Homemade marzipan. Decorations with marzipan How to make herbs from marzipan

The German city of Lübeck is considered the European capital of marzipan, where sweets are made according to an old recipe that is kept strictly secret. The world's most famous marzipan museum is also located there.

Lübeck confectioners boast that they know almost two hundred recipes: marzipan with oranges, pineapples, rum. True connoisseurs and fans of marzipan know that the delicacy is produced according to a rather complex recipe and contains at least 33% almonds. However, not just any almond can be used. The type of nut, its taste, humidity and harvest time are of great importance.

Covering the cake

Marzipan (German Marziрan, from Italian marzaрane - March Easter bread) - an elastic mixture of powdered sugar with grated, powdered nuts, usually almonds. Sugar makes up one third to two fifths. Marzipan- a mixture with a certain fat composition, so well formed without any adhesive additives that it can be used to stamp candies and small decorative parts, as well as to manually form various figures and flowers.

Marzipan- This is an elastic mass of milky (light yellow color) with a pronounced odor of almonds. Marzipan mass is easy to mold. The technique of sculpting from marzipan is similar to sculpting from plasticine.

If marzipan knead it in your hands for a long time, it can become sticky, then you need to sprinkle your hands with powdered sugar, also roll a piece of the mass in powder and mix a little powder into it - the marzipan will again be suitable for modeling.

Covering the cake with marzipan

In order for the cake to look smooth and at the same time elegant, it needs to be covered marzipan. To do this you will need a rolling pin, powdered sugar, a pizza cutter (round), a brush, and water.

Marzipan can be tinted. To do this, make a depression in a small piece of the mass and add food coloring into it. The mass is kneaded. Then take a larger piece, combine it with a small piece and knead the whole mass again. If the color is not too saturated, make a depression again and add dye.

Before working with marzipan, sprinkle the table with powdered sugar.

Roll out the marzipan mass on it into a layer (the size is larger than the diameter of the cake, taking into account its height). Then wrap marzipan onto a rolling pin and unroll onto the cake. Gently straighten the hanging edges. If a wave has formed and the side surface looks uneven because of it, you need to make a cut with scissors and hide the excess inside the mass so that the cut piece does not hang. Using a brush, lightly moisten it from the inside and glue it to the main mass of marzipan.

The result was a cake covered with marzipan of the same color on top and sides.

To cover the cake marzipan two colors, you need to paint two pieces of marzipan mass. We roll one out on the table and use a notch (or mold) to cut out a circle equal to the diameter of the cake.

To cover the side surface with marzipan of a different color, measure the height and circumference of the cake and cut out a ribbon corresponding to the resulting dimensions. The ribbon is wrapped around the rolling pin, placed against the side surface of the cake, then unrolled, lightly pressing it against the edges of the cake.

You can prepare a multi-colored surface using 2, 3, 4 colors. The colored pieces must be rolled into ropes with a rolling pin, then cut out to match the shape of the surface of the cake.

Storing marzipan

Wrap the marzipan in cellophane and place in the refrigerator or freezer. Before use, keep the mixture at room temperature and knead slightly.

First you need to peel the top skins of the nuts. To do this, pour the almonds into a bowl and pour boiling water over them for 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

Check if the skin comes off easily. In principle, lightly pressing the nut with your fingers is enough for the skin to come off in flakes. If the nuts are very dry, pour boiling water over them again and let stand for another 10 minutes, checking periodically. Peel all nuts and rinse under running water. Dry.


To enhance the taste of the nut, you can heat it in the oven for 10 minutes. Cool. Pour the peeled nuts into a blender and grind until smooth at maximum speed. This can take from a couple to ten minutes depending on the power of the blender or chopper.

If you don't have enough almonds, replace some of them with other nuts. But remember, in order not to completely distort the taste or spoil the plasticity of the mass, there should be at least one third of almond nuts in the total mass.

If there is no blender, the kernels can be passed through a fine mesh grinder several times. Some housewives use a coffee grinder for grinding.

If the mass turns out to be liquid or too soft, add a little powdered sugar to it, and if it is dry or hard, add beaten egg white.

It is best to store this marzipan in cling film or in a plastic container in the refrigerator. Shelf life – no more than 1 month. But the surest way is to prepare fresh immediately before use, since this quantity of ingredients yields the amount of marzipan necessary to prepare one stollen, a portion of sweets or a coating for one cake.

Real marzipans, made from freshly ground almonds, are a wonderful thing, and the little effort spent on their preparation will be more than worth it. In addition, marzipans are perfectly preserved for 1-2 months, so they can be prepared not often, but quite a lot at once.

Marzipan is a plastic sweet almond mass that is used for fillings, decorating sweets and on its own. There are many recipes and regional characteristics of marzipan. To prepare at home, we recommend the simplest recipe, which only requires almonds and powdered sugar.

The base of marzipan is sweet almonds. It has a very weak aroma, so in the classic recipe a few grains of bitter almonds are added to the main mass. You are unlikely to find it on sale here. Use a few drops of almond essence to give the mixture a distinct aroma.

To prepare the marzipan mass, you need to remove the skin from the almonds. To do this, soak the nuts in water for an hour or more (the longer they sit, the easier it will be to peel them). To speed up the process, you can pour hot boiled water over the nuts.

When the nuts have cooled slightly, remove the shell. To do this, press firmly on the core with your thumb and forefinger. Then rinse the kernels and fry in a dry hot frying pan for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly.

Grind the almonds in a blender or coffee grinder as finely as possible.

Add powdered sugar (the proportion of almonds and powder is approximately 3 to 1) and almond essence or other flavoring - cognac, liqueur, etc. Mix thoroughly and blend again.

Knead the dough. As a result, you will get a fatty, plastic, aromatic mass that you can work with like dough.

ADVICE:

• To make the marzipan mass have a pronounced almond smell, instead of almond essence, you can add 2-3 bitter almond kernels.


• Marzipan dries quickly, so it should be covered with cling film or a damp cloth.


• If the marzipan mass turns out to be too soft and does not mold well, add sifted powdered sugar to it. If the mass turns out to be too dense and crumbles during molding, pour a little cold boiled water into the marzipan.


• You need to store marzipan in the refrigerator or freezer, wrapped in cellophane or cling film! It can be stored for about 2 months! Before use, the mixture must be kept at room temperature and slightly kneaded to restore plasticity!

You can add to ground almonds: flour or crumbs of other nuts, cocoa powder, raisins, pieces of candied fruits and dried fruits.

You can simply roll the mixture into a sausage like this.

Marzipan with or without additives can be rolled out into layers, greased with food coloring (use fruit and vegetable juices), layered on top of each other, rolled out again and cut into diamonds.

We wrap the marzipan with cocoa in a layer of marzipan without additives and cover it with chocolate.

The filling for marzipan sweets can be dried fruits, marmalade, candied citrus fruits (very tasty).

Marzipan is an excellent filling for chocolates.

Cookies + marzipan + chocolate + nuts.

Place raisins, a piece of candied orange, dried apricots, dates, prunes or nuts inside the marzipan. Garnish with whole or crushed nuts.

Roll out the marzipan into a thin layer and cut out shapes using cookie cutters.

Figures can also be sculpted by coloring marzipan with food coloring!

Marzipan can be added to almost any baked goods. Place a thin layer of marzipan on the shortbread dough and cover with a layer of jam. Place small pieces of marzipan into the holiday cake.

Use marzipan to cover cakes. Decorate it with a chocolate pattern or funny figures.

With food coloring, the possibilities for marzipan decoration are almost limitless.

But even the simplest marzipan figures are beautiful and tasty.

You don't have to be a sculptor to create such fun masterpieces. All that is required is imagination, a good mood and a piece of marzipan.

Marzipan is a plastic, sweet mass. It is used to decorate sweets, as a filling or as an independent delicacy.

The recipe for marzipan at home is actually simple. You just need to prepare the necessary ingredients and become familiar with the cooking technique.

The sweetness is a mixture of almonds and sugar.

Almonds are ground into flour and combined with crushed sugar (in the form of powder or syrup).

If almonds are replaced with peach or apricot seeds, you get a similar mixture called persipan.

Sometimes almonds are replaced with other nuts. But they do not have sufficient oiliness. The mass obtained from other nuts is not as plastic and does not hold its shape as real marzipan.

History of origin

The origin of marzipan is not known for certain. According to various assumptions, it could have been first invented in: Italy, Germany, France, Hungary or Estonia.

There are several versions of creating this sweet:

1. According to legend, during a lean year, almonds were the only product that could be preserved. So they began to make almond bread and other dishes from it, as well as sweet marzipans.
2. In another interpretation, marzipan originally served as a remedy for the treatment of mental experiences and disorders. It is credited with the ability to have a beneficial effect on the nervous system and calm it down.

In some countries, the delicacy has become a traditional treat for Christmas (for example, in Norway or Holland).

In its usual form, marzipan is usually made in the form of:

• sweets, which are covered with a layer of chocolate or sugar glaze;
• cookies or “marzipan bread”;
• marzipan liqueur;
• various figures (for example, fruits, flowers or hearts); in such cases, the recipe contains dyes to give the desired color;
• as a decoration for various desserts.

Compound

The classic composition of the product includes 3 main ingredients:

• sweet almonds;
• bitter almonds;
• sugar.

Over time, the recipe was modified, and other components began to be added to it:

• eggs;
• dyes (they can be natural or artificial);
• ingredients that add additional flavor and aroma (zest, liqueurs, rum, spices, rose water, cocoa, etc.);
• other types of nuts or fruits.

Also, depending on the recipe, sugar can be replaced with various sweeteners: honey, fructose or others.

Instead of bitter almonds, oil from these nuts or essence can be used.

Various manufacturers can change the proportion of the main components in the recipe, thus achieving a special, unique taste.

Species

Based on the method of preparation, the following types of product are distinguished:

1. Hot. The essence of the method is that crushed nuts are poured with sugar syrup.
2. Cold. In this case, all components are crushed and thoroughly mixed. When prepared cold, marzipan may contain eggs.

Based on composition and method of use, they are divided into:

• a white mixture that serves as decoration for various sweets and baked goods;
• yellow marzipan; obtained by dyeing white and used as a filling for desserts;
• raw; produced and used for glazing.

Step-by-step preparation of marzipan at home

The main component of any recipe is almond flour. You can purchase it ready-made or prepare it yourself. For a richer flavor, it is recommended to use freshly ground almonds.

A classic recipe for making your own delicacy. For this you need to prepare:

• sweet almonds – 500 g;
• bitter almonds – 15 nuts;
• powdered sugar – 200 g;
• water – 200 ml.

Almonds must be soaked in cold water for several hours (at least 1 hour). This will help remove the skin. The longer it soaks, the faster it can be cleaned later.

Then the purified raw materials need to be dried. This can be done in an open oven on low heat, a dehydrator, or a frying pan. It is important to ensure that it does not fry or overheat.

When the nuts are completely dried, they must be crushed using a coffee grinder or blender.

Grind the sugar into powder in the same way.

When all the ingredients are prepared, they need to be thoroughly mixed (by hand or using a mixer).

Place the resulting homogeneous mixture from the mixer and evenly sprinkle with water at room temperature, which was prepared in advance. In this case, it is better to knead the mass continuously.

After this, place the mixture in a container with a thick bottom and place it on the stove.

As soon as the mixture reaches a homogeneous consistency, you can remove it from the heat.

Spread the mixture and let it cool. Cover with cling film. After cooling, you can give the mass the desired shape.

The finished mixture can be used in its pure form or other elements can be added to it: crumbs from any nuts, candied fruits, dried fruits. Or other favorite ingredients.

Having mastered the classic version of cooking, you can complicate it and experiment with various additions.

Modeling from marzipan

Due to its plasticity and consistency, the paste resembles plasticine; any decoration can be formed from it.

Children are happy to join this activity. They can sculpt the figures they are familiar with, as when playing with plasticine.

You can divide the marzipan into 2 parts: leave one white and add cocoa to the other. Roll out the white marzipan and wrap the second part in it, forming a roll. Top with chocolate.

You can form marzipan candies with a whole nut inside (or other filling).

Color the resulting paste in separate parts in different colors using food coloring (for example, fruit juices). Next, create flat cakes from multi-colored cakes, fold them into a cake and cut everything into squares, diamonds or other shapes.

Figurines

To give the final shape, you need to use your imagination. Due to the plasticity of the product, there are many options.

If desired, you can use special pastry molds. It is enough to form something like a pancake of the required thickness and, using molds, squeeze a figure out of it.

Prepare templates from thick paper or cardboard. Then use a knife to cut out the desired shape along the contour.

Easy to make animal figures. They can be voluminous or simply repeat the silhouette of an animal made from rolled marzipan. Using dyes, add the desired colors.

Animals made from one large ball onto which ears of the desired shape, paws and tail are attached are funny. Thanks to the color and shape of the ears, the animal is recognizable, and the execution is very simple.

It is easy to make figures in the form of fruits or vegetables of various sizes. They can be a stand-alone treat or serve as an addition to another dessert.

Thematic figures: a tree for the New Year holidays, a baby carriage for the birth of a child, a bride and groom for a wedding, fairy-tale or cartoon characters for a children's celebration, etc.

You can create numbers or inscriptions on the cake from marzipan (for example, on your birthday).

Numbers or letters of the alphabet for teaching children in the form of a game.

Flowers

There are also a lot of variations for making flowers:

1. Place the flower completely in one plane. Roll out the marzipan, cut out the petals, the center of the flower (optional, stem and leaves). Arrange the petals around the center and form a flower. Color with the desired colors.
2. Roll out into thin circles of small diameter. Connect them at the base and form a flower bud. Determine the size and number of petals at your own discretion.
3. Roll into a small ball, about 1 cm in diameter. Then roll out flat, long strips. Collect them like an accordion and attach them to the ball. Gradually a lush flower will form.
4. You can prepare a template with the outline of a flower, cut out the desired shape and color it.

Marzipan for cake

Hot marzipan is suitable for filling the cake.

You will need:

• chopped almonds – 350 g;
• powdered sugar – 175 g;
• vanilla extract – 3-5 drops;
• lemon juice – 1 tsp;
• eggs – 2 pcs.

This amount of products will be needed to prepare 700 g of finished marzipan.

Beat the eggs well and add powdered sugar to them.

Place the mixture in a water bath and cook until it reaches the consistency of thick sour cream. Stir constantly while doing this.

Then remove from heat, add the remaining ingredients and stir.

Place the resulting paste on the table, sprinkle with powder and knead until smooth.

Use the paste for decoration while it is still hot. After cooling, it retains the shape it was given.

To make delicious marzipan yourself and preserve it, you need to adhere to the following recommendations:

1. Use only fresh almonds to avoid any rancid taste.
2. The use of bitter almonds is optional. But it is precisely this that helps to reveal the rich, unique taste.
3. Sometimes almonds are poured with boiling water when peeling to speed up the process. This will actually work faster, but the nuts will lose their rich taste, and the oil, on which the plasticity of the mass depends, will be partially washed out.
4. It is recommended to store marzipan in film in the refrigerator.
5. If there is too much sweetness, then some can be frozen. It must be defrosted at room temperature.
6. You can achieve homogeneity of the mass by placing the mixture in a water bath.
7. If the almonds are dry and do not produce enough oil, you can add a little water to the mixture. This will make it more flexible.

Are you preparing for the New Year and Christmas? Are you baking anything? Are there galleries, gingerbread cookies, fragrant cookies in the shape of stars, men, Christmas trees, the month? I have one cool recipe for stollen with marzipan, but I won’t tell you about it yet, I’ll post everything after, where we’ll look at the recipe in detail, sort it out, bake it, try it, then we can blog! But I can tell you about marzipan for stollen! This is a very tasty thing, very simple and fast, and the good thing about making it at home is that you can choose the composition, choose the consistency, the amount of sugar and alcohol, and make it, focusing entirely on your taste! Classic marzipan contains equal parts almonds and powdered sugar, and let me tell you, it’s deadly sweet! I made it once in these proportions, it was very sweet, too much, it almost made me sick, so the next time, repeating the recipe, I reduced the sugar by half, added a little rum, and got an incredibly tasty plastic marzipan with a pronounced nutty taste, in which rum is perfect highlighted the almonds. I got an excellent huge candy for adults; children still don’t want candy with such an alcoholic amber, keep this in mind in advance.

I will tell you about the proportions that completely suited me, and then you can choose what to add, what to reduce, what alcohol to use and in what quantity.

250 gr. raw almonds;

125 gr. powdered sugar;

25-30 gr. yo-ho-ho, a thousand devils, white rum!

I took the almonds raw, not peeled. I poured boiling water over it and left it for half an hour.

After half an hour, the water darkened, the almonds swelled, the skin on them wrinkled, which means they can be peeled.

I carefully cleaned each tonsil. Honestly, this job is not for those who are used to doing everything quickly and in one fell swoop, if you are also used to this, call the whole family to peel the almonds, at least call the children and make sure they don’t eat too much, otherwise the marzipan won’t work later what will it be made of? I kept an eye on mine))

After peeling the almonds, pour them into a spacious heat-resistant form and dry them in an oven preheated to 180 degrees until lightly browned, then cool.

Grind the almonds almost into a paste. I have an eternal history with grinding; I don’t have a cool super-blender, but I do have a small, but incredibly productive and high-quality one with a coffee grinder bowl and corresponding knives, with which I grind coffee, sugar, nuts and seeds. Look how beautiful it turns out:

Then I poured the chopped almonds into a large bowl of another, not so good blender (I have a lot of them, their names are legion, none of them work as well as Tribest)). Added powdered sugar and rum and stirred until everything was well mixed.

Place the resulting mass in a bowl and stir.

I transferred it to parchment paper, rolled it into a sausage shape, and wrapped it in foil. I wrapped it briefly, 15 minutes later I unwrapped it and tried it) Very tasty, simply fantastic!

This marzipan will work great in stollen and in baking in general. Do you know how it opens up? At first it is not very noticeable, especially if we talk about stollen, it is perceived as some kind of filling. But every day it reveals its aromas, permeates the stollen from the inside, the aroma of spices and dried fruits mixes with the aromas of almonds and rum and turns into a bouquet rich in shades! This is why stollens definitely need to rest! Now is the time to make sweet, aromatic marzipan)

Video marzipan!