AuthorBen WatsonCategorySpring, SweetWe only tend to use it at Christmas but marzipan is wonderful stuff and incredibly easy to make. Easter is on the horizon and if you’re Simnel cake inclined, homemade marzipan is so much better than shop bought. Well chilled, you can grate it into Hot X buns and tea cakes. It’s really not hard either and it doesn’t have to be ultra sweet. Many recipes call for orange zest but a few spoonful's of marmalade are so much easier. Most home made recipes call for egg as a binding tool but the marmalade does much the same thing.
Sift the sugars into a food processor and mix with the ground almonds.
Add the marmalade and pulse a few times. Tip/scrape onto a work surface and knead together until uniformly smooth and soft. Don’t make the paste too wet, otherwise it will be too sticky to roll, so, if you think that’s the case just add an extra tablespoon of ground almonds, or flour if you’re not feeling too purist.
Wrap in cling film or a plastic bag and store in the fridge – without the eggs, it will keep for months.
If you come across some real bargain oranges and lemons a win-win is to make your own candied peel. You need to scoop out the flesh with my gift to mankind (the sharpened spoon – see my Oscar winning performance on YouTube here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2znwfSUvaM
The skins need gentle simmering to get rid of excessive pithy bitterness but the resulting liquid makes a great base for homemade lemon cordial. My rule of thumb is a kilo of citrus fruit (pulp removed), all simmered in a litre of water for twenty minutes. Pour through a sieve, remove the skins for candying (they will need a couple more boils in fresh water) and press as much of the juice through with the back of a spoon.
Bring back to the simmer with a kilo of sugar and a litre of lemon juice. I have used bottled lemon juice but freshly squeezed is obviously preferable. Bottle in sterile containers while hot and store in the fridge or pasteurise in a water bath.
Ingredients
Directions
Sift the sugars into a food processor and mix with the ground almonds.
Add the marmalade and pulse a few times. Tip/scrape onto a work surface and knead together until uniformly smooth and soft. Don’t make the paste too wet, otherwise it will be too sticky to roll, so, if you think that’s the case just add an extra tablespoon of ground almonds, or flour if you’re not feeling too purist.
Wrap in cling film or a plastic bag and store in the fridge – without the eggs, it will keep for months.
If you come across some real bargain oranges and lemons a win-win is to make your own candied peel. You need to scoop out the flesh with my gift to mankind (the sharpened spoon – see my Oscar winning performance on YouTube here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2znwfSUvaM
The skins need gentle simmering to get rid of excessive pithy bitterness but the resulting liquid makes a great base for homemade lemon cordial. My rule of thumb is a kilo of citrus fruit (pulp removed), all simmered in a litre of water for twenty minutes. Pour through a sieve, remove the skins for candying (they will need a couple more boils in fresh water) and press as much of the juice through with the back of a spoon.
Bring back to the simmer with a kilo of sugar and a litre of lemon juice. I have used bottled lemon juice but freshly squeezed is obviously preferable. Bottle in sterile containers while hot and store in the fridge or pasteurise in a water bath.