Marzipan: It goes between the cake and the icing

December 17, 4:29 PMPasco County Food ExaminerSusan Slade

Previous Next

6 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Pasco County Food Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

I believe this is one I made 45 years ago.

Once your Christmas cake has matured, around 6 weeks, it is then time to cover it in marzipan.

You will need:

8 ounces of ground almonds

4 ounces of caster sugar (if not granulated will do but it will be a little rougher)

4 ounces of icing (powdered) sugar,

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

6-8 drops of almond essence

In a bowl mix the ground almonds with the caster sugar, icing sugar, egg yolks, and almond essence. Work it together until it forms a ball, but do not over knead it.

Coat the top and sides of the Christmas cake with the beaten egg whites. Roll out half of the marzipan, using icing sugar on the rolling pin, and underneath the marzipan, to form a circle. It should be the size of the top of the cake. One trick I always use is to turn the cake upside down, so that the top is on the bottom, and then lay it on the marzipan. This way you just have to trim around the top of the cake.

Roll the remainder of the marzipan to form a strip that will go around the sides of the cake. Again you can put the cake on it's side and just roll it around. Take off any extra pieces with a knife. Make sure you join the ends together without overlapping them.

I know if this is the first time working with marzipan, it may take a lot of handling, but if it is rolled too much, then the marzipan may turn oily. That is why it is suggested that the marzipan needs to be on the cake for 48 hours before applying the Royal Icing.

If there is any marzipan left it can always be used to make decorations for the top of the cake. As children we used to make holly leaves and berries with it. We always had red and green coloring.  Put the left over marzipan in waxed paper so it doesn't dry out.

The Royal Icing to complete the cake will be coming up shortly. The Christmas Cake recipe,