uses for marzipan

[pastrygirl]

I have several kg of decent enough but pretty sweet marzipan leftover from Christmas and need ideas for using it up, besides just dipping it all in chocolate. Not that chocolate would be bad, but I need more ideas than just that.

Any ideas/good recipes for cakes, cookies, petit fours, etc? Or how to do a soft marzipan filling that could be piped into molded shells? I had one such bonbon back home last summer, maybe a little cream, white chocolate, and marzipan?

[andiesenji]

Roll it out and lay it on top of pastry, crimp the edges up to make a rim, then top with poached dried apricots (or other dried fruits) top with a clear fruit glaze and bake for 40 minutes or so, until the pastry is done at 350 F.

Or roll out and line little tart shells and fill with fruits, etc.

Use as a filling in croissants, puff pastry, rolled and layered between chocolate cake with raspberry jam, orange marmalade or other preserve that marries well with almonds.

My recipe for a fancy bread pudding, made with brioche rolls that are filled with marzipan is here and it uses quite a bit of marzipan. Or you can do a similar type thing without the custard.

I love marzipan but I'm allergic to chocolate and while I can prepare it for others, can't eat it myself but it always smells so heavenly.

I've just been reading a book of 16th & 17th century cookery and they put "marchpane" on all kinds of things. No wonder they lost their teeth early, they consumed a lot of sugary stuff.

Edited March 30, 2009 by andiesenji (log)

[alanamoana]

you could use the marzipan to make a frangipane filling by just reducing the sugar in the recipe. butter, marzipan, eggs some flour. this can be used in about a zillion things. filling danish, baked into a tart shell and then topped with fresh fruit, etc. you can use it to make a sort of macaroon cookie...

[JeanneCake]

Princess Cake!

Sponge cake split, spread with raspberry jam, then a layer of pastry cream; the other layer of sponge, then an upturned bowl shape of whipped cream or wh choc mousse, then freeze. Roll and drape the marzipan over it. Usually the marzipan is tinted a pastel shade, and there's a rose in the center and a dusting of confectioners sugar....

[pastrygirl]

Almond croissants or frangipane would be good. The season for small, mediocre fruit is almost upon us , there will be tarts.

I made some 70% shells and filled them with a mix of marzipan, white chocolate, and hot cream blended in the food processor. They are still runny this morning, I think they need more marzipan but have potential, will keep working on them.

[Chris Hennes]

Marzipan can also make a quite classy covering for a carrot cake: just put it over the top of a thin layer of traditional cream cheese frosting. I like to do the top of the cake with marzipan and the side with toasted hazelnuts.

[Catherine Iino]

In Baking with Julia there's a terrific recipe for a dense almond cake--made as a wedding cake--that uses almond paste in the batter. I think you could use marzipan instead, perhaps with a slight adjustment in the sugar. Even though marzipan is supposed to be sweeter than almond paste, I don't find a huge difference.

[chiantiglace]

can you turn it into frangipane?

[alanamoana]

Marzipan can also make a quite classy covering for a carrot cake: just put it over the top of a thin layer of traditional cream cheese frosting. I like to do the top of the cake with marzipan and the side with toasted hazelnuts.

←

been using your bo friberg books?!

[The Old Foodie]

I have a great recipe for a marzipan cake - a kind of pound cake idea with grated marzipan in the mixture, and some Amaretto liqueur. Adapted from a magazine (forget which) several years ago.

pm me if you want it - not sure of the copyright issues.

On another note - this is my first post in a long while - been too busy with a lot of things to risk the distraction here. It is good to be back.

[Mette]

I have a great recipe for a marzipan cake - a kind of pound cake idea with grated marzipan in the mixture, and some Amaretto liqueur. Adapted from a magazine (forget which) several years ago.

pm me if you want it - not sure of the copyright issues.

On another note - this is my first post in a long while - been too busy with a lot of things to risk the distraction here. It is good to be back.

←

Traditional danish 'kransekage'? Very tasty, and you don't have to do all the complicated constructioin, just make the logs as described, bake, add som royal icing decorations and EAT (is better and chewier after a short stay in the freezer - keeps for a long time, but not around here )

[pastrygirl]

Traditional danish 'kransekage'? Very tasty, and you don't have to do all the complicated constructioin, just make the logs as described, bake, add som royal icing decorations and EAT (is better and chewier after a short stay in the freezer - keeps for a long time, but not around here  )

←

Wow, that is one intense cake!

[Amy Eber]

Odense website has a lot of recipes.

http://www.odense.com/

[pastrygirl]

Thanks for all the ideas. I've decided this marzipan that I have is weird stuff. If I add just a little liquid it gets totally soupy, I'm thinking it is far more sugar than almonds (no % listed). Admittedly, I haven't baked much with marzipan, just almond paste for frangipane. We did have some leakage from improperly sealed stollen at Christmas, does normal marzipan melt and ooze when hot?

I tried Ann Amernick's wellingtons, which were disastrous, and a test batch of frangipane that was a little too loose but I can fix that. Today's test recipe of bonbon filling is a winner, I think: 200 g marzipan, 75 g white chocolate, 50 g butter, and 2 TB amaretto made smooth and gooey in the food processor. Soft enough to pipe and self leveling when just blended, but crusted over for bottoming pretty quickly. I did not even melt the white chocolate, the friction of blending was sufficient.