Marzipan

It's no surprise if youve heard of Marzipan around Christmas. The variety of Christmas sweets goes far beyond the familiar peppermint chocolates. During this festive season, Marzipan stands out as another popular confection loved by Europeans for Christmas.

What is Marzipan?

Marzipan is a sweet confection, similar to a candy, made from sugar, honey or corn syrup, and ground almonds. We typically see marzipan molded into various shapes, such as vegetables, fruits, animals, or iconic festive figures like Christmas trees, Santa Claus, snowmen, and reindeer during Christmas. Essentially, you can mold marzipan into anything you can imagine, making it a truly creative and fun treat.

The Diverse History of Marzipan

The exact origin of Marzipan is not clearly defined, as it boasts a long history, with many countries claiming to be its birthplace. Ultimately, no one truly knows its original nationality. However, today, Marzipan is a widely popular sweet across several continents, including Europe, America, and Asia.

In Europe, Marzipan has been a traditional Christmas sweet since around 1512. Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian people often shape marzipan into animals and fruits, then color them with food coloring, similar to "Luk Chup" (Thai fruit-shaped mung bean paste) in Thailand. The British, on the other hand, commonly use it to cover Christmas cakes with white icing. Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians typically mold it into pigs and Easter eggs, placing them around Christmas trees. Furthermore, in Europe, white marzipan is often made into wedding favors and served to guests at parties.

In the Americas, Marzipan is frequently made with peanuts instead of almonds due to almonds' higher cost, and it's sometimes called Mazapan. In Asia, marzipan was introduced to India by the Portuguese, where cashews are used instead of almonds. However, generally, the true quality of Marzipan is determined by the proportion of almonds to sugar: the higher the almond content, the better and more expensive the marzipan.

How to Make Marzipan Easily

Ingredients

• Ground almonds 227 g (8 oz)
• Powdered sugar 3/4 cup
• Corn syrup 4 tablespoons
• Food coloring as desired

Instructions

• Combine ground almonds and powdered sugar. Then, add the corn syrup and mix until well combined.
• Knead the mixture on a smooth surface until the dough is smooth. If the dough seems too sticky, add a little more powdered sugar.
• Add food coloring and knead until the color is evenly distributed.
• Mold the marzipan into your desired shapes and decorate as you wish.