Marvelous Marzipan

With the holidays comes traditions, and I’ve held on to the ones I enjoyed the most growing up, so there are several Christmas treats that always make it on to our menu.  Russian Tea Cakes, described and recipe in an earlier post, are one that must make it to the Christmas Eve table of delight in this house.  Another one that I learned to make at a young age is marzipan.  This one, however, has been more dependent through the year on availability of ingredients…it calls for almond paste.  Nope, I have never tasted a shortcut that even approached the little fruits and vegetables we would create over the hours.  The mister helps me with this endeavor these days, and I think he enjoys it.  He’s very good at the ones I am not :)  And it can bring out the kid in you, too, making marzipan is akin to edible play-dough…OK, bad analogy…very bad, but it is fun!  And if you are a fan of almonds, how can this be wrong?  I love the very smell of them, myself.

To really enjoy the craft of making marzipan, you’ll need to set aside some time.  Pull out a Christmas movie, and pop that in, because this can all be done while you are plunked comfortably in front of the tv. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 (8 oz) can of Solo almond paste—not marzipan* in a can, tube or any other form

1 1/3 C powdered sugar

lemon juice (a very little bit, from the plastic lemon is most efficient)

water (in a fine mist spray bottle disperses the best in small amounts)

One med-large mixing bowl

Several smaller mixing bowls (the number depends on how many colors you want to make)

Liquid food coloring, paste is an acceptable alternative

Optional decorative aids: ground cinnamon, whole cloves, sugar for dusting

*Pre-made marzipan is exactly not what you need, it is made more for baking projects or for frosting.  Avoid this as it won’t give you the results you want (it will give you a very bitter taste though).

Step one:

Open can, scoop out all of the almond paste into a med-large mixing bowl

Step two:

Add 1 1/3 C powdered sugar

Step three:

Using washed hands, rub together mixture until it is evenly dispersed crumbs of almond paste and powdered sugar

See if you can get it to form large clumps

If you can not, give it a spray or two of water, be careful not to over wet—just enough to get the dough to form balls, repeat, alternate with 3 drops of lemon juice

*If you are kneading the marzipan, and it starts to leave a layer or film on your hands, it is too wet, and needs to be left alone to dry a bit before continuing

Step four:

Separate dough into smaller balls, depending on how many colors you wish to make

Place each smaller ball into a separate bowl, add three drops of food color to the smaller ball (to start), knead the coloring in, and check for desired results, possibly adding additional drop or two

Step five:

Time to get creative!  Make your objects, whatever they may be, we traditionally make fruits and vegetables, although this year the mister made a clever goldfish too.  You can use sugar to decorate with, or ground cinnamon and whole cloves really help to hold things together (hold leaves on, hold cherries together, etc.).  A toothpick is also very handy for making lines, divits, and well…you get the picture. 

Say, how do you like my picture of this years “crop?”