Gluten free marzipan is not impossible to find, but it ain't easy, either. And it's ridiculously expensive! $8.95 for 11 ounces is not my idea of a good deal on pretty much anything.
But did you know how easy it was to make your very own marzipan in your very own kitchen? Well it's not as easy as, say, not making it, but it's easier than you think. Somewhere in the middle there, you find this gluten free marzipan recipe.
Can you make this homemade marzipan into shapes?
Yes, but why would you?
I thought about (okay, I tried for longer than I really had allocated to the task) to shape this marzipan into all sorts of adorable animals. I think marzipan fruit shapes are creepy but only because I have an unfortunate personal childhood history of marzipan fruit that spent way way WAY too long on display in my home. It does go bad. It DOES.
Anyway, I gave up on the shapes as they weren't gorgeous enough to do justice to this. Instead, I made easy truffles (cream + chocolate = truffles but if you'd like a recipe there's one in my first gluten free cookbookpage 235) and then wrapped them in the result of this marzipan recipe.
How to make gluten free marzipan
All you need is some sugar, water, 1 egg white and some blanched almond flour, then some confectioner's sugar for kneading. You can use whole blanched almonds, and just get a result that is not nearly as smooth. But that's neither here nor there, and entirely up to you.
We're going to cook sugar, but we did that for gluten free licorice, and then lived to tell about it. Right? I took plenty of step-by-step photos for you, but the idea is this: you cook the sugar to create a rich simple syrup.
It has a very high sugar to water ratio, so when you cook it to 240°F (the so-called softball stage) and then whisk it as it cools, it becomes cloudy and appears to thicken.
Then, all that's left to do is to add the almond flour and egg white, cook again briefly over low heat, and then knead in confectioner's sugar until the marzipan becomes smooth.
A small saucepan, whisk, cheap-o instant read candy thermometer and a bench scraper are all the kitchen equipment you need to make marzipan. And it just takes a few minutes.
I've shied away from baking too often with almond paste and marzipan as they're such expensive ingredients. I am happy to report that I am officially over my shyness.
1 cup (112 g) blanched almond flour (or an equal amount, by weight, whole blanched almonds, ground in a food processor)
1 egg white (25 g) at room temperature
1/2 cup (58 g) confectioner’s sugar, plus more if needed
Instructions
Assemble all of the ingredients so that they are within reach.In a small, heavy-bottom saucepan, place the granulated sugar and water and whisk to combine. Attach an instant-read candy thermometer to the side of the pan with the sensor in the mixture and not touching the side or bottom of the pan. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, and then turn the heat to medium-low. Cook, undisturbed, until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (240°F). Remove the saucepan from the heat, and whisk the syrup until it becomes cloudy and almost creamy. Run the bottom of the saucepan under cold water to cool the syrup a bit.
Add the almond flour and the egg white to the syrup, and mix to combine. The mixture will be thick and clumpy. Return the saucepan to the stove and cook over low heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture melts and then thickens (if you run a spatula through the mixture, it will leave a trail). Remove the saucepan from the heat and scrape the marzipan into a medium-sized bowl. Sprinkle the top with some confectioner’s sugar and allow it to cool briefly. Once the marzipan is no longer too hot to handle, scrape it onto a flat surface sprinkled generously with confectioner’s sugar. Using a bench scraper, fold and knead the marzipan until it becomes smooth, dusting with more confectioner’s sugar as necessary to help it hold together.
Press the marzipan into a log or a ball, cover tightly with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until ready to use. It should keep well for about 2 weeks.
Persipan is similar to marzipan but is made out of apricot or peach kernels instead of almonds, and is often used as a substitute in the event of nut allergies.
Marzipan is smooth, sweet, and often dyed and molded into shapes. It's also used to cover sweets much like fondant and is sometimes eaten as is. Almond paste, however, is coarser, less sweet, and used as an ingredient or filling for baked goods.
Yes!Almond Paste and Marzipan are both gluten-free. Pursuant to FDA guidelines, any product containing less than 20 PPM (parts per million) of gluten are in fact gluten-free. Almond Paste and Marzipan each contain less than 5 PPM of gluten, which is the lowest testable limit and far more stringent than FDA standards.
You can use store-bought almond paste to make marzipan but you cannot make almond paste from marzipan. In a pinch, you can substitute marzipan for almond paste, but be sure to reduce the amount of sugar called for in the recipe because marzipan is sweeter than almond paste.
The two products are different enough that, just like those near-doppelgängers cucumbers and zucchini, you shouldn't be swapping them willy-nilly. You can, however, MacGyver marzipan from almond paste by mixing it with additional sugar in the form of powered sugar, simple syrup, and/or corn syrup.
In essence, frangipane is an almond filling, sometimes called frangipane cream. It isn't the same as marzipan, which is an almond-sugar paste that's so dense it can be formed into decorative shapes and painted in bright colors.
Marzipan and almond paste are made from ground almonds and sugar but differ mainly in texture, sweetness, and use. Almond paste is coarser, less sweet, and used as a filling in baked goods. Marzipan is smoother, sweeter, and often used for decorative purposes in confectionery, such as cake covering and sculpting.
German marzipan is made by grinding whole almonds with sugar and partially drying the paste, and French marzipan (called 'massepain') is made by combining ground almonds with sugar syrup. Some marzipan is flavoured with rosewater. Spanish marzipan is made without bitter almonds.
Eating a large amount of marzipan, such as 200 grams, in one sitting is not recommended due to its high sugar and calorie content. Marzipan is made primarily from ground almonds and sugar, which means it is dense in calories and can lead to rapid spikes in blood sugar levels if consumed in excess.
Marzipan comes from nuts—it's traditionally made with ground almonds. In order to maintain quality standards, many countries regulate the percentage of almonds a recipe must have for it to be legally called "marzipan." This discourages the use of apricot kernels as a cheap substitute for almonds.
Lubeca has been producing marzipan since 1904. The company continues to use traditional methods of production and is recognized by bakers, pastry chefs and chocolatiers as one of the leading producers of high quality almond paste marzipan.
Nix them when you cook, and look for them on food labels: Nut butters: Almond, cashew, peanut, and others. Nut pastes. These include products like marzipan, almond paste, and nougat.
let cream cheese come to room temp, Cream in sugar until super creamy,gently mix in egg yolk and imitation almond flavoring until smooth. Use in any recipe that calls for almond paste.
Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal (ground almonds), sometimes augmented with almond oil or extract. It is often made into sweets; common uses are chocolate-covered marzipan and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables.
To cover a Christmas cake with marzipan, you'll need the cake, some marzipan and a glaze to help the marzipan stick to the cake. Apricot glaze is popular, but marmalade makes a great alternative as the orange flavour echoes the flavours in the Christmas cake.
If you use strawberry jam, thin it out with water and gently heat it in the microwave preferably until it boils. This is to kill off any microbes in the jam. Sieve it nice and smooth to get rid of any lumpy bits. Alternatively, you could make a little sugar syrup, cool and use instead.
Hobby: Shopping, Table tennis, Snowboarding, Rafting, Motor sports, Homebrewing, Taxidermy
Introduction: My name is Duncan Muller, I am a enchanting, good, gentle, modern, tasty, nice, elegant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
