Marzipan is a confection that consists of sugar or honey with almond meal – that being ground almonds. It can vary in consistency and sweetness, but it always brings something extremely unique to your bakes and sweets.
In fact, you’ll find marzipan in countless different kinds of cakes, ranging from wedding cakes to birthday cakes, to German Lebkuchen. And it has an interesting, rich history across the world too.
For instance, in Italy, marzipan will often be eaten on its own but shaped and painted to look like fruit. This is called Frutta Martorana, and if you make the trip you’ll still be able to find it. In the Netherlands and Belgium, marzipan figures are given to children as presents from Saint Nicholas. Marzipan is often given in Germany in the shape of a loaf of bread!
As you can see then, this creamy, buttery dessert is extremely popular. And that is largely because it is so versatile and so tasty. So, if you want to add this one to your repertoire, then read on and let’s go through 14 very easy recipes you can use to make your own marzipan.
1 Very Simple Marzipan
As always, it makes sense to start with the most basic version of marzipan that we can come up with. To that end, here is what your marzipan ingredients list should look like:
- 370g ground almonds
- 185g caster sugar
- 185g icing sugar (sifted)
- 1 large free-range egg (beaten)
- 1tsp vanilla extract
To turn this into delicious marzipan, you will just put the ground almonds into a bowl with the caster sugar and the icing sugar. Next, whisk egg, vanilla extract in a bowl.
Next, you will make a little well in the center of the ground almonds and add the liquid in there. Now use your hands to mix and turn to a paste. Knead for a few minutes until smooth, wrap in cling film, and chill for 20 minutes.
And there you have it!