24 Comments
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susan stevens's avatar

My parents came from Germany and I was raised on this stuff. I appreciate the detailed instructions and will try to make own. When making a variety of cookies and cakes, I often substitute almond paste for a portion of the sugar. Even chocolate chip cookies are enhanced with the subtle flavor addition.

Emily Cuddeford's avatar

This is interesting, I’ve always used Delia’s recipe for marzipan. Cooking eggs and sugar over a ban Marie until ribbon stage then folded in almonds and brandy it’s delicious. Im going to give this a whirl to see the difference.

Camilla Wynne's avatar

I’ll have to try that one!!

Nicola Lamb's avatar

Ahhh I just love delia. Keen to find out what you think of camillas method! Brandy sounds brilliant

Emily Cuddeford's avatar

Delia smith she is a British cook, a lot of her books were in the 90s classic food and techniques for home.

Emily Cuddeford's avatar

I have! I was reading about them on someone else’s page yesterday.

Emily Cuddeford's avatar

Brandy in most things is excellent. I think the egg yolk on Delia’s makes it a little richer? I wish I had the patience to make the fruits, I normally just keep a lump in the fridge this time of year and nibble each time I walk past.

Nicola Lamb's avatar

hahaha well, have you ever seen marzipan potatoes? They have to be the simplest shaping of all time!

Claire Rull's avatar

Very tempted to attempt all of them...so that I can then eat all of them!

Camilla Wynne's avatar

Great idea!!

lily taggart's avatar

Love to see marzipan getting the attention it deserves!

Bronwen Wyatt's avatar

Making Camilla’s marzipan for the first time was truly life changing for me!

DB's avatar

Thank you for this deep dive into Marzipan! Brings back memories. Many decades ago, I used to help my grandmother blanch and grind almonds to make marzipan fruits. Later I took up making it on my own when I realized I could use almond flour. I haven’t made it in a long time but it’s very inspiring to see all of your variations and experiments!

Pete's avatar

What role does the cream of tartar play? Any recommendation for a substitute? Thanks.

Camilla Wynne's avatar

It just stops the syrup from crystallizing. If you don’t have it you could add a little bit of glucose or corn syrup or even a dash of lemon juice

Ann Del Tredici's avatar

Thank you for both of these recipes! I will try them.

A little detail note on making anything watermelon--the black seeds are not randomly distributed in the red melon flesh. When watermelon is cut in a slice, so the seeds can be seen, all the seeds are in an arc, about halfway up the melon--and none of them are very close to the center of the melon. This little touch will make your watermelon slice look even more realistic. (I'm a painter!)

Carina's avatar

curious about scaling this recipe up to, say, an 8x batch- what quantity of cream of tartar am I looking for then?

Alicia's avatar

So, I gather your recipe on the King Arthur website is the one for the really fine almond flour? I'm planning a princess cake for Christmas and Nicola's mango version links to that one!

Camilla Wynne's avatar

That’s correct!

Nina Rosenblatt's avatar

good to know! That's the brand I, it's the best I've tried.

Racheli's avatar

Is substituting reduced aquafaba for egg white 1:1 by weight or volume?