How To Use Marzipan

This is how to use marzipan. Marzipan is a very versatile paste. It's made of ground almonds, sugars, and the homemade versions may contain egg.

To be called a marzipan, it has to contain at least 25% almonds otherwise it's known as almond paste. You can either make your own marzipan or you can buy commercially made marzipans. With marzipan, you have to keep it well-wrapped otherwise the air will make the surface dry and it becomes useable.

Homemade marzipan should be kept in the fridge. Wrap it well in a thick bag and place it in a Tupperware box. Commercial marzipans don't need to be refrigerated because they contain preservatives.

Homemade marzipan will last in the fridge for up to a week. Once you've either made decorations or you've covered a cake with it, because it then starts to dry, the absence of moisture extends the keeping time so it would last to about 8 weeks. The commercial marzipans normally have a shelf life of about 12 months but once you've turned it into either decorations or covered a cake, I would then suggest using it within 8 weeks.

Once you've made decorations such as these from marzipan, you can keep them in the box for up to 8 weeks. Don't use Tupperware or tin because they can sweat and the moisture can cause the marzipan to mold and go off. Instead, you want to store them in a cardboard cake box and to leave with greaseproof paper.

This will allow the air to get around and the decorations will stay perfect for up to 8 weeks. Marzipan can also be used in baking. You can add it to cookies, cupcakes and muffins.

You can add marzipan to homemade chocolates and to truffles. It's a traditional ingredient in a similar cake so it has many uses in baking. In cake decorating, you can shape it, you can mold it, you can cut out decorations to make flowers, you can use molds to create virtually any type of shape.

You can create bows, bees, pencils, whatever you like. It can be colored and it can be shaped and then it holds its shape. You can use more sophisticated techniques to create things like babies or elephants.

Marzipan can also be used in sweetened candy making. You can use it as an ingredient when you're making truffles, when you're making chocolates or it can be shaped into one of the most traditional marzipans with marzipan fruits. Many families' Christmas would not be complete without a box of marzipan fruits.

Marzipan is traditionally used for coating fruitcakes for icing. It can be rolled out and you can use it as a cake covering on its own. But more traditionally, if you've covered a cake, you would then use various forms of icing over the top such as sugar paste, royal icing, or even butter cream.

You can add chocolate to marzipan to create a chocolate marzipan. The chocolate marzipan can be shaped in much the same way, for example, our chocolate here. But chocolate marzipan is also a vital ingredient when you're creating sophisticated chocolate wedding cakes.

You use it to cover the cake and this adds stability and a firm base to the rest of the chocolate decorations. So, that's how to use marzipan.