Gone gone o form of man, bring me now some Marzipan!

September 9, 2009 6:40 AM

Looking for recipes for marzipan. Actually making it, not things to do with it.

The woman I'm seeing loves marzipan. I mean, she really, really loves it. I can get Ritter Sport dark chocolate filled with marzipan; there's Ben and Jerry's Mission to Marzipan.

But it occurs to me that if I want to really impress, I should find a way to make it myself. I'm aware this is over the top, but it's a skill that can be useful in the future (at the very least, I can make some neat dessert things with it). I've found ones at cooks.com, but it occured to me that the Great Hivemind might have better pointers, or a family recipe, or tips to making it from those recipes.

posted by mephron to Food & Drink (10 answers total)

Have you tried googling "making marzipan" or how to make marzipan candy?" There are a whole raft them, and it seems like you should be able to come up with a reasonable consensus recipe.
posted by pullayup at 6:51 AM on September 9, 2009

Best answer: This site seems to have a few variations. Personally I'd go for the proper cooked-sugar recipe (where you boil the sugar to soft ball), but that's because I've made stuff like that before and know how to judge it. If you've never worked with boiled sugar, I'd go for one of the simple methods.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 6:54 AM on September 9, 2009

Best answer: Also, the best 'real' marzipan often has a small quantity of of bittter almonds added to it for flavour. Bitter almonds are highly toxic unless treated to remove the hydrogen cyanide. But I'm sure you can make pretty good stuff without risking your life...
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 7:00 AM on September 9, 2009

If you wish to have the bitter almond taste there are three ways:
* having bitter almonds to blend;
** use bitter almond extract which can be had from baking stores and if in Europe, found in regular grocery stores;
*** if you are near a Chinese market, you can acquire shelled apricot kernels and use them in a pinch as part of the blend

There is the alternative of using amaretto liquer as well though it uses apricot kernels it is not too overwhelming and is blended with other ingredients to smooth it out.
posted by jadepearl at 7:04 AM on September 9, 2009

Response by poster: I've never worked with boiled sugar before, but I've thought about doing so (in addition to my other sins I'm an amateur filmmaker and it would help me make sugar-glass). I don't really know what to do to make it happen, but that hasn't stopped me before. And yes, risking life might not be all that good in this situation. Thank you for the information - it's appreciated.
posted by mephron at 7:07 AM on September 9, 2009

You can get a candy thermometer for about $20 at most kitchen supply stores to take the guesswork out of working with boiled sugar.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:36 AM on September 9, 2009 [1 favorite]

Coincidentally, this recipe and blog post just went up on TasteSpotting.
posted by knile at 7:50 AM on September 9, 2009

Best answer: Marzipan is mainly ground almonds and icing sugar - you don't need to cook it, because the non-cook recipes taste delicious. My mother-in-law makes it every year, to put on Christmas cake and to dip in chocolate. What makes it good is using real ground almonds - no artificial flavours.
posted by jb at 7:56 AM on September 9, 2009 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Wow. A lot of help. Thank you! I've got a lot of help here, and I appreciate it. I think I'm marking this resolved.
posted by mephron at 8:07 AM on September 9, 2009

Best answer: One more: you can also buy almond paste in the grocery store (about $5 for a soup-can-sized can). It's just finely ground almonds and sugar. Mix it with confectioners' sugar and you have marzipan--the proportions are usually on the can. This is the easiest way to make "homemade" marzipan I've found.
posted by Ms. Informed at 12:25 PM on September 9, 2009 [1 favorite]