Marzipan — the almond-and-sugar paste of Lübeck

i. Origin & history

Almond-and-sugar sweets almost certainly came to Europe from the Middle East. Sugar and almonds were both prized in the medieval Islamic world, and pastes of ground almonds sweetened with sugar or honey were made in Persia and the Arab lands long before they appear in European records. They reached Europe through Moorish Spain and through Sicily and Venice, the great sugar-trading hubs of the Mediterranean, and by the late Middle Ages almond paste was a luxury of courts and wealthy households, often sold by apothecaries as a medicine as much as a sweet.

The origin of the word is debated. The Italian marzapane is the form from which the German, English and French names descend, but where it came from is uncertain: theories trace it to an Arabic word for a type of box or vessel, to the name of a coin, or to the Latin Marci panis, 'Mark's bread', after Saint Mark, the patron of Venice. The last is a charming folk etymology rather than an established fact. The old English name was marchpane.

In northern Europe, the Hanseatic port cities of Lübeck and Königsberg became famous for marzipan. Lübeck has a popular legend that, during a famine in the fifteenth century, the city's bakers made bread from the only ingredients left in the storehouses — almonds and sugar — and so invented marzipan. It is a story without evidence, but Lübeck's reputation is real: confectioners there were making marzipan by the nineteenth century, including the firm of Johann Georg Niederegger, founded in 1806, and Lübecker Marzipan is now a protected geographical indication in the EU.

Marzipan is sometimes confused with almond paste. In general use, marzipan is the finer, sweeter, smoother product used for eating and modelling, while almond paste (or German Marzipanrohmasse) is coarser, with more almond and less sugar, used as a baking ingredient in fillings and pastries.

ii. Why the almond-to-sugar ratio matters

Marzipan is little more than almonds and sugar, so the ratio between them defines its quality. Commercial German marzipan starts with a raw paste (Rohmasse) of blanched almonds ground with sugar and water and gently heated, which is then mixed with more sugar. German quality rules set limits on how much sugar can be added: Lübecker Edelmarzipan, the finest grade, is made of 90 per cent raw paste and 10 per cent sugar, while standard Lübeck marzipan allows up to 30 per cent added sugar. Cheaper marzipans contain more sugar and taste sweeter and less nutty.

At home there are two main methods. The raw method, used here, simply grinds blanched almonds with icing sugar and binds the mixture with a little liquid — rose water, a spoonful of glucose syrup or egg white. It is quick and gives a fresh, nutty, slightly coarse paste. The cooked method, closer to commercial production, boils sugar to a syrup at about 116 °C and stirs it into ground almonds, giving a smoother, firmer, longer-keeping paste better suited to fine modelling.

The almonds themselves must be blanched (skinned), or the paste will be speckled and slightly bitter. Grinding them with some of the sugar is the key trick: the sugar crystals absorb the oil the almonds release and stop them from turning into almond butter. Over-processed almonds become oily, and the marzipan turns greasy.

Flavour comes from a hint of bitter almond — traditionally a few real bitter almonds, today usually almond extract — and, in older European recipes, rose water. Too much bitter almond is unpleasant, so add it carefully.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 24 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 250 g whole blanched almonds
• 175 g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• 1 tbsp rose water
• ½ tsp almond extract
• 1 tbsp liquid glucose or light corn syrup
• 1 tbsp water, if needed
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder, for marzipan potatoes (optional)

Whole blanched almonds ground at home give the best flavour; ready-ground almonds are a convenient substitute but are slightly coarser and drier. The ratio here, roughly 60 per cent almonds to 40 per cent sugar, gives a marzipan close to the German high-almond style. Rose water is the traditional European flavouring; replace it with water if you prefer a purer almond taste. Glucose syrup keeps the paste smooth and pliable and stops it drying out. Many recipes bind marzipan with raw egg white instead; it works well but should be avoided if the marzipan is for young children, pregnant women or anyone vulnerable.

iv. Method

1. If your almonds are not blanched, pour boiling water over them, leave for 1 minute, drain and slip off the skins. Dry them thoroughly on a tea towel and then in a low oven at 100 °C (210 °F) for 10 minutes, without letting them colour. Cool completely.
2. Put the almonds and half the icing sugar in a food processor and pulse in short bursts until the mixture is a fine, sandy powder. Stop and scrape down the sides often; do not let it turn oily.
3. Add the remaining icing sugar and the salt and pulse to combine.
4. Add the rose water, almond extract and glucose, and pulse until the mixture starts to clump together. If it is still crumbly, add water a teaspoon at a time.
5. Tip onto a surface dusted with icing sugar and knead briefly until smooth and pliable. Do not over-knead, or the almonds will release their oil.
6. Wrap tightly in cling film and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, or overnight, so the texture firms and the flavour develops.
7. Use for modelling, covering cakes or baking. For German marzipan potatoes, roll small pieces into balls, roll them in cocoa powder and prick them with a skewer to resemble potato eyes.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Grind the almonds with sugar. The sugar absorbs the almond oil and gives a fine powder. Almonds ground alone turn into almond butter.
• Pulse, do not run the processor. Continuous blending heats the almonds and makes the paste oily and greasy.
• Add liquid slowly. Marzipan goes from crumbly to sticky very quickly. Add water a teaspoon at a time.
• Dust with icing sugar, not flour. Flour gives a raw taste and dulls the surface when rolling or modelling.
• Wrap it airtight. Marzipan forms a dry crust within an hour exposed to air.
• Colour with gel colours. Liquid colouring makes the paste sticky. Knead in tiny amounts of gel or paste colour, with gloves on.

vi. Variations

Germany's marzipan traditions include Marzipankartoffeln, cocoa-dusted marzipan balls eaten at Christmas; the Marzipanschwein, a little marzipan pig given at New Year for luck; Königsberger Marzipan, with a grilled, browned top; and marzipan as the core of a Christmas Stollen. Persipan is a cheaper substitute made from apricot or peach kernels.

Elsewhere, Spain's mazapán de Toledo is a protected Christmas speciality; Sicily's frutta martorana are marzipan fruits painted to look real; Salzburg's Mozartkugel wraps marzipan and nougat in chocolate. Marzipan covers the British Battenberg cake, fills Dutch gevulde speculaas and is the basis of almond biscuits such as Siena's ricciarelli. In Scandinavia it tops the Swedish prinsesstårta and fills the semla bun.

vii. Serving & storage

Marzipan is eaten in small pieces as a confection, often coated in dark chocolate, with coffee; at Christmas it appears as marzipan potatoes, loaves and figures, and on festive cakes. It is also used rolled out to cover fruit cakes before icing, or grated or chopped into cake batters and pastries.

Homemade marzipan made without egg keeps, tightly wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to a month, and for longer in the freezer — up to three months. Bring it to room temperature before kneading or rolling. Marzipan made with raw egg white should be used within a week. Shaped and chocolate-coated pieces keep in an airtight tin in a cool place for about two weeks.

ix. More from Austrian & German

• Speculaas — Dutch spiced biscuits
• Ricciarelli — Sienese almond biscuits
• Battenberg Cake — marzipan-wrapped sponge
• Prinsesstårta — Swedish princess cake
• Semla — Swedish cream bun
• Punschkrapfen — Viennese rum cakes