Homemade marzipan is super easy and tastes great. It can be made as coarse or fine as you want it and almonds can be used with or without skin. If you like you can even make it completely or partly with other nuts / seeds and flavorings like chili, vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon, finely grated orange- or lemon zest etc..
The picture below shows a very coarse version which I use. use as cake base.
Ingredients:
500 gr almonds
6-8 bitter almonds or apricot kernels
4 tbsp honey or syrup – i.e.. maple syrup
6-8 tablespoons rum (Alternatively, other spirits, juice or just water – an intense marzipan taste
is obtained by using Amaretto)
How to:
If you like, you can remove the skins from the almonds first – I do not usually, but sometimes you want a pale marzipan. The easiest way to remove the skin is by cobering the almond with boiling water, let it sit for a few minutes, drain and refill with fresh boiling water. Let sit for a few minutes again and then 'pinch' them out of the skin.
The almonds are chopped in a food processor until they have a consistency as coarse flour – try the recipe a few times to see which consistency you like best. I think that this marzipan must be more coarse than the regular store bought marzipan.
Syrup / honey is added and it it is given at few more spins.
Add spirits (or whatever you have chosen to use) and run the foodprocessor again until the mass is slightly coherent – not too much though. The mixture should be slightly sticky, maybe there a little more fluid needs to be added – depends on how finely you chopped the almonds and how large spoonfuls of syrup / honey was used.
Scrape the mixture into a bowl and squeeze it together so that it becomes a cohesive lump.
Cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge.
When the mass is cold it has a consistency somewhat reminiscent of the storebought marzipan and it is easy to shape it into whatever you like.
It tastes amazing as it is. maybe some. rolled into balls that are dipped in a good quality dark chocolate – but it can be used just like the marzipan you buy both for confectionery, desserts and cakes – this version just tastes better ;o)
