This is my first attempt at making marzipan. Over the years, I’ve bought a couple of cake decorating books and have always been fascinated by the exquisite cakes displayed. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at making marzipan figures and flowers etc. but time and again, procrastination overpowered my wants. By accident, I stumbled upon ready-made marzipan at Coles and was sorely tempted to buy, but it’s always been my policy: “Why buy when you can make it yourself?”. Only when it’s been proven that it’s more costly to make it yourself, will I buy.
My opportunity finally came when Terence told me he was engaged. I offered to organize an engagement party and bake the engagement cake. Me and my big mouth! :p The journey itself was tiring but fun. Now, I know how much effort goes into making wedding cakes. Just my experimental cake itself took about 4 days before it was ready to be decorated and served! My recipe below is from Jane Price’s “The Home Guide to Cake Decorating”. I highly recommend it as the guidelines are simple and easy to understand, ideal for beginners and those in the intermediate level.
Ingredients:
- 750g icing sugar
- 200g ground almonds / almond meal
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 tbsp sweet sherry
- 2 tsp glycerine
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Almond essence
Method:
- Sift about 500g icing sugar into a big bowl. Mix in the almond meal and make a well in the centre.
- Mix egg yolks, sherry, glycerine, lemon juice and almond essence together in a bow.
- Pour into the well and stir with a knife until stiff.
- Knead until smooth and pliable. Use the remaining icing sugar to dust your hands and the work surface to prevent sticking.
Note:
- I used raw almond meal that’s why my marzipan has got brown specks in it. If you use the normal almond meal you get from the supermarket etc., it’ll come out light yellowish-brownish in colour.
- If you don’t have sweet sherry, try a sweet based alcohol – I used port.
- This recipe is enough to make approximately 1 kg marzipan, which is enough to cover a 9 inch cake.
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