
Mix the castor sugar, icing sugar and ground almonds together thoroughly in a geet big bowl.
Pour in the lightly beaten eggs and the other liquids and work into a smooth paste.

Thats it. It takes hardly any time at all. We usually eat about a quarter of it while pretending to test it then wrap the rest in a clean tea towel and bung it in the fridge till its time to ice the cakes.

 

[Jeanette]

I love marzipan, funnily enough I only made it once but it is much nicer than the bought packets

Jx

 

[Tenor Viol]

I've made marzipan to a similar recipe. Must have been the temperance movement version as no hooch in it...

And you're right, there is no comparison between that and the supermarket tasteless plastic.

 

[jeremyjuicewah]

Visited a friend I had not seen for 25 years and in memory our youthfull trips to the baker on Saturdays he comissioned a battenburg cake. The cake was absolutely wonderful but it was swaddled in shop bought marzipan. Once you have made your own, its a cake killer and no mistake.

 

[Alice]

I don't think I've ever had home made marzipan. I love marzipan, it was the only reason for eating wedding and Christmas cake in the past. I want some right now! FEED ME Seymour! FEED ME!

 

[Alice]

its a cake killer and no mistake.

I was reading about this in the currant affairs. There's just no raisin for such atrocities

 

[trimmy]

I want some right now! FEED ME Seymour! FEED ME

Open wide !

Who doesn't like Marzipan?

 

[Alice]

I seem to have met many people who don't like marzipan and I've never understood it I remember once being given everybody's off cuts of marzipan at the table.

 

[kevgermany]

At this time of year we can buy it by the slap, coated with chocolate. Also little 'potatoes' made of marzipan and dusted in cocoa powder. All year round we get Mozart Kugeln - Mozart's balls, which are gob stopper sized marzipan balls coated with thick chocolate.

But it's still shop made marzipan

 

[jeremyjuicewah]

Mozart's balls, which are gob stopper sized marzipan balls coated with thick chocolate.

There you are you see. He may be the mutts nuts at music but when it comes to undercarriage that Mozart was prolly bullied rotten at school. Specailly on sports day.

On a less serious note, we actually wrap the stuff in a clean wet tea towel. You can use clingfilm. Whichever you choose get it in the fridge (before you eat it all)
Cheers
Mike

 

[Targa]

I seem to have met many people who don't like marzipan and I've never understood it I remember once being given everybody's off cuts of marzipan at the table.

I'll explain it to you sometime..

 

[Alice]

I'll explain it to you sometime..

Oh noooo... You don't like marzipan???

 

[Ivan]

Wot's not to like?

 

[Alice]

Wot's not to like?

Targa is obviously sweet enough .. and quite nutty as well.

 

[Targa]

Targa is obviously sweet enough .. and quite nutty as well.

I'll leave my response a little longer as the mods tension rises, beads of sweat break out on Kev's brow, Jeanette practises not blushing and Aldevis checks the Thesaurus for synonyms.

 

[Jeanette]

I'll leave my response a little longer as the mods tension rises, beads of sweat break out on Kev's brow, Jeanette practises not blushing and Aldevis checks the Thesaurus for synonyms.

Shall I close the thread now?

Jx

 

[kevgermany]

Shall I close the thread now?

Jx

Not yet, I haven't had the pleasure of issuing a ban for ages.

 

[Tenor Viol]

I suspect as with many things that 'dislike' of marzipan arises (mostly) from the poor experience of the mass-produced type that is found in shop bought cakes. That tends to be quite hard and has a plastic texture and tends to be over-sweet as well. The real stuff has a softer texture and is more subtely flavoured. Big fan of Mozart Kugeln - I brought a lot of them back from a business trip to Salzburg a few years ago.

The prospect of unexpurgated responses from Targa are evidently sending paroxysms of something through the mods.

 

[kevgermany]

The prospect of unexpurgated responses from Targa are evidently sending paroxysms of something through the mods.

Gleeful anticipation!

 

[Andrew Sanders]

Never liked marzipan until I was persuaded to make Stollen, which has a big dollop of it in the middle. Nice in that.
My work chum makes a mixed nut version which is really delicious.