Marzipan Week
With its unique texture and delicate almond flavor, marzipan is a delicious treat — perfect for those with a sweet tooth!
Marzipan Week is something that was created by Niederegger, which is the leading brand of marzipan worldwide. The company was established back in 1806 in Northern Germany, and they have been hosting a Marzipan Week for a number of years now. The week is designed purely to be a celebration of all things marzipan. You can make marzipan figurines, enjoy marzipan cocktails (yes, you read that right, and we’ll give you some ideas below!), and of course, feast on delicious marzipan cakes and patisseries.
What Is Marzipan?
Marzipan is a mixture that has a candy-like feel to it. It is created by mixing ground almonds with egg whites, corn syrup, and sugar. It tends to be associated with baking over the festive period, as it is regularly folded into festive shapes and is a common feature on Christmas cakes. However, it can be enjoyed at any time of year, with a lot of cakes and desserts calling for its addition, meaning Marzipan Week gives you the perfect time to indulge in this delicious and sweet treat.
History of Marzipan Week
There are two stories when it comes to the origin of marzipan. However, it’s not that one is false and the other is accurate; it could be that the stories are complementary. This is because there have always been cooking influences and trade in the Mediterranean. Other sources believe that China is the origin of marzipan. From here, it is believed that the recipe then moved onto the Middle East, and then it made its way to Europe.
On the Niederegger website, they seem to follow the belief that we have the Orient lands to thank for the introduction of marzipan. They state that Rhazes, a Persian doctor, who was born in 850, wrote a book in which he touted the mixture of sugar and almonds as a remedy.
Interesting Facts About Marzipan
- The biggest pistachio marzipan in the world weighed a massive 4.1984 tonnes. It was made at an event in Syria on the 1st of July in 2003, and it required 225 chefs in order to make marzipan this big!
- In terms of the longest bar of marzipan, this comes in at a massive 22 meters and 54 cm. This was achieved by the children at Denmark’s Schuberts Minde Treatment Centre in 2011.
- The tallest sculpture made out of marzipan is 3.59 m. This was achieved in 2016 in Spain. The sculpture is designed to represent the statue of Miguel de Cervantes’ ‘Don Quixote de la Mancha’.
- Marzipan should have no more than 10 percent moisture content. This is how the softness is achieved, getting the right balance between the liquid and solid components.
- Marzipan may taste amazing but it offers health benefits too. It is good for brain activity. This is because a lot of lecithin is found in the almonds, which stimulates the nerve cells.
Make Your Own Marzipan
One of the ways to observe Marzipan Week is to attempt to make your own marzipan. We have an easy vanilla marzipan recipe to help you get started.
Ingredients
- Two eggs, beaten
- Seeds scraped from one vanilla pod
- 450g ground almond
- 280g icing sugar, which is to be sifted. You will also need a bit extra for kneading and rolling out.
- 175g golden caster sugar
How to make your own marzipan
The first thing you need to do is grab a big bowl and mix the almonds and sugars together. You should then rub the vanilla seeds until even.
Make a well in the middle of the mixture. Add in the citrus juice and the eggs. Use a cutlery knife to cut the wet ingredients into the dry.
Use icing sugar to dust your surface. Knead the marzipan mixture briefly with your hands, creating a smooth dough. It is really important to make sure you don’t overdo it, as this can result in the mixture getting greasy. If it seems too wet, add some more icing sugar.
Shape the mixture into a ball. Wrap it and keep it in a cool area until you are ready to use it to cover a cake.
You can make marzipan up to two days in advance.
How to celebrate Marzipan Week
There are a number of different things that you can do during Marzipan Week. Of course, we have already given you one suggestion: make your marzipan. However, what else can you do in order to pay tribute to this delicious treat?
- Host a marzipan themed afternoon tea – One of the best ways to celebrate Marzipan Week is to get all of your friends around and host a marzipan afternoon tea. You can serve an array of different cakes and treats that use marzipan. You can also serve marzipan cocktails for everyone to enjoy as well. This is a great way to spend time catching up with your friends and enjoying everything that is great about marzipan.
- Make marzipan cocktails – We are sure you have been dying to know about the different marzipan cocktails you can create In fact, if you take a look online, you will see that there are a lot of different marzipan-based cocktail ideas, so you will have plenty of options to choose from. We’re going to tell you about two that we stumbled upon. First, we have the Marzipan Old Fashioned. To make this, you will need marzipan syrup, sherry, tequila, and mezcal. Another cocktail that we have fallen in love with is the Marzipan Dream Cocktail. This consists of egg white, vanilla, amaretto, and bourbon, with chocolate syrup used for drizzling. The cocktail tastes just like a sweet bite of marzipan.
- Make some marzipan desserts and cakes – There are so many different desserts and cakes that can be created that incorporate this ingredient. We’ve got some examples for you below…
- Battenberg cake
- Plum and marzipan pie
- Marzipan and cranberry baked apples
- Marzipan Eccles tarts
- Chocolate, pear, and marzipan strudel
- Citrus, marzipan, and rhubarb cake
- Plum and marzipan tart tatin
- Apricot and marzipan twist
