What is Marzipan?

As fun to make as it is to say, marzipan (that's mar-zah-pan) can be a filling in desserts or decorations on a cake to add a touch of nutty sweetness. Like many other ingredients with centuries-old histories, its actual origin is a bit mysterious, with some crediting it to Spain, Italy, or Germany and others tracing it further back to the Middle East and China. Given its simple composition, it's no surprise there are regional variants of marzipan and a few similar confections it often gets confused with. The marzipan used in kitchens today is a classic, versatile tool that helps elevate desserts to a sweeter, picture-perfect final product.

What Is Marzipan Made Of?

Marzipan is typically made with ground almonds (or premade almond flour if you don't want to make your own), egg whites, and sugar. In addition to or in place of these ingredients, some marzipan recipes include almond paste, eggs, honey, corn syrup, confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar), caster sugar, water, or almond or vanilla extract.

What Does Marzipan Taste Like?

Marzipan has a sweet, nutty flavor many people find enjoyable. It's generally more palatable than fondant but can taste overwhelmingly sweet depending on the recipe. If you're making your own marzipan, you'll probably want to try a few different recipes to find your preferred consistency and flavor profile.

How Do You Use Marzipan?

Sometimes marketed as almond candy dough, marzipan can be used in the production of baked goods in several ways.

As a decoration. Marzipan can be molded by hand and painted or dyed with food coloring to create miniature interpretations of whatever item is thematically or seasonally appropriate, from fruit and flowers to snowmen and penguins.
As a cake covering. Instead of icing or fondant (which we'll get to later), you can use marzipan to create a smooth finish across the exterior of the cake before it's decorated with the finishing touches.
As a candy filling. The cute-as-a-button decorations mentioned above may be sold individually as their own sweet treat, but chocolate-covered marzipan – usually shaped into a bar or ball – is a popular dessert in Europe, especially around the holidays.

Fondant vs Marzipan

Fondant is usually the go-to choice for professional cake decorating. Although it's technically edible, fondant is also the enemy of many casual wedding guests who have innocently bitten into a beautifully decorated slice of cake unprepared for the unpleasant flavors of the deceiving top layer. If you're not familiar with it, imagine playdough or rubber with a hint of sugar. Marzipan may be too sweet for some, but it's a tastier solution for giving your desserts the smooth, Instagram-worthy finish people expect to see on professional-grade confectioneries made to commemorate birthdays, weddings, and other special events.

Marshmallow fondant is another easy alternative to premade fondant that may make your taste buds happier. It's made with (you guessed it) mini marshmallows, water, powdered sugar, and vegetable shortening, depending on the recipe. Test out marzipan and marshmallow fondant recipes at home to discover which you prefer working with (and, of course, eating, the most important step of any dessert recipe).

Almond Paste vs Marzipan

The difference between almond paste and marzipan depends on where you're located. To keep it simple, they're frequently interchangeable in areas such as Europe; however, in the United States, marzipan is a type of almond paste, but products marketed as almond paste are made with more almonds than the typical batch of marzipan. Almond paste on our side of the pond isn't as sweet or smooth, so it's more suitable as a candy filler or as an ingredient in the cake rather than on the cake. This means almond paste and marzipan are different enough that they shouldn't be substituted for each other without additional research or recipe testing.

How to Make Marzipan

Interested in making your own marzipan? There are plenty of recipes out there, but we're going to share one provided by The Great British Baking Show for the Princess Cake challenge¹ (Season 1, Episode 6: "Continental Cake"). After all, who are we to argue with Queen of Cakes, Mary Berry?

Marzipan Recipe

Ingredients

14 ounces ground almonds (400 grams)
5¹⁄₂ ounces caster sugar (150 grams)
9 ounces powdered sugar, plus extra for dusting (250 grams)
2 medium free-range eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon almond extract

Directions

Mix the ground almonds, caster sugar, and icing sugar together in a stand mixer using the dough hook attachment. Then add eggs and almond extract.
Knead ingredients until a stiff dough forms. Dust a surface with powdered sugar and turn out your dough. Add any desired food coloring, kneading until color is even.
Dust your work surface with powdered sugar again, then roll out marzipan until it is large enough to cover your cake or begin molding marzipan into your desired shapes.

Resources

Prinsesstarta (Princess Cake). PBS. Accessed May 2021.