Marzipan is a very versatile
candy that is used in a variety of ways to compliment desserts. It used with
Fondant or alone for
cake frostings, or just simple. As candy it is often
flavored and
colored and shaped into a variety of designs as
fruit,
holiday themes, or
animals.
Legend has it that Italy had a famine that left only their almond crop left untouched. They were forced to find hundreds of ways to prepare almonds to get them through the hard time, which led to the invention of Marzipan. After the famine ended the almond paste was still loved enough to make it into daily life.
Marzipan is essentially a sugared almond paste that is soft enough to frost a cake with without breaking off crumbs. It provides a finish similar to fondant and is desirable because of it. Candy recipes are sometimes slightly altered to provide a firmer texture, but all of them should be relatively the same.
Here is an example of uncooked Marzipan from Frankysattic.com.
This is a pretty basic recipe that will
yield enough to cover a cake. Mix all the ingredients and then add enough
beaten egg to make a dough. Some recipes involve only
egg white or only
egg yolk. This is a little dangerous with
salmonella, but Marzipan can be store bought.
BlueDragon tells me that marzipan can be made with
dried egg whites, but she says it does get lumpy easily. I think it's a great idea for no-cook marzipan, it would eliminate the disease aspect. If anyone else has any other additions, please message them to me.
To be considered Marzipan the paste should be at the very least 25% almonds, in many cases it will be higher. The almonds must be blanched and you can buy them that way. If you buy fresh almonds, blanch them as you normally would, then grind them (a food processor will work fine, but take it easy).
Here is the classic cook recipe (from Pastrywiz.com):
Add the sugar to the water until it is completely
dissolved, then add the almonds and
cook until it stops sticking to the inside of the
pan. This can be a little hard, but take it easy. You only have to get
close.
No, this is the part that makes it look cool like Fondant. You pour it out onto a marble slab and work it in a figure 8 (see Fondant) with a metal scraper or wooden spoon until it's smooth. Knead by hand as it gets cooler, then store in an airtight container.
Now there are a few other tips. You can use Marzipan under Fondant, like I said before. But it is also used under fruit. You've seen it, some beautiful cake piled high with drippy fruit. Or rock hard icing that would normally be soft because of the moisture from the cake. Marzipan is used in a lot of cases as a tasty moisture barrier.
Here's a quick candy version. Melt a cup of white chocolate, split your Marzipan up into three sections. Color each section Napoleon style, "white" "chocolate" and "strawberry." Flavoring is not entirely necessary, but make sure your flavors mesh before putting them together.
Flatten out your three sections and cut them with a sharp knife into half inch by inch sections (1/8th of an inch thick). Pile color on color. You can do two layers and do fine. Cover with a thin layer of white chocolate and chill. Serve.
If there are any additional questions, feel free to message me. I would love to answer them. Below is a cute cake that uses Marzipan icing. Above that is a the short history I added in near the beginning.
Marzipan History Story
http://www.pride-net.com/1997/october/food/marzipan.htm
Tea Party Cake with Marzipan Frosting
http://www.cakeworkscentral.com/scrapbook/teapotcake.htm