Marzipan Recipe: 3 Ways to Use Marzipan

Marzipan is a popular gluten-free confection consisting of finely ground almonds, powdered sugar, a binding agent like egg whites, glucose syrup or corn syrup, and almond extract or vanilla flavoring. Once kneaded together and chilled, marzipan has a pliable texture that bakers can mold into various shapes.

While marzipan is commonly used year-round in Germany and Italy, the sweet confection is a worldwide staple during Christmas time. Marzipan is used to make sweet treats like candies, icing sugar, fruit cakes, cupcakes, and fruit breads. You can make your own marzipan by blending almonds, egg whites, and sugar, or you can purchase it at the grocery store, where it is sometimes sold under the name “almond candy dough.”

You can create marzipan candy for a standalone treat or use it in concert with traditional cakes. Here are some common uses for the sweet treat with the distinct almond flavor:

1. 1. Mold into candy: From elegant, dark chocolate-coated truffles to miniature marzipan fruits and vegetables dyed with food coloring (like Marzipankartoffeln, the spitting image of freshly-dug marble potatoes, chocolate powder “dirt” and all), marzipan candies are the most popular way to enjoy the almond-flavored sweet.
2. 2. Add to cake. If desserts on the sweeter side are your preference, marzipan cake is the perfect treat for you. You can make chocolate marzipan cake or take a simple spiced Christmas cake to the next level with the addition of the almond-y confection. You can also make a classic Swedish princess cake, a popular celebration cake draped with a top layer of pale-green marzipan.
3. 3. Make fruit breads. During the holiday season, marzipan shines in marzipan stollen, a variation on German stollen, a yeasted fruit bread studded with dried fruits, nuts, and spices and cloaked in powdered sugar. German marzipan is shaped into a loaf and given out as a present for Christmas and New Year celebrations.
4. 4. As a garnish: Marzipan makes an ideal medium for cake decorating due to its texture, like the woodland décor on a bûche de noël (yule log) cake.

There are many marzipan variations around the world:

1. 1. Persipan: Germany is also home to persipan, which swaps almonds for bitter, ground apricot, or peach pits. Persipan has a high sugar content (60 percent) to offset the slightly toxic nature of the pits.
2. 2. Massepain: While German-style marzipan combines ground almonds with sugar into a paste, French-style massepain utilizes sugar syrup as its sweetener.
3. 3. Goan: The marzipan of seaside Goa in India is made with cashew nuts and is typically made into Easter eggs.
4. 4. Mazapán de pili: Marzipan in the Philippines utilizes local ground pili nuts in place of almonds. Mazapán de pili is incorporated into a mix of egg yolks, sugar, and butter to create cookies that resemble macaroons.
5. 5. Mazapán: Latin American-style marzipan features peanuts instead of almonds. The sweet treat is often shaped into a candy to celebrate regional holidays.

There are a few key differences between marzipan and almond paste:

• Almond paste has a deeper flavor. Almond paste has more of a deep nutty flavor than marzipan due to its higher almond content.
• Marzipan is sweeter. Marzipan contains more sugar and fewer almonds than almond paste. It has a smoother, thicker texture suitable for shaping into candies and rolling out like fondant for decorations.
• Almond paste is coarser. The paste has a coarser texture and more subtle flavor. The paste is often used as a filling, serving as the basis for frangipane, a creamy tart filling, and Italian amaretti cookies.