Marzipan (2024)

FAQs

What is marzipan called in America? ›

What is Marzipan? Marzipan, also known as almond candy dough, is a smooth and pliable confectionary paste made from almonds that can be used as a cake icing or molded into candies. It features a clay-like consistency that makes it easy to handle.

What Does Marzipan Taste Like? Marzipan has a very sweet, nutty almond flavor. Its texture is soft, chewy and slightly rough due to the ground up almonds.

Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables.

Marzipan comes from nuts—it's traditionally made with ground almonds. In order to maintain quality standards, many countries regulate the percentage of almonds a recipe must have for it to be legally called "marzipan." This discourages the use of apricot kernels as a cheap substitute for almonds.

The best quality marzipan contains less sugar in the raw mix. Good marzipan contains minerals such calcium, potassium and magnesium and is also rich in vitamin B and polyunsaturated fatty acids. On the downside, marzipan is high in fat and in sugar.

Lübeck Marzipan (German: Lübecker Marzipan) refers to marzipan originating from the city of Lübeck in northern Germany and has been protected by an EU Council Directive as a “Protected Geographical Indication” (PGI) since 1996.

Commercially produced marzipan contains around 28% almonds and 21 grams sugar per 2 tablespoons so it's sweeter than almond paste. Because marzipan is stiff, it lends itself to be cut out or shaped three-dimensionally for candies shaped like fruits, or for cake and pastry decorations.

Marzipan has a more solid form and is used on cakes and to create shapes. You can eat marzipan by itself, the same is not true for almond paste.

The glory of marzipan is because it holds a shape easily, you can cut out or mold your own figures to decorate holiday pastries. It's also used as a kind of heavy-duty frosting for Christmas cakes because it helps long-keeping cakes (like fruitcakes) retain their moisture instead of going stale.

Niederegger is known to produce the world's highest quality marzipan.

What are the benefits of eating marzipan? ›

1 Because marzipan is based on almonds, it is a sufficient content of vitamin E, in fact, as in the walnut. This vitamin in nature is a very powerful antioxidant and helps to fight stress and nervous tension.

Don't roll it out on too much icing sugar, as it gets drier and cracks more. If not using immediately, store it in the fridge tightly wrapped in plastic wrap or clingfilm.

Compared to almond paste, marzipan has a higher proportion of sugar, which makes it sweeter, smoother, and more pliable—think Play-Doh. It's typically rolled, molded, dyed, and/or shaped (like into these adorable fruits!) and served as its own or used as a decorative element in larger desserts.

Marzipan is an essential ingredient found throughout baking in Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. It's even made its way to many candy shops throughout the United States.

The German name 'marzipan' has supplanted the original English name 'marchpane. ' Some theorise that it originally comes from the Latin 'martius panis', or 'March bread'. Others cite Arabic, Burmese, or Persian as the language of origin.