teas.co.uk
Tea and coffee from the brands you know
How is marzipan made?
Marzipan has been made in Europe for centuries, and its recipe is simple: almonds and sugar. But how it is made, and how much almond goes in, varies a great deal. Here is how marzipan is made, the rules on named kinds such as Lübeck and Toledo marzipan, and how it ends up on British cakes.
Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Marzipan is a confection made mainly from sugar and almond meal, which is ground almonds, sometimes with almond oil or almond extract added. It can also be made from other nuts, or from apricot or peach kernels instead of almonds.
How it is made
There are two classic methods:
- German marzipan is made by grinding whole almonds with sugar and partly drying the paste.
- 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, and in the United States bitter almonds are not used at all, because their import is banned: they contain a substance related to cyanide. Sugar free marzipan can be made by replacing the sugar with polyols such as maltitol: see sugar free sweets and polyols
How much almond?
Almond content matters. Two European marzipans have protected status:
- Lübeck marzipan, from the old Hanseatic port in Germany, where makers such as Niederegger still guarantee two thirds almonds by weight, said to give marzipan of the highest quality.
- Toledo marzipan, from Spain, where almonds must make up at least 50 per cent of the total weight.
At the other end, some products sold as marzipan are made from cheaper materials such as soy paste and almond essence, and scientists can use genetic tests to tell real almonds from substitutes at levels below one per cent.
What it is made into
Marzipan is often made into sweets, such as chocolate covered marzipan and small marzipan imitations of fruit and vegetables, and in some countries into little animals for Christmas or New Year. In the United Kingdom it is also used on cakes. Christmas cake is covered with marzipan under white icing; the Easter simnel cake has a layer of marzipan inside and another on top, lightly toasted; and Battenberg cake, which originates in England, is wrapped in marzipan.
An old sweet
Marzipan's history is disputed. It is documented earlier in Italian than in any other language, Toledo's first written reference dates from 1512, and it may have come from the parts of Spain that were Al Andalus. In England it was known as marchpane, a word that appears in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: see what is the oldest sweet in Britain?
Allergens
Marzipan is made from almonds, a tree nut and one of the 14 allergens that must be declared: see which sweets contain nuts?
Citable formats
For journalists, researchers, AI assistants and content creators. Pick the format you need:
Free to cite, quote, and reuse with attribution to sweeties.net.
Questions and answers
How is marzipan made?
Almonds are ground with sugar into a paste. In the German method, whole almonds are ground with sugar and the paste is partly dried; in the French method, called massepain, ground almonds are mixed with sugar syrup. Some marzipan is flavoured with almond oil, almond extract or rosewater.
How much almond is in marzipan?
It varies. Makers in Lübeck, such as Niederegger, guarantee two thirds almonds by weight, while Toledo marzipan must be at least 50 per cent almonds. Some cheaper products sold as marzipan use soy paste and almond essence instead.
Is marzipan safe for a nut allergy?
No. Marzipan is made from almonds, a tree nut and one of the 14 allergens. Some versions are made from other nuts, or from apricot or peach kernels, so always check the label.
Sources
- Marzipan, Wikipedia
- Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011, Annex II, legislation.gov.uk
Keep reading
- Questions people askWhat is the oldest sweet in Britain?Comfits, sugared seeds and nuts, are among the oldest sweets. The Pontefract cake stamp dates from 1612, and humbugs are recorded from the 1820s.
- Questions people askWhich sweets contain nuts?Nougat, marzipan, brittle, chocolate peanuts and some Turkish delight contain nuts. Peanuts and tree nuts are separate allergens, and labels must show them.
- Diet, allergens and labelsNuts and pick and mixNut sweets such as nougat, marzipan and chocolate peanuts can sit beside other loose sweets. What that means for nut allergies, and what to ask before you buy.
- How it is madeHow is nougat made?White nougat is whipped egg white sweetened with sugar or honey, mixed with nuts or fruit, left to harden and cut. The recipe goes back to 10th century Baghdad.
- Diet, allergens and labelsSugar free sweets and polyolsSugar free means 0.5 g of sugars or less per 100 g. Such sweets commonly use polyols, counted at 2.4 kcal a gram. The polyols compared, and the catches.
- How it is madeHow are sweets made?Most sweets start as sugar syrup boiled to a set temperature, from about 112°C for fudge to 160°C for hard sweets. The stages, the methods and some history.