marzipan-msg - 7/25/10

Use of marzipan (almond paste) in sotelties in both period and the SCA. Working
with marzipan. Example marzipan sotelties.

(Sotelties are sculptures made from edible ingredients but not always intended to be eaten or even safe to eaten.)

NOTE: See also the files: almond-milk-msg, sotelties-msg, nuts-msg, sugar-msg,
sugar-paste-msg, gingerbread-msg, gilded-food-msg, candy-msg, p-fd-coloring-msg.

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    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Platina's "Pie Which They Call Marzipan" (VIII. 48)

"... They are of the best nourishment, are well digested, help the chest,
kidneys, and liver, increase fertility, arouse passion, and remove burning
of the urine."


Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997 08:54:40 -0500
From: L Herr-Gelatt and J R Gelatt <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - badge malfunction PLUS Marzipan

Here's a hint, folks: when making marzipan, the best grind is either by hand
in a mortar/pestle (but you risk getting almonds that oil before you're
finished, from the  pressing/crushing action of the pestle), and the next
best is the  coffee mill. It's quick---no oiling. I had to resort to a
handblender with a chopper attachment (since a normal blender's or food
processor blades can't get them to grind small enough). The result was
useable, but my marzipan sculpture had a rough quality reminiscent of cheap
play clay. So my St. George was rather Mister Bill-like, and the dragon was
pretty good (he needed to look disreputable). My Damsel was dismal, because
I couldn't get a good texture to simulate hair. Normally I would have
pressed the marzipan through a coarse mesh to get hair-like fine spaghetti
for hair, but the almond paste was too coarse due to the coffee mill failure.

The Bride and Groom, who resembled (roughly) St. George and the Damsel, were
delighted, however, so I guess that's what counted. By the way, Gold leaf
will stick to fresh Marzipan (still damp-ish) with no additional stick-um
needed. If the Marzipan has sat a while, it needs to be misted with water or
painted with sugar syrup (thanks Ras) to get the gold leaf to stick. My St.
George had gold-leaf flecking his blonde hair, since I couldn't figure out
how to make a halo. We did his celtic cross in gold-leaf-flecks on yellow,
too. Plus, silver shot (for cooking---those little silver balls) makes great
dragon-toenails! With the green dragon's spine-ridge and ribs picked out in
gold-leaf, he was a favorite. I had quite a few complaints that he was
slayed though. They didn't like the spear sticking out of his side (complete
with gore)! I guess I've lost all credibility with the Reptilian Brigade. 

Ah well. Back to the pastry-board.

Aoife. 


Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 10:11:59 +0100
From: "Yeldham, Caroline S" <csy20688 at GlaxoWellcome.co.uk>
Subject: SC - RE: Marzipan/Marchpane

Stefan li Rous said
> Yes, I believe Marzipan is period and was used in this way. I think it
> is just ground almonds.

        Marzipan or marchpane was used to make subtleties, amongst other
things.  However, its not just ground almonds.  Its half ground almonds,
half finely pounded sugar, mixed with egg to make a paste.  The paste is
then used rather like modelling clay to make whatever shapes you want, and
painted appropriately.  One thing to note is that which bit of the egg you
add to the powder mixture affects how mouldable the final mixture is.  Egg
yolk or whole egg makes the mixture taste better, but the paste won't mould
as finely as when you add egg white.

        It's OOP but if you want really finely moulded marzipan (not edible)
- - replace some of the sugar with cornflour - that works very well.  We did
it once when we ran out of sugar.

Caroline


Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 17:16:34 -0800
From: "Crystal A. Isaac" <crystal at pdr-is.com>
Subject: Re: SC - RE: Marzipan/Marchpane

Yeldham, Caroline S wrote:
>         Marzipan or marchpane was used to make subtleties, amongst other
> things.  However, its not just ground almonds.  Its half ground almonds,
> half finely pounded sugar, mixed with egg to make a paste.  The paste is

The recipes I have seen and used contain almonds, sugar and rosewater
(sometimes orange flower water). I grind the (blanched and peeled)
almonds in a eletric food processor, add slightly less sugar (grind
again) and enough rosewater to help it stick together (grind more). I've
found that putting the blanched and peeled almonds in a hot oven for a
minute to dry them seems to help the consitency of the marzipan.

I was never very good with play-dough so I usally make small balls,
squash them flat and bake. If you try this at home, use baker's paper
(parchment?) on your cookie sheets. Evil, sticky things will happen if
you do not.

Artistically Talented people who want to make cool things with marzipan
should look at "Banquetting Stuffe" edited by C. Anne Wilson. IIRC,
there is an essay on the forms and uses of marzipan in mid/late english
renissance.

There was a TI article about marchpane some time ago, but I do not
remember who wrote it.

Humm, re-reading my post I noticed that I use marchpane and marzipan
interchangably. Is there a difference?

Crystal of the Westermark


Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 15:44:26 -0600 (CST)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Re: Marzipan/Marchpane

Greetings!  Crystal noted that there was a T.I. article about marzipan
a while ago and wondered who wrote it.  I did.  I may well have it
stored in my computer, so if someone wants an e-mail copy, post me
privately so I can post you back off your request.

I, too, have wondered if there is a technical difference between
marzipan and marchpane.  (Haven't looked it up in the OED.  Anyone own
one??)  _I_ use marzipan to mean the almond/sugar/liquid mixture and
marchpane to refer to marzipan made _into_ a marchpane.  That's a layer
of marzipan put on wafers, or on a wafer, usually with a raised edge to
the marzipan, and then baked.  The marchpane can be iced with "icing"
(sugar and rosewater) to give a coating that looks like "ice".
"Thingies" can be placed on top of the marchpane...Figures sculpted of
marzipan or sugarpaste, a bush made from a branch of rosemary, a
sculpted building, etc.  Marchpanes could be small or huge.  They were
the center of the "banquet" (the dessert course) in Elizabethan and
Stuart times.  They also were necessary components (if memory serves)
for funerals and wedding foods.

Alys Katharine


Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 13:28:38 -0400
From: "Gedney, Jeff" <Gedney.J at phd.com>
Subject: RE: SC - Marzipan for Sotelties

> Does anyone have a good recipe for soteltie-grade marzipan that can be
> sculpted in the round?  The stuff I've come up with is great for bas-reliefs,
> but doesn't stand up very well.
>
> Rudd Rayfield

I have had good success with store bought varieties
they are generally two types of almond paste products, one is labelled
"Marzipan", and one is labelled "Almond Paste"
The almond paste is coarser grained and does not color or sculpt well.
Be sure to get the "Marzipan".
also make sure that the Marzipan is fresh, by squeezing the tube, and
making sure it is pliable.
Some of the stuff in stores is older than T Rex! (the band OR the
dinosaur, take your pick!)

For those who do not have a lot of experience with this medium, here are
a few notes:
If the marzipan is too loose to work with, then quickly knead in some
confectioners sugar.
Work fast! The surfaces harden and start to crack quickly, and cannot be
easily restored.  Put as fine a coating of vegetable oil on the hands as
possible (Too much will loosen the Marzipan), or dust them liberally
with confectioners sugar. Do not spray or brush with water if it dries
out, if possible, just quickly knead it until pliable(or it crumbles).
Keep whatever you are not working with wrapped completely in plastic.
If you have kept it in the fridge, knead it until warm enough to work IN
THE PLASTIC WRAPPING. The less time exposed to air, the better the
results.
Practice, practice, practice!

The best Roses I made for a cake I made with marzipan!! (until I got
into gum paste, which I do not believe to be period!)

Speaking of recipes, a while ago, a period recipe for "sugar paste" was
posted. Could someone reprise that one? I lost the original.

brandu


Date: Tue, 9 Jun 1998 17:55:45 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com (Elise Fleming)
Subject: SC - Re: Marzipan for Sotelties

Brandu wrote:
>The best Roses I made for a cake I made with marzipan!! (until I got
>into gum paste, which I do not believe to be period!)
>
>Speaking of recipes, a while ago, a period recipe for "sugar paste"
>was posted. Could someone reprise that one? I lost the original.

Yes, gum paste is period - late Tudor/Elizabethan, and probably earlier in Italy. 

One comment on sculpting with marzipan - Keep in mind that it might also have been put over an armature, that not the entire thing would have been edible, especially if one is dealing with a large item. Mashing marzipan (catchy song title!) onto an armature would require less stiff marzipan. 

Alys Katharine


Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 07:00:00 -0800
From: varmstro at zipcon.net (Valoise Armstrong)
Subject: SC - Welser marzipan part 1 (long) was Re: Puck's marzipan

I've been following this thread with great interest but haven't commented
since most all of my books are still in storage. I did have Sabina Welserin
on my hard drive and remembered that there was also a marzipan on wafer
recipe in it. There is a confusing section about the box, which I do not
completely understand, maybe it's to store the finished marzipan?

The second recipe I've included just as an example of baking a marzipan
confection on paper.
I'm including the German in a second post as it's pretty long

Valoise

22   If you would make good marzipan

   First take a half pound of almonds and soak them overnight in cold well
water, take them out in the morning. Next pound them well until they become
oily, pour a little rose water on them and pound them further. When they
become oily again, then pour a little more rose water thereon. Do this
until they no longer become oily. And pound the almonds as small as
possible. After that take a half pound of sugar, pound not quite all of it
in, leaving a little left over. Next, when the almonds and sugar are
pounded well together, put them in a bowl, take the lid from a small box,
loosen the rim completely, so that it can be detached and put back on
again, however leave the lid and the rim together.  Take wafers and make
them about as wide as a pastry shell, very round. Spread the almond paste
described above with the fingers onto the wafers, moistening the fingers
with rose water and dipping the almond paste into the sugar, which you have
kept in reserve. After that, when you have spread it out evenly with your
hands, take the sugar that you have reserved and sprinkle it through a
sieve evenly over the marzipan. And take a small brush and dip it in rose
water and sprinkle the marzipan overall, so that the sugar is dissolved.
Then let it bake. Check it often, so that it is not burnt. It should be
entirely white. The amount of a half pound is necessary, so that the oil
remains.

51   Almond chanterelles

   Pound the almonds, as you would to make marzipan, put sugar thereon, but
not too much, take after that the chanterelle mushroom mold, clean it and
take a small brush, dip it in almond oil and brush the mold with it, also
with a brush of rose water. And put the almond paste into the mushroom mold
and blow through the tube [so that the almond mushroom falls] onto a sheet
of paper, and let it bake in a tart pan and sprinkle it with starch flour,
then they will be white.


Date: Sat, 6 Mar 1999 07:35:07 -0800
From: varmstro at zipcon.net (Valoise Armstrong)
Subject: SC - Welser marzipan part 2 (long)

Here's the German for the marzipan recipes from Sabina Welserin's cookbook.
I've used modern s's and double ss instead of her older forms.

Valoise

22 Welt jr ain gut marciban machen

Erstlich nempt ain halb pfund mandel vnnd waicht jn jber nacht ein jn kaltt
rerwasser / ziecht jn am morgen aus, darnach last jn woll stossen, bis er
ellig wirt, giest ain wenig rossenwasser daran vnnd land jn wider stossen,
wirt er wider eilig, so giest wider ain wenig ain rossenwasser daran, das
thiet so lang, bis der mandel nimer eilig wirt, vnnd last den mandel auff
das allerklenest staissen / darnach nempt ain halb pfund zucker, stossent
jn gar daran, last ain wenig jber, darnach, wan der mandel vnnd zucker
klain anainander erstossen jst, thiet jn jn ain schissel, nempt ain lidlen
von ainem ledlin, thiet den ranfft gantz daruon, das es ab- vnnd zugang,
last das lidlin vnd ranfft beyainander, nempt mandatten vnnd machens fein
wie brait das bedelin jst, fein rundt, darnach streichen den gemelten
mandel auff den oblatten mit den fingern, netzen die finger mit
rossenwasser vnnd den mandel tuncken jn den zucker, den jr jber habt
gelassen / darnach, wan es mit der hand aufs gleichest ist auffgestrichen,
nempt darnach den zucker, den jr jber habt gelassen, set jn mit ainem
siblin auff das martziban auffs gleichest / vnnd nempbt ain bristlin vnd
dunckts jn ain rossenwasser vnnd sprenckt das martziban allethalben, darmit
das zucker ergang, darnach last bachen, secht offt darzu, damit es nit
verbachen werdt / es soll gantz weisss sein, die gressin von ainem halb
pfund jst, damit wax anklaibt.

51 Pfifferling von mandel

Stosss die mandel, als welest ain marciban machen, thu zucker daran, aber
nit gar zu vill, nim darnach den pfifferlingmodel, mach jn sauber vnnd nim
ain birstlin, duncks jn mandelell vnnd birst den model damit, auch mit
ainem birstlin rossenwaser, vnnd thu den mandel jn pfifferlingmodel vnd
blass bey dem ror auff ain bogen babir vnnd lasss jn ainer tortenpfannen
bachen vnnd see krafftmell darauff, so werden sy weisss.


Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 17:43:39 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Paste/marzipan

Helen wrote:
> Please tell me the difference between marzipan and almond paste.   I thought
> marzipan was made from the paste. But the tube of paste I see in my local
> store has the same ingredients listed as the tube of marzipan beside it.  The
> color is a little different.
>
> Helen

Almond paste is moister, stickier than marzipan, and is more used for
coating or filling things than marzipan, which is better suited for
holding shapes.

Think in terms of putty versus modeling clay...

Modernly, almond paste is frequently used to coat cakes under icing; it
flavors them and helps keep them moist.

Adamantius


Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 23:36:16 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Paste/marzipan

Almond paste is raw, marzipan is cooked (or heated,
at least). Otherwise, they are much the same.

Nanna


Date: Mon, 13 Sep 1999 20:31:41 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Paste/marzipan

Nanna RˆgnvaldardÛttir wrote:
> Almond paste is raw, marzipan is cooked (or heated,
> at least). Otherwise, they are much the same.
>
> Nanna

Um, how do you mean, cooked? Do you mean it is cooked afterwards, or
that cooking is somehow integral to the process of making marzipan?

Yes, it's often cooked in the form of cakes and such, but often eaten
uncooked, as well. I've never seen a period recipe that required it
except as an additional step, i.e. yes, you do bake pie crust dough, but
you don't need to bake it to make it.

Adamantius


Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 01:23:16 -0000
From: "=?iso-8859-1?Q?Nanna_R=F6gnvaldard=F3ttir?=" <nannar at isholf.is>
Subject: Re: SC - Almond Paste/marzipan

Adamantius wrote:
>Um, how do you mean, cooked? Do you mean it is cooked afterwards, or
>that cooking is somehow integral to the process of making marzipan?

No, I'm probably wrong here, it is just that all my old recipes call for
some sort of cooking or heating - mixing the pounded almonds with a hot
sugar syrup, or heating them gently in a saucepan with the sugar, or
whisking eggs and sugar in a bain-marie, then adding almonds. And the almond
paste recipes do not.

Nanna


Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 18:48:17 -0500 (CDT)
From: alysk at ix.netcom.com
Subject: SC - Re: Almond Paste and Marzipan

Greetings!  I have a hunch that the two terms mean whatever someone _thinks_ they mean.  Early marzipan recipes don't seem to include cooking.  I'm probably wrong :-) but my memory seems to tell me that most period recipes are for "marzipan" or "marchpane" but are not entitled "almond paste".  And, while almond paste is modernly put under a layer of icing on certain cakes, older recipes called for "marzipan" under the icing.

I usually think of almond paste as the stuff one can start with to make marzipan, after adding lots more sugar.  Homemade marzipan usually isn't as sweet as commercial marzipan.  Period marzipan called for rosewater, orange juice or orange flower water.  The latter makes a _very_ interesting confection, since the flavor is not what one would expect from "marzipan".  Someone asked about a lack of almond flavor.  Well, with the addition of orange flower water, one would taste more of that rather than more of almonds.  And, I think the same is probably true for adding rosewater, which is called for in most English, period recipes.  Modern stuff lacks the rosewater or other flavoring ingredient which is (always?) added in period recipes.

For my own part, I've found that a food processor can make a fairly smooth
marzipan.  As someone else noted, the almonds should be processed in small batches. For me, a pound of almonds is done in three batches.  I process one-third and then put it into a separate bowl.  As each third is done, it's put into the bowl.  Then I go back and take a third or even a quarter of the first processing (which contains sugar and rosewater).  That stuff is put into a different bowl.  I then go through the whole process a third time.  You can feel the difference in the size of the ground almonds between your fingers.  However, at no point will the stuff get as finely ground as modern commercial paste which uses many blades and more processing. I would suppose that if one had a big enough mortar and good muscles, the paste could be reduced to even further smoothness.  Modern blenders don't have quite the same "action" as a medieval mortar and an hour or more of pounding.

Yes, you had better refrigerate the marzipan or you will eventually grow an intriguing variety of mold!

Alys Katharine


Date: Fri, 5 Nov 1999 09:58:36 EST
From: ChannonM at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Chocolate - Yes I know its not period!

If you would like to employ a heraldic device, I suggest going to a cake
makers store and look through their chocolate molds,  you can even paint with
coloured chocolate that is made with the pretend "white chocolate". The sizes
would be perfect for individual servings at a feast. You could even go to the
extant of making say a marzipan shield and making the various charges in
chocolate and placing them appropriately upon it. I have used various molds
for doing marzipan sublteties. I have a recipe that works well for the sheild
(I did various devices for a 15thC feast a few years ago). I'll post that now.

Marchepane

The sweet confection, currently known as marzipan is made from ground
almonds, rose water,  confectioners   sugar and egg whites. This sweet was a
discovery of the later Middle Ages as it required refined sugar to make. The
origin of marzipan is difficult to determine as many countries claim its
discovery.   It is believed, however,  that the name marchpane  was first
used in Italy in the 13th Century11.  Many countries have claimed to be the
place of origin of marzipan, however, it should be noted that  the name
marchpane  can be compared to the Arabic word mautaban--meaning glazed
vessel12.  Recipes for marchpane can be found that date back as far as  13th
Century France13.  The extant recipes describe how to colour, flavour and
create "subtleties".  Subtleties were sweets that were often used as
Illusion Foods.  An Illusion food was a  food made to look like something it
wasn't. Marzipan was sculpted into shapes of castle scenes, heraldic coats of
arms, diminutive fruits and vegetables, and allegorical animals.  These
fantastic creations would be paraded around the feast hall only to be
dismantled and eaten by the guests. The following is a recipe reproduced from
the manuscript entitled "Delights for Ladies" by Sir Hugh Plat (1609).
The Art of Preserving
12. To make an excellent Marchpane paste to print off in moulds for
banquetting dishes.
Take to every Iordan Almond blanched, three spoonefuls of the whitest refined
sugar you can get: searce your sugar, and now and then, as you see cause, put
in two or three drops of damask Rose-water: bear great labour, vntil you have
brought it into a dry steffe paste: one quarterne of sugar is sufficient to
worke at once.........You may mix canel or ginger in your paste, & that will
both  grace the taste, and alter the  colour, but the spice must passe thorow
a fair searce; you may steep your almonds in cold water all night, &  so
blanch them cold....

the instruction in the recipe reproduced from "Delights for Ladies" , " Take
to every Iordan(Jordan) Almond blanched three spoonefuls of the whitest
sugar(refined)..." to indicate that the weght must be at least equal. In
testing this theory I weighed 3 almonds to 2 teaspoons of confectioners
sugar. Considering that the modern sugar would be denser I still found that
the weight was comparable at.5 gm for the almonds to .5 gm for the sugar. To
ensure accuracy, these weights were obtained on an electronic scale at my local
bulk food store Therefore 1 almond would weigh in at approximately 1.66 gm
and 1 tsp of sugar approximately 2.5 gm. This has lead me to the conclusion
that the 2 and 2/3 cups of sugar must be 2 and 2/3 POUNDS. This is the amount
of sugar that was used in the recipe presented today.

Colours: You may use artificial or natural food dyes, be creative
 Grind the  almonds to a thick paste using a food processor, Add small
amounts of rose -water 1/2 tsp at a time to prevent the almonds from becoming
to oily. Place almond paste in a bowl.
 gradually beat in sugar.
 knead mixture. Separate the marzipan into several sections, one for each
colour required. Place  sections in a separate bowl and seal. Allow these to
age for 24 to 48 hours. Mix the colouring agents into the aged marzipan. It
will be easier to knead if  allowed to warm. Sculpt the paste according to
your wildest fancy. Use fingers , cookie  cutters, molds or knives

Note:After experimenting with this "redacted" recipe, I have found that the
original call for only 22/3 CUPS of sugar was not nearly sufficient to
satisfy both the taste factor and the "sculpturability" of the paste. In
addition I have considered the instruction in the recipe reproduced from
"Delights for Ladies" , " Take to every Iordan(Jordan) Almond blanched three
spoonefuls of the whitest sugar(refined)..." to indicate that the weght must
be at least equal. In testing this theory I weighed 3 almonds to 2 teaspoons
of confectioners sugar. Considering that the modern sugar would be denser I
still found that the weight was comparable at.5 gm for the almonds to .5 gm
for the sugar. To ens
ure accuracy, these weights were obtained on an electronic scale at my local
bulk food store Therefore 1 almond would weigh in at approximately 1.66 gm
and 1 tsp of sugar approximately 2.5 gm. This has lead me to the conclusion
that the 2 and 2/3 cups of sugar must be 2 and 2/3 POUNDS. This is the amount
of sugar that was used in the recipe presented today.


Date: Sun, 7 Nov 1999 12:17:32 EST
From: RuddR at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Blown eggs, was Chocolate

Alex Clark writes:
"A dimly half-remembered idea from a period cookbook:

Mostly fill blown eggs with starch-thickened almond milk. Then put a "yolk"
in the middle made from some thicker almond product with saffron. I think
these were roasted after being assembled."

Here is my version.  I have chosen to use modern food coloring instead of
saffron and cinnamon, mostly for convenience, but using those spices would be
simple enough.

EYROUN IN LENTYN
Almond Paste "Eggs"

Take Eyroun, & blow owt (th)at ys with-ynne atte o(th)er ende; (th)an waysshe
(th)e schulle clene in warme Water; (th)an take gode mylke of Almaundys, &
sette it on (th)e fyre; (th)an take a fayre canvas, & pore (th)e mylke
(th)er-on, & lat renne owt (th)e water; (th)en take it owt on (th)e clo(th)e,
& gader it to-gedere with a platere; (th)en putte sugre y-now (th)er-to;
(th)an take (th)e halvyndele, & colour it with Safroun, a lytil, & do
(th)er-to pouder Canelle; (th)an take & do of (th)e whyte in the ne(th)er
ende of (th)e schulle, & in (th)e myddel (th)e (y)olk, & fylle it vppe with
(th)e whyte; but no(gh)t to fulle, for goyng ouer; (th)an sette it in (th)e
fyre & roste it, & serue f[orth].
Harleian MS 279

1 C blanched almonds
2 1/2 C water
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 large eggs
Yellow food coloring

1.  Grind blanched almonds to a fine paste in a blender or food processor,
adding about half a cup of water, a tablespoon at a time, during grinding.
You might want to grind the almonds in two or three batches.

2.  In a saucepan, combine almond paste with the remaining two cups of water,
sugar, and salt, stirring to blend smooth.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and
simmer, stirring frequently, for about ten minutes.

3.  Pour and scrape the mixture onto a large, clean white cloth, such as a
dinner napkin or tea towel, laid on a large plate or cookie sheet.  Spread
the mixture out and let it cool.  Then gather up the cloth by the corners,
and gently wring it out over a cup or bowl.  Tie the cloth up like a bag, and
hang up the mixture in the cloth over a cup or bowl for at least three hours.

4.  Separate out one third of the almond cream, and put it into a separate
bowl. Stir in yellow food coloring a few drops at a time until it is the
color of egg yolk.

5.  Carefully poke holes into both ends of the eggs, a large hole at the wide
end, and a pin hole at the narrow.  Holding each egg over a bowl, blow
through the pin hole, blowing out the yolk and the white into the bowl.  You
may refrigerate the yolks and whites for later use.  Rinse out the empty egg
shells with warm water.

6.  Using a pastry tube with a wide nozzle, pipe one third of the plain
almond cream into each egg shell.  Using a clean chop stick, or other clean,
blunt stick, tamp the cream down and pack it against the sides of the shell.
Then pipe in yellow cream, and tamp it down.  Pipe in the remaining cream and
tamp it down.  Leave about a quarter of an inch space near the open end.

7.  Preheat oven to 3508.

8.  Place the filled egg shells on a rack in a roasting pan, and bake them
for ten minutes to dry out the almond cream a little.  Remove them from the
oven, wipe off any drips that may have occurred, cool, and serve.

Serves six to twelve.

Rudd Rayfield


Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 23:41:58 -0500
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: Re: SC - Help! To the Queen's Taste

And it came to pass on 30 Nov 00, that Jeff Heilveil wrote:
> There is, I hope, a recipe for marzipan in "To the Queen's Taste."  If
> someone could PLEASE email me the original (I don't need the redaction)
> before Friday 2pm CST I would GREATLY appreciate it.

I do not see such a recipe in "To the Queen's Taste".  Do you need 
*any* period recipe for marzipan, or does it have to be from a 
particular time and place?  There are recipes in such varied 
sources as:
"A Daily Exercise for Ladies and Gentlewomen" (English, 1617)
"The Medieval Kitchen" (from Martino, Italian, 15th cent.)
"Libro de Guisados" (Spanish, 1529)
"Libre de totes maneres de confits" (Catalan, 14th cent.)
Digbie (English, 1669)

And I'm sure there are others, especially if you're willing to go post-
period.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 00:15:48 -0500
From: harper at idt.net
Subject: Re: SC - Help! To the Queen's Taste

And it came to pass on 30 Nov 00, , that Angie Malone wrote:
Just the language.  One is the English name, the other is German.  
The other European names sound pretty similar.

> The reason why I ask is there is an article in the
> Autumn 2000 Tournaments Illuminated titled Marchpane recipes.  I noticed
> the bibliography has some references to Marzipan.

The TI article deals mostly with English recipes, and therefore uses 
the period English name.  I tend to use "marzipan" because it is 
the modern term I am familiar with.

Lady Brighid ni Chiarain
Settmour Swamp, East (NJ)


Date: Fri, 1 Dec 2000 19:31:41 +0100
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Help! To the Queen's Taste

>There is, I hope, a recipe for marzipan in "To the Queen's Taste."  If
>someone could PLEASE email me the original (I don't need the redaction)
>before Friday 2pm CST I would GREATLY appreciate it.
>
>Bogdan

Hi!  As someone already pointed out, Sass doesn't have a recipe for marzipan in either Queen's or King's Taste.  Here is the recipe from Robert May's Accomplisht Cook.  You will note that marchpane and marzipan, at this time,  were not the same thing. 

What we call Marzipan was the basis of an elaborate cake made of marzipan and wafers, iced and garnished with comfits; but the recipe starts out with how to make the almond paste we call marzipan.

"To make Marchpane.

Take two pound of almonds blanch't and beaten in a stone mortar, till they begin to come to a fine paste, then take a pound of sifted sugar, put it in the mortar with the almonds, and make it into a perfect paste, putting to it now and then in the beating of it a spoonful of rose-water, to keep it from oyling; when you have beat it to a puff paste, drive it out as big as a charger, and set an edge about it as you do upon a quodling tart, and a bottom of wafers under it, thus bake it in an oven or baking pan; when you see it is white, hard, and dry, take it out, and ice it with rose-water and sugar, being made as thick as butter for fritters, to spread it on with awing feather, and put it into the oven again; when you see it rise high, then take it out and garnish it with some pretty conceits made of the same stuff, stick long comfets upright on it, and so serve it." 

The Accomplisht Cook, 1685 edition, ed by Alan Davidson.

Note:  Alan Davidson notes that May omitted the egg white necessary to make this rise.  He was copying a recipe from The Queen's Closet Opened, p. 68. I don't have that here. I have others. If this is unsuitable, let me know.

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
cindy at thousandeggs.com


Date: Sat, 2 Dec 2000 12:46:46 +0100
From: "Cindy M. Renfrow" <cindy at thousandeggs.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Marzipan recipe -- Found it!

Hello!  I checked several dozen refs last night & this morning & finally
found the one you're looking for in "John Evelyn, Cook", ed. by Christopher
Driver, pp. 159-160.

[This book contains a MS cookbook compiled by John Evelyn over the course
of many years. If I'm reading Driver's comments correctly, writing of the
book was begun by Evelyn's clerk, Richard Hoare, in 1649.  He wrote up to
recipe 127, & was sacked in 1653(?). The writing was then continued by
Evelyn and others. Evelyn published "Acetaria" in 1699. Many of the recipes
in this book were included in "Acetaria". So, this recipe, #298, was
written down between 1653 and 1699. But, as the custom was to solicit
recipes from friends and relatives, this recipe may be older. Driver does
not give the dates of the specific recipes. ]

298. To make royall Marchpane in round rings.
Take 2 pound of sweet Almonds and one handfull of bitter ones blanch them
in cold water over night drie them in a cloth beat them very well then with
the whites of three Eggs beat up with Orenge flower water put to them a
p[ound] and halfe of fine sugar sifted set it over a chafing dish with
charcoale in a bason or preserving pan stirr it till it is very drie and
will work up in to a past then lay it on a cleane board till allmost cold
then role it out shape them round let them lye till they are all made then
beat 2 or 3 whites of eggs to a froth tosse and wett them all over then
tosse them in fine sifted sugar then sift sugar on papers to lay them on
set them in an oven that will just couler the paper a qr of an hour will
bake them the oven must be so quick they may rise.

Notes:
- - qr (r is superscripted) = quarter
- - letters in brackets were added by Driver, recipes abbreviate pound with "p".
- - Driver cites a note by Karen Hess that this method of drying the
marchpanes over coals is French, & is used by Massialot.

Cindy Renfrow/Sincgiefu
cindy at thousandeggs.com


Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 16:52:38 -0600
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: SC - Re: Marzipan

Gwendolen wrote:
>Can anyone recommend a relatively quick and *easy* thing to do with
>Marzipan?  Do you use it as an icing or do you mold it just as is?  I
>brought some back from England and I'd like to do something with it for an
>event on Saturday.  Any other tips (already read the Florilegium files)
>would be welcomed.

Quick and easy would be to roll it into balls and dip it into melted
chocolate.  Not period, however!  If you're a sugar paste person, make some
period paste.  Roll the marzipan into a "snake" and roll the sugarpaste
around the snake.  Twist it into knots, letters, bows, etc.  Place on
parchment paper. Bake in a very slow oven (300?) until the color just turns.
Remove.  It's late period.

Get wafers.  Roll out marzipan to fit and pinch up an edge.  Bake as they
say for marchpanes.

Alys Katharine


Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 14:33:55 -0500
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Marzipan

One thing:  I found that my hands kept getting sticky when working with it.
What I found works really well to stop this is to dip your hands into orange
juice when they start getting sticky.

Kiri


Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2001 15:53:21 -0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Marzipan

>Can anyone recommend a relatively quick and *easy* thing to do with
>Marzipan?  Do you use it as an icing or do you mold it just as is?  I
>
>Gwendolen

Being unsure how familiar you are with marzipan, the following tips should 
be kept in mind.  Due to the large sugar content in marzipan it dries very 
quickly when exposed to the air.  I should be covered at all times.  If the 
marzipan becomes dry you can add a little water to reconstitute it but this 
will cut down on it's shelf life.

Using a stainless steel bowl to make or keep it covered in will prevent 
discoloration.  Also, when handling marzipan be sure every surface and your 
hands are extremely clean.  As the almond oil raises to the surface when 
worked will pick up and absorb even small traces of dirt and can lead to 
spoilage and discoloration.

When rolling out marzipan work on a surface (preferably marble)dust the 
surface with powdered sugar (instead of flour like you would for pastry 
dough).  You can use cookie or butter cutters for shapes or free hand cut.  
To top a cake or petits fours you can make a cardboard cutout of the size 
and use that as your pattern.

If you color marzipan it is traditional to use soft pastel shades, but I 
have gone beyond those boundries myself.  You can use water-soluble food 
coloring, cocoa powder, saunder, and for bright white (for display pieces 
only-don't eat) add 4 to 6 drops of titanium dioxide per 1 ounce of untinted 
marzipan.  If you want to make small amounts of one color, place a drop of 
food color on a piece of baking parchment and add the marzipan to it.

Many little figures can be free hand sculpted with marzipan also. To avoid 
having fingerprints left on your marzipan piece, plastic food handlers 
gloves are a welcome addition.  Just be sure to change gloves between 
colors.

To make a marzipan parfait:
(six cups)

8 ounces marzipan
2 tablespoons kirschwasser (kirsch, a clear uncoloured black cherry     
brandy)
3 ounces granulated sugar
4 egg yolks (1/3 cup)
2.5 (2 1/2) cups heavy cream

Soften the marzipan by mixing in the kirschwasser.  Add the sugar and egg 
yolks and place over simmering water.  Whip until the mixture is light and 
fluffy.  Remove from heat, continue whipping until cool.

Whip the heavy cream to soft peaks.  Fold the cream into the marzipan 
mixture.

Place in the freeser for at least two hours or, preferably, overnight.

Need any more?

Olwen~down to 10 pounds of marzipan and planning on restocking....


To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan
From: Kirrily Robert <skud at infotrope.net>
Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 11:20:35 -0400

Brighid wrote:
>Last night I tried making peach pits with commercial almond paste.  It
>looked just as good, and was easier to handle than my homemade, BUT the flavor
>was very different.  The commercial paste has such a strong almond flavor
>that the cinnamon got lost.

Many people who don't like commercial marzipan do like my home-made
marzipan.  I think the commercial stuff has heaps of almond essence in
it, and it's overwhelming.

Katherine
--
Lady Katherine Robillard  (mka Kirrily "Skud" Robert)
katherine at infotrope.net  http://infotrope.net/sca/
Caldrithig, Skraeling Althing, Ealdormere


Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 10:14:46 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....

On Mon, 24 Sep 2001, Melody Mahanna wrote:
>   The marzipan posts of late started the gears and cogs in my imagination
> ticking so I got a small bit of marzipan to play with.  Now I have heard of
> wondrous creations made out of this stuff and mine still looks like uncooked
> sugar cookie dough and is about as agreeable to my sculpting efforts.  Do
> you leave it out once sculpted to harden up or do you bake it?  Any
> suggestions as to neato things I can try here?  *looks at the poor lump of
> neglected marzipan*

> ~Melody

There are different recipes for marzipan. The recipe that my late
grandfather used, and that it sounds like Olwen uses, is fairly stiff, not
really sticky, and sculpts a lot like well-handled Play-doh. Commercial
marzipan like the kind you buy in the tube is fairly soft (although still
tasty), and usually used inside baked goods, so the texture doesn't matter
nearly so much.

If you leave marzipan out for long, it will harden and become not fun to
eat. If you want to be able to eat it after it's been formed, you have to
store it airtight or seal it in something (like chocolate).

You can bake it--shape it into little breads, glaze it with beaten egg
white, and bake it until it is brown on top. Looks like little
buns. Changes the taste, too.

If you freeze it, wrap it very well and don't store it for too long or it
will dry out.

Without baking it, the easiest shape I know of is the potato (ok, yeah,
it's not really period). Make balls, make little dents for eyes with the
wide end of a flat toothpick, and roll in cocoa powder. You can also tint
it with food colorings--just knead it in.

You may find that if you knead in some icing sugar (powdered or
confectioner's sugar to those who haven't been reading English cake
decorating books lately) it will stiffen up the paste enough for good
sculpting. It may make it extremely sweet--use about a teaspoon at a time
until it's stiff as you want.

Olwen, do you use fondant in your marzipan, and if so, what proportions?

Margaret, who is missing the annual marzipan-making weekend with Grandpa
rather acutely this year


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 17:14:20 +0000

>   The marzipan posts of late started the gears and cogs in my imagination
>ticking so I got a small bit of marzipan to play with.  Now I have heard of
>wondrous creations made out of this stuff and mine still looks like uncooked
>sugar cookie dough and is about as agreeable to my sculpting efforts.  Do
>you leave it out once sculpted to harden up or do you bake it?  Any
>suggestions as to neato things I can try here?  *looks at the poor lump of
>neglected marzipan*
>~Melody

Oh goodie Melody is going to play with marzipan!!  So much fun.  Well, to
begin with, if you want to colour marzipan and don't mind if it's not some
period tinture then use the gel or paste rather than the water based stuff.
Make sure your hands and surfaces are very clean and don't smell funny cuz
that is the one thing marzipan is finicky about (trust me, fish smelling
marzipan is not a good choice).  After that it's just a matter of play.  I
leave my marzipan sit out and get to room temp. before I play with it.  The
more you handle it the softer it will become.  Sometimes it gets so soft
it's sticky and it should go back in the fridge till it cools down.  You can
mold it, use cookie cutters, "paste" pieces together using rose water (or
plain water ~ I use rose water), put it between wax paper and roll it or use
your finger to squish it (that's how I form the petals for the roses), you
can sclupt it, stuff it, boil it, bake it, give bits to your cat....well,
get the idea?  Depending on what you are going to do with it.  I usually
just leave mine sit out and harden up then put it in containers or ziplock.
Mind, if you let it sit out way long it will get hard as a rock.  Mix a
little in some simmering cream and it makes a wonderful sauce to pour over
poundcake, pasteries, fruit and icecream.  (Remember the "stuff" in the
bottle Chirhart?) Yum.  Well, sorry for going on, but it is my favorite toy.

Olwen, queen of marzipan


Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 13:23:44 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....

I have also found that a hint that I found somewhere (don't remember where....)
works really well....I keep a dish of orange juice (without pulp works best)
that I use to rinse my fingers when they get too sticky.

Kiri


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 18:52:31 +0000

>So what *are* the proportions you use? Grandpa used 16 oz almond paste, 12
>oz fondant, 4 oz icing sugar, and about a 1/2 tsp rosewater for a 2-lb
>lump. It started out sticky but after everything was blended nicely it was
>smooth and slightly dry to the touch. It would dry out very quickly,
>though, so we always kept it covered when we weren't working with it.
>
>Margaret

Half and half almond paste and powdered sugar.  I add a little rosewater if
needed or a little more sugar to stiffen it.

Olwen


Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 15:50:04 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: SCA-Cooks maillist <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....

> Olwen answered Margaret with:
> > >Olwen, do you use fondant in your marzipan, and if so, what proportions?
> > >
> > >Margaret, who is missing the annual marzipan-making weekend with Grandpa
> > >rather acutely this year
> >
> > No.  I don't use fondant.
>
> Huh, What's "fondant"?
>
>   Stefan li Rous

Another nifty thing you can do with sugar. There are two types. What I am
talking about is cooked fondant--you cook sugar and water and corn syrup
or cream of tartar to soft ball stage, let it cool completely, then
beat it until white. This is the sort of fondant you find as candy cream
filling.

The other kind is the rolled fondant that gets put on cakes, which
includes white vegetable fat and glycerine as well as sugar and
gelatine.

Margaret


Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 13:51:03 -0700 (PDT)
From: Nelson Beth <grdygirl at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

I started looking for a recipe to give you but found
this instead.  It's a pretty good description.

Orlaith

http://www.pastrywiz.com/season/fondant.htm  says

Fondant is a sugar syrup that is crystallized to a
smooth, creamy white mass and is used for both icing
cakes and cake decorations. The cooked Fondant
(European Fondant) is quite difficult to make but is
the best Fondant recipe around due to its elasticity
and smoothness.
European Fondant is made by boiling sugar, water and
glucose to 240F. It is then poured onto a marble slap
and sprinkle with some water to prevent
crystallization. Once the syrup has cooled down to
110F, start to work the sugar with a steel scraper,
folding it onto itself. Do not attempt to work it
before it cooled to 110=B0F or it will become tough and
coarse. After a while it will start turning white.
Work the fondant until it is smooth and creamy. It may
take well over 40 minutes to achieve the right
consistency. Once smooth and creamy store in an
airtight container for later use. European Fondant
should NOT be attempted by inexperienced pastry chefs
without the appropriate supervision, as you may burn
yourself badly.

European Fondant is not rolled fondant.  Fondant
originates from "fondre" - to melt and is a soft
creamy preparation of sugar, water, and flavoring.
Rolled Fondant is a Canadian term for Sugarpaste,
which is a different product. Read about Sugarpaste.

Uncooked Fondant is made by simply mixing all
ingredients together.


Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 16:03:51 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....

On Mon, 24 Sep 2001, Nelson Beth wrote:
> I started looking for a recipe to give you but found
> this instead.  It's a pretty good description.
>
> Orlaith
>
> http://www.pastrywiz.com/season/fondant.htm  says
>
> Fondant is a sugar syrup that is crystallized to a
> smooth, creamy white mass and is used for both icing
> cakes and cake decorations. The cooked Fondant
> (European Fondant) is quite difficult to make but is
> the best Fondant recipe around due to its elasticity
> and smoothness.

<snip>

Note that a Kitchen-Aid substitutes nicely for the scraper and marble
slab, for those of us who don't have room to store large slabs of marble
nor places to put them when they are in use.

I find the assurances that this is difficult amusing, since Grandpa taught
me the fondant-making process when I was twelve. Ok, so I'm a mutant.

Margaret


From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
To: <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 19:51:02 -0500
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Playing With Marzipan

Greetings.  If you really want to see some fantabulous marzipan
creations, find a copy of _Decorations, Borders and Letters,
Marzipan, and Modern Desserts_ by Bilheux and Escoffier.  It is one
of the volumes of the Professional French Pastry Series.  The book
may be out of print now.  The copyright in mine is 1988.  However,
the contents are "wowzer"!  The marzipan section contains how to
make flowers, how to paint on colors white marzipan, making leaves,
inscriptions on marzipan parchment, making sculptures and applying
color, making fruits and vegetables and steop-by-step instructions
to make cutesy animals.  You can get some marvelous ideas!

The wild part about this book (and the others in the series) is the
final section of photographs and descriptions of entries in a
food-related competition, the Charles Proust.  The entries are
unbelievable.

I don't know if this would be available in a library, or if one
could request it on one of those "hard to find" book web sites.  The
original was about $70.

Alys Katharine


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks digest, Vol 1 #679 - 16 msgs
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 14:00:28 +0000

>And the brand name is?

Hmmm.  I'm at work now so if memory serves I believe that the brand name now
is K & K.  They are pretty much the same though.

>BTW - I understand that you need to store the marzipan so it doesn't go
>hard.  Is it like some of the Candy recipes I've read that you need to store
>it with Silica Gel to keep out the moisture, or is a well-sealed container
>stored in a cool, dry place sufficient??

I stick it in a zipper bag and pop them into the drawer at the bottom of my
fridge.  I do keep it either in bags or covered with a cloth when I have the
lump out that I am working with.  The surface will get stiff but can be
caressed and made soft again.  The finished pieces I either leave out for a
while to set up or I cover, depending on how hard I want/need the
presentation to be.  The peach pits, for instance, I leave sit out and get
fairly hard.  That way transporting them to a feast is as simple as tossing
them in a bag and they won't mash.  The roses I do I leave set out for while
but the petals are so thin that if they dry out too much the edges crack so
I pop them into a tupperware container.

>Mari


Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 10:44:24 -0400
From: Elaine Koogler <ekoogler at chesapeake.net>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks digest, Vol 1 #679 - 16 msgs

I actually froze some of the marzipan I purchased from Bakers Catalogue...and,
when thawed, did not seem the worse for wear.  It was sealed very tightly to
avoid freezer burn.

Kiri


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Playing with Marzipan....
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 01:09:29 +0000

>I don't know, dear...I think Olwen's the Resident Expert on Things
>Marzipan.  I have managed to make marzipan acorns, and they tasted just
>fine, but didn't look hugely impressive, and that's about it.....
>--Maire

You could have added just a bit of acorn flour to that mix and it would have
given that nice bitterness.  Just add water instead of rosewater for the
moisture and a little more sugar.

Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] REC: LARDED MILK...BACON
Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2001 17:13:23 +0000

When I ran marzipan through my pasta machine I simply dusted the rollers and
the rolled out marzipan with powdered sugar.  I made the greatest looking
fettucine. Made "meatballs" too! I even dried some pretty hard and grated it
and put it in a small bowl as parmesan. Put them out on a buffet table.
Then I sat back and had a good laugh.

Tried the playdough presses too.  It worked but I'm more hands on.
Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan roses
Date: Mon, 01 Oct 2001 19:56:06 +0000

> > And thank you for the complement.  They are dead easy to make.  So
> > much easier than the piped frosting ones!
> > Olwen
>
>Oh, I like dead easy.  I can only guess at how to hand-assemble
>something like that.  May we know the arcane secret?
>
>Iyad ibn Bisharo / Thr=E1inn Tj=FAguskegg

Using gel colouring select the colour you want and mix it thoroughly into
the marzipan.  Pinch off a section and form the cone, just like you would in
frosting.  Between pieces of wax paper place a bit of marzipan and with your
finger as the rolling (pushing) pin spread out a piece about one to one and
a half inches long and about three quarters inch tall.  Unpeel it from the
wax paper and beginning with the center petals begin wrapping and pinching
it around the cone.  Keep adding more rows of petals till you are happy.
Cut off any remaining base after the marzipan begins to set up a bit.  Dead
easy.

Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OLWEN'S MARZIPAN
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 18:15:44 +0000

>Olwen,
>I have been meaning to ask you all through this thread: do you make your
>own marzipan or do you buy it in little cans? I was wondering because the
>little cans can get awfully expensive.
>
>But now you have me thinking of marzipan playtime.
>Do you have a favorite recipe for making the marzipan?
>And (and I might have missed this) How & where do you keep the left over
>marzipan or marzipan for long term storage. And what is considered long
>term?

>Phillipa

I have made my own marzipan from scratch.  It is a not that much fun and is
costly.  I get almond paste in #10 cans, which is 7 pounds of paste, at
Restaraunt Depot.  That is a restaurant supply house.  I mix the 7 pounds of
paste with 7 pounds of powdered sugar in Master Chirharts kitchenaide.  It
is great fun and very messy.  I store the marzipan in ziplock bags in the
vegetable bin in the fridge.  It can keep up to a year or so if you have it
that long.  I make and use somewhere in the area of 60 to 80 pounds of
marzipan a year.  This year you can add at least 24 more pounds to that as I
have a rather daunting soltie planned for 12th night. It is my
understanding, although I have never used it, that the stuff that comes
premade in those little expensive plastic tubes is not very conducive to
molding with.  Having never used it I am not sure that adding a little more
powdered sugar to it may stiffen it up enough to be more user friendly.  It
may be worth a try.

Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: Re[2]: [Sca-cooks] OLWEN'S MARZIPAN
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 20:58:56 +0000

>Had to buy 'em at W*l-M*rt.  Not cheap, but I now have marzipan.
>Sticky, questionable, stubborn, freaky marzipan, but marzipan
>nonetheless.  I don't think the rose thing's gonna work, so I'll just
>make bunches of grapes.  They're easy.
>____________________________________________________________________
>Iyad ibn Bisharo / Thr=E1inn Tj=FAguskegg

Sticky?  Did you weigh the ground almond paste?  You have to add the same
amount of (weighed) powdered sugar.  Then if it is too stiff add a few drops
of rose water.  If yours is sticky try adding some more powdered sugar to a
bit of it and see how it improves.  It should be fairly stiff to hold it's
shape.  Stiffer for some shapes.

Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] OLWEN'S MARZIPAN
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 16:07:15 +0000

>olwentheodd at hotmail.com writes:
><< You can ask a a patissarie or a place that does wedding cakes where they get
>  their almond paste or marzipan in bulk.  As for the colouring, use a gel
>  rather than the water based ones you get at the grocery store.  They work
>  better and don't stain everything and run colours and they don't affect
>  the marzipan with added moisture.
>  Olwen >>
>
>Olwen, I have also used the paste colours to no ill effects. Though I do
>admit to using gloves when kneading the colours in. I just don't like my
>hands being stained 4-5 different combinations of colours.
>
>Finnebhir

When using the gel paste colour the colour does not transfer to my hands.
Unlike the water based stuff you get in the grocer which stains everything.
Everyone can tell when we make those apple eggs cuz our hands are all yellow
and red :-(  Some folks use gloves.  Some folks use baggies.  Some folks are
more hands on, like me.  I use gloves only when I am in the final stages of
a hand modeled figure to avoid prints.

Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: Re[4]: [Sca-cooks] OLWEN'S MARZIPAN
Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 16:55:19 +0000

> > If yours is sticky try adding some more powdered sugar to a bit of
> > it and see how it improves.
>
>That did it.  Thanks!  Turned out to be little more than equal parts
>of each.  Best going theory (thanks Johnnae!) is that the recent --
>current -- damp weather had rendered it limp.  A little extra dry
>ingredient evened it out.  Still soft, but no longer sticky.  Softness
>can be taken care of by leaving it out uncovered for a while, right?
>
>Iyad

Leaving it out will give it a crust.  Put it in the fridge.  The cold will
stiffen it up some.  After it is molded you can leave it sitting out to firm
up.  You may have to add a little more sugar for thinner parts.
Glad it's working for you!  Have fun.

Olwen


Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 20:41:09 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...

> I would LOVE some marzipan so I
> could taste it and get an idea of what it tastes and looks like before I
> *attempt* (yes, ATTEMPT) to do marzipan.
>
> Misha

You've had sweet rolls with almond goo in them? Kind of like that. Sweet
and almond-y, with just a faint hint of roses.

If you don't feel like trying to kill a KitchenAid (I burned out the fuse
on one once) you can knead the almond paste and the sugar together with
your hands (equal weights almond paste and icing sugar, with a bit of
rosewater in that great medieval measure called "some" which is usually
about a half to a whole teaspoon per pound of paste), start working
the almond paste first so it's soft when you add the sugar. Grandpa always
stored his fondant and the almond paste on the unheated back porch--cold
fondant and cold almond paste is *not* fun to knead. Depending on the kind
you get, it may be kind of hard with a tendency to crumble when it's
cold. Some varieties of paste may be softer.

If you are kneading it by hand, you'll want some sort of scraper when it
inevitably sticks to the table/counter/pastry board/marble slab/generic
kneading surface. Just keep mushing it together until it's all smooth and
uniform, not streaky with unmixed sugar and paste.

Once it's mixed thoroughly, then you can add your color if that's what
you're doing, gradually in small amounts as Olwen has already said. If you
get pre-mixed from Olwen, you'll just have to color and shape it. I can
give you directions to make fruits, if you like, which is a traditional
thing to do with marzipan. And potatoes, which although not fruits,
are dead easy. The only thing easier, not counting mixing in the color,
are oranges.

Sheesh. Now I'm going to have to see where I can get almond paste. Olwen,
this is *your* fault. ;-)

Margaret


Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 08:11:42 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jennifer Whitbeck <jbwhitbeck at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, & experiments
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

I asked opinions a while back about using one of those
old-style "meat" grinders to grind almonds for
marzipan, since I had recently acquired one with a
"nut butters" attachment. (I know it's far easier to
buy the stuff, but I like this sort of experimenting.)
Well, I finally got off my duff, blanched some almonds
and tried it out. Though somewhat more messy, it
definitely yielded smoother results than the food
processor. (Quote from fiance; "Hey, that's so much
smoother than the other stuff you've made!") ;->

Now, I've started playing with molds too...  I found
one interesting product I played with this week;
Crayola's Model Magic. I read it was non-toxic and
non-sticking, so I thought I'd see how it stood up to
making molds for marzipan. Preliminary results might
be promising, so that prompted me to write the list
about it.

It didn't turn out how I expected. I cast two things:
an acorn and a plastic chess piece. Apart from being
non-toxic, I picked it because it said it was an
air-drying modelling clay. It was weird stuff; felt
like I was trying to mold marshmallows! It seems that
it does "dry", but it doesn't really harden. Now that
the test molds are dry, they're like a solid foam and
retain they're shape (acorn, chess piece) after
squeezing. I found when I tried molding marzipan into
them, the mold was pliable enough to flex and help pop
the marzipan out.

I think I'd rather try some stiffer, real clay, before
deciding what I preferred, but I thought this might be
useful info if anyone was looking for a more flexible
mold material that was non-toxic.


Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 22:10:13 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, & experiments

Jennifer's comments about molds reminded me that
Beryl's Cake Decorating and Pastry Supplies
catalogue was advertising a product called
CREATE-A-MOLD. It's a reuseable non-toxic
molding gel that can be melted in the microwave.
See it at: http://beryls.safeshopper.com/130/4850.htm?452
or at http://www.beryls.com/mainpage.htm.
It's priced at $15 for 8.5 ounces.
Has anyone tried this???
She also sells silicone plastique for molding.

Johnnae llyn Lewis  Johnna Holloway


Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 11:40:05 -0500
From: Amanda Whiteley <siancr at shaw.ca>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

A lot of cake decorating supply places, especially those specializing in
wedding cake supplies, supply almond paste for a quick and dirty start on
marzipan.  Here in Winnipeg, I just trot down the road to Evelyn's. 

Sian


Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 12:41:38 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...

Olwen the Odd wrote:
>> For those who have worked with Marzipan before, I present a question:Is it
>> easier and/or better to work with the almond paste or the homemade
>> made-from-scratch? The recipe I have is the homemade stuff.
>>
>> Misha
>
> Trust me Misha, opening a can of almond paste and mixing it with sugar and
> rosewater is SOOOOOO much easier than blanching and grinding almonds and
> THEN mixing with sugar and rosewater.  I do think the experience is worth it
> though.
>
> Since I use 60 to 80 pounds of marzipan (at least) a year I would be
> grinding almonds in my spare time and my sleep if I did not use the cans.
> Olwen

Olwen, have you investigated the almond flour sometimes found in Indian or Middle eastern markets? ISTR getting it for about $5 a pound (maybe less), mixing it with an equal amount of powdered sugar and enough diluted rosewater to moisten it all to a cohesive state when mixed and kneaded. It made an ever so slightly coarser version of marzipan, not especially sticky (there was just a hint of released almond oil, which combatted that). I suspect that what I ended up with was perhaps not quite as fine as a modern commercial product, but very possibly as fine, or very nearly so, as a hand-made period product. And then, how well my cost compares to your method, I have no idea.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 14:53:20 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...

Olwen the Odd wrote:
>> Olwen, have you investigated the almond flour sometimes found in Indian or
>> Middle eastern markets? ISTR getting it for about $5 a pound (maybe less),
>> mixing it with an equal amount of powdered sugar and enough diluted
>> rosewater to moisten it all to a cohesive state when mixed and kneaded. It
>> made an ever so slightly coarser version of marzipan, not especially
>> sticky
>> (there was just a hint of released almond oil, which combatted that). I
>> suspect that what I ended up with was perhaps not quite as fine as a
>> modern
>> commercial product, but very possibly as fine, or very nearly so, as a
>> hand-made period product. And then, how well my cost compares to your
>> method, I have no idea.
>>
>> Adamantius
>
> I have never heard of it.  I shall have to investigate.  Thanks for the tip.
>  If I get hold of any I'll experiment and let you know.
> Olwen

The people I buy it from, Patel Brothers in NYC, have a web site, but the web site doesn't mention anything about almond flour. On the other hand, these people do:
http://www.almondsonline.com/

They appear to sell a 3-lb. bag of almond flour for $8.95, and I believe
they also sell larger bags, such as 5 and 10 pound bags, for
commensurately cheaper.

Assuming a test batch made with a 3-lb bag, a similar amount of sugar, and a negligible amount of rose water, we're looking at around $2 or less per pound of finished product. Not counting shipping costs, simply because I don't know what they are.

Adamantius


Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 21:53:37 +0200
From: Volker Bach <bachv at paganet.de>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...

Mike Macchione schrieb:
> I've been thinking about this all throughout this thread, and this thread
> just prompted me to ask....  Just how common were marzipan subtleties in
> period. As has been said, making it from scratch is a pain...  and I would
> assume that would be using a food processor...And I know that sugar wasn't
> as common as it is today.  would people in period want/be able to make large
> or numerous marzipan pieces?  What sized things would they have made? and
> for what occasions?

I don't know about sotelties, but the late period
cookbook (Staindl, second half 16rth century) I'm
currently trying to get hold of the rest of has a
first chapter full of recipes that call for
considerable amounts of ground almonds and
mentions an 'almond mill' (Mandelmuel) as a common
kitchen implement (though it makes allowance for
cooks not having one, telling them to use a mortar
instead). Given the prevalence of almond milk in
period cooking, grinding up almonds must have been
common enough to make the idea of marzipan in
large amounts at least not too outlandish. As to
sugar being less comon - yes, but not that much
less, at least in late period (I doubt whether the
court of Charlemagne consumed much marzipan, but I
am fairly sure that that of Emperor Charles V
did). Marzipan probably was not as comparatively
cheap as it is today (I can get a 250-gram chunk
for the same price as a decent one-pound loaf of
bread!), but a culture of ostentation that would
burn cinnamon in braziers just to show you could
would not stop at using expensive ingredients.
think of it as a big bowl of caviar.

Giano


Date: Thu, 18 Oct 2001 13:53:00 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jennifer Whitbeck <jbwhitbeck at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

--- Olwen the Odd <olwentheodd at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Gee I'd really like to see a picture or the real
> thing of one of these Mandelmuel's.

I heartily second that!
I did a really brief web search and couldn't find
mandelmuel, but I did find this modern "almond
grinder". Looks like my cheese grater's weird cousin,
though: http://www.theezycatalog.com/grinders.htm

Giano - have you found any indication as to what these
old mandelmuels looked like?


Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 07:29:09 -0400
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...

Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Is the sugar only for taste? Or does it affect the structure? I
> wonder if Splenda or other artifical, granulated suger substitute
> would work?

I would think the sugar is more or less necessary for structure, to help in cohesion, which may be evidenced by the fact that while tastes and sugar usage for taste does seem to vary, the proportion of one part almonds to one part sugar rarely seems to [vary] in recipes. I dunno, though, maybe there's some kind of sugar substitute that would work better than Splenda.

On the other hand, you can make some butt-kicking savory dishes with
almond milk ; )

Adamantius


Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 08:31:27 -0500 (CDT)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...

On Fri, 19 Oct 2001, Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> Stefan li Rous wrote:
> > I've been thinking of trying some
> > marzipan things after all the comments here. Maybe this should be what
> > I start with.
> >
> > Is the sugar only for taste? Or does it affect the structure? I
> > wonder if Splenda or other artifical, granulated suger substitute
> > would work?
>
> I would think the sugar is more or less necessary for structure, to help =
in cohesion, which may be evidenced by the fact that while tastes and sugar=
 usage for taste does seem to vary, the proportion of one part almonds to o=
ne part sugar rarely seems to [vary] in recipes. I dunno, though, maybe the=
re's some kind of sugar substitute that would work better than Splenda.
>
> Adamantius

I will be good and over the weekend I will post the recipes I have for
marzipan that use eggs. Usually the sugar, whether fondant or powdered, is
required for consistency--almond paste and rosewater by itself is just
sticky goo. I *think* there's at least one recipe that calls for
granulated rather than icing sugar, but it may require some variety of
cooking. I'll check. They are, incidentally, AFAIK, modern recipes, but
they will give you marzipan.

Margaret


From: "Decker, Terry D." <TerryD at Health.State.OK.US>
To: "'sca-cooks at ansteorra.org'" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan creations, like onions...
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 2001 12:27:20 -0500

www.bakerscatalog.com  I have the latest catalog sitting on the desk.

Bear

> When I have purchased commercially made almond paste, I
> usually get it from the
> Baker's Catalogue...and I believe they have a web site.
>
> Kiri


From: marcellina_dangelis at web.de
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 15:52:12 +0100
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan Request

You might try the recipe for the "Mandeligel" (hedgehock from almonds). You find it in the "Kochbuoch aus dem Inntal".

In modern words:
Take two parts almonds, one part powdered sugar. Put the almonds in hot water, until you can peel them. Put the peeled almonds in the cutter and cut them as fine as possible. Afterwards add the powder sugar spoon by spoon and continue cutting and mixing. You get a oily, crumbly stuff. If you want colored marzipan add the color with the sugar. Take it and kned it to a smooth mass.
If you keep it in the fridge it stays fresh for about ten days. Just make sure it doesn't get too much air and doesn't get too dry.

Marcellina d'Angelis
one of the "marzipan fans out there"
Shire Isengau
Drachenwald


Date: Sat, 03 Nov 2001 19:23:21 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] question for Master A

welsh10thcent at tds.net wrote:
> I am just starting to do marzipan and have talked with Olwen about this, i have a question that she said i should ask you.
>
> Can i use Almond flour, rosewater adn XXXXX sugar to make it or is almond flour a no no?
>
> Morvran

Well, I've used almond flour, and gotten what I considered to be good results. The marzipan for the ship subtlety (the marzipan/currant cake one, not the gingerbread one) was made that way. It worked fine, I think, producing a product that was slightly more grainy than modern commercial marzipan, not really sticky nor especially oily. The only thing I might warn people about is that using all rosewater as your liquid leads to a final product that is really powerfully flavored of rose. I found that diluting the rosewater somewhat with regular tap water, it was possible to taste both the almonds and the rosewater.

Give it a shot!

Adamantius


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Food heraldry
Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2001 17:19:05 +0000

The way I cut matching shapes in marzipan is to first roll out the two or
three colours, the stamp out the shield blank shapes, lay them on top of
each other and cut them together.  That way you don't have any gaps.  If
possible I blow the picture of the device up and use a tracing wheel (yes
the kind for doing patterns) and run it along the line(s).  If I am
freehanding it, well, I use a measuing device and a good guess.  This method
should work in cheese and meats too.  For purple.. hmm.. I don't think salami
would be purple enough unless you try slicing it and boiling it in red
cabbage.  But then I'm not sure anyone would eat it.  Good luck!!

Olwen

>That is so cool!  We've got a Queen's day coming up, you don't mind if we swipe
>your idea do you?  Our queen has sunnes-in-splendour on her personal armory, 
>how do you recommend cutting wavy rays out of yellow cheese?  Is salami close
>enough to purpure, do you think, or what other cold cut is there that looks 
> more purple?
>
>Selene, Caid


From: welsh10thcent at tds.net
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 15:31:24 -0600
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan

Well for those of you who do marzipan we talked about the fact if you could
use almond flour, and well let me tell you, it works great, i made some
awesome for my first batch.  it works great,

1# almond flour
1# XXXXXXXX sugar
water
almond flavor

that is what i used and it was great,

Morvran


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Food Safety
Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 16:06:56 +0000

>Also, HOW to wash your hands,
>I've seen people look at me funny when I explain that
>wiping their hands dry on their apron after a quick
>rinse is not really a good idea....ewwwwwwwww.
>
>Alessandra

Although I am an 'apron wiper' for general quick washing (I worked for years
at a swimming pool), I also take seriously the importance of handwashing.
As you all know, I work in marzipan.  Marzipan is very fickle.  If there is
any hint of odor, dirt, colouration or _anything_ on your hands, gloves or
work surface it will *immediately* transfer to the marzipan.

Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Almond Milk...place to find it
Date: Wed, 06 Feb 2002 18:47:44 +0000

>Hey Olwen- I've been wondering- Could you uses the almond sawdust from
>almond milk to make marzipan? Or doesn't it work anymore? Just curious.
>
>'Lainie

Good question 'Lainie.  I honestly haven't tried but I would not think it
would work given that not only the flavor had been depleted buy I imagine it
went away with the oil.  The oil is essential in marzipan.  I suppose if one
were quite short of cash one could possibly get one good squeeze out of the
almonds and then turn them into marzipan.  Perhaps if one added back some
almond oil to the mash...but I am just guessing here.  Someday I may have to
try it.

Olwen


From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Back in Business!
Date: Mon, 07 Apr 2003 18:11:09 +0000

>     I suspect this question has been answered before, but I can't find it,
> so I'll ask: how long does a can of almond paste keep?  Does it
> deteriorate more rapidly if the can has been opened, but not all used?
> Does it need to be refrigerated after opening?  Can it be frozen without
> affecting texture?  These are all questions about the paste before it's
> been kneaded with sugar to make marzipan (that *is* how it's done, isn't
> it?).  I'm not likely to use 7 pounds at once, should I ever try playing
> with it.
>
> Sandra

After opening a can of almond paste I have found it best to store it in good
freezer ziplock bags.  You can weigh it out into portions, putting a pound
(or whatever) in seperate smaller bags and then place the burped, sealed
smaller bags into a larger one, basically double bagging.  The paste can be
frozen for several months, perhaps up to a year, but I would really not know
having never kept it that long.

If you desire, you can do the same thing after you mix it with powdered
sugar and basically mixing up the marzipan.

You could choose to put the paste or marzipan in this double bag system and
elect to simply put it in the fridge.  It will keep that way for a couple of
months as long as it is airtight.  Add rosewater as needed for use rather
than adding the rose/orange water in the original mixing.  The marzipan mix
would only be the almond paste and sugar.  You can add colours at this stage
too.  That way you have several bags of premade colour.

Olwen


Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 15:18:00 -0400
From: johnna holloway <johnna at sitka.engin.umich.edu>
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Recipe for Olwen and Countess Alys

I came across the following recipe in April, but I forgot to
post it to the list then. When reading it I was reminded that
Olwen was looking for recipes that combined sugarpaste
and marzipan. This one combines those ingredients and
produces something that can be shaped. The question
would be --can we find one that leaves out the baking?

To make several pretty fancies.

Take sweet Almonds blanched and beaten
with Rosewater; mix them with fine sugar,
the whites of Eggs, and Gum dragon
steeped in Rosewater, and so make them into
what shape you please, and bake them. page 94.

The Cook's Guide: or, Rare receipts for cookery by
Hannah Wolley or Woolley. 1664.
Wing number W3276

Johnnae llyn Lewis  Johnna Holloway


Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 15:18:18 +0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] olwyn the odd... help?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> we are going to make a bunch of almond milk for the feast and can the
> almond refuse be turned into marzipan?
>
> -- Pani Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, Knowledge Pika jenne at fiedlerfamily.net

As for your second question, the answer is no.  All the oils are leached
right out of the nuts.  You could perhaps use the remains for a garnish
sprinkled over a dish, just make sure you let folks know about the nuts.
You can take them home and use them for mincemeat pie, you can crush them
completely and incorporate them into a piecrust, you can put them in banana
nut bread, you can feed them to your chickens, you can add them to stuffing,
you can do lots of things with them but you can't make marzipan from 
them.

Olwen


Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 22:18:11 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] olwyn the odd... help?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

On 18 Sep 2003, at 10:22, AEllin Olafs dotter wrote:
> Jadwiga makes other sauces, too. They could make a marzipan sauce... to
> serve with the marzipan  peacock...

It's not Spanish, but... the Neapolitan Recipe Collection has a recipe 
For marzipan sauce.  The marzipan is diluted with lemon juice and 
Pomegranate juice, and flavored with ginger.

Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann
Barony of Settmour Swamp, East Kingdom


Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2003 07:37:52 -0600
From: Sue Clemenger <mooncat at in-tch.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] olwyn the odd... help?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Here ya go, everyone.  I'd saved it.
--maire, lover of pomegranates and almond anything! <g>

> [111.]  Sapore de marzapane.  Piglia quatro dita de marzapane he
> pistalo cum uno poco de zenzaro bono, poi distempara cum suco de limoni
> he de granate dolce he forte; he sera bono sapore.
>
> (Marzipan Sauce.  Get four fingers of marzipan, grind it up with a
> little good ginger and distemper it with lemon juice and strong, sweet
> pomegranate juice.  This is a good sauce.)
>
> The Neapolitan Recipe Collection: Cuoco Napoletano
> Terence Scully, (trans.)
> University of Michigan Press
> ISBN: 0-472-10972-3


Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 14:44:37 +0000
From: "Olwen the Odd" <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan question
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

> Advice from the confectionary mavens, please!
>
> I am making some molded marzipan items for Coronation, which is (gulp!)
> three and a half weeks away.  The marzipan is hmemade from equal parts
> almond and sugar.  I intend to dry the pieces in a low oven.
>
> What is the best way to store the dried candies so that they will be at their
> best for the event?  An air-tight container goes without saying, but  
> should hey be refrigerated or frozen?
>
> Brighid ni Chiarain *** mka Robin Carroll-Mann

Why are you drying them in an oven?  You run a risk of them either cracking
or getting so rock hard they will be uneatable.  You will be best off by
leaving them to dry on wax or parchment paper lightly covered with a clean
cloth or paper.  Depending on the density you may need to turn the pieces
over.  There is plenty of time for them to air dry properly.  As for
storage, you can either leave them in a air-tight container or ziplock in
the refrgerator or, I usually just leave them out.  Make sure they are
completely dry before packaging them though or you will get moisture in the
bag or container.  If they start to crack when drying you can mist them
lightly with rose or orange flower water and rub that into the surface a
bit.  Since the event is so close you should not go with freezing.  You may
end up collecting moisture and have to re-dry the things again.

What kind of shapes are you making?  Have you used molds for marzipan
before?  The trick, if you haven't, is to gently dab some marzipan into the
mold to get a good covering of almond oil in there.  Some folks will tell
you to coat the mold with powdered sugar.  I have not had success doing
that.  Also, to get the 'pan out of the mold, get a small pick or tiny knife
tip to slide in just enough to break the suction, then the product will
fall/bang right out.

Olwen


Date: Wed, 10 Mar 2004 11:48:19 -0500 (GMT-05:00)
From: Robin Carroll-Mann <rcmann4 at earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks Marzipan question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

-----Original Message-----
From: Olwen the Odd <olwentheodd at homail.com>

> Why are you drying them in an oven?  You run a risk of them either  
> cracking or getting so rock hard they will be uneatable.

Wasn't that the period practice?  "Stoving" them?

> What kind of shapes are yu making?

Shells, leaves, maybe some flowers - mostly small, flat shapes.

> Have you used molds for marzipan before?  The trick, if you haven't, is to 
> gently dab some marzipan into the mold to get a good covering of almond oil  
> in there.
> Some folks will tell you to coat the mold with powdered sugar.  I have  
> not had success doing that.

My only experience with molds has been making peach-pits.  I do find  
sugar on the pre-molded lump is helpful.  Last night, I tried rubbing  
some almond oil on the mold, but it didn't make any noticeable  
difference.

Thank you for the tips.

Brighid ni Chiarain


Date: Sat, 27 Nov 2004 11:48:49 -0700
From: Mary Morman <mem at rialto.org>
Subject: [Sca-coos] marzepan from munich
To: SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at ansteorra.org>

Adamantius wrote:
"If you don't mind my asking, why do you want to buy it in Munich and go to the trouble of getting that much of it home, when you should be able
to get it more or less locally? If nothing else, I'll bet there's a
SCAdian who'd be glad to make it for you at cost or for a sufficiently
low markup as to make it cheaper, more convenient, and at no lesser
quality than an imported product?"

I often go to the UK, most often York, at this time of year and have
found that the marzipan that I buy from confectioners there is far
superior to anything I'm able to buy here in Colorado.  So I figured
that it was a "European" thing and that since I'm going to Munich this
year instead of the UK that I'd try to get a batch there and bring it
home to use for my 12th night feast.

Elaina


Date: Sun, 28 Nov 2004 14:10:43 -0500
From: "The Borg" <The_Borg1 at comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Cookie Exchange
To: <rj at chaingang.org>, "Cooks withinthe SCA"
	<sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Ok, I have four participants so far. Here they are with dates.

Elewyiss (me)  Dec 21
William de Grandfort  (Chris Stanifr)
Lonnie Harvel
AEsa   (RJ)   Dec 10

This means we have 20 days left. Lonnie was going to look at her 
calander
and pick a date, and William did not list one. Did you have one or 
should we
reach in the hat for you?

If I'm butting in and taking over jut let me know. I'll back off.

Elewyiss

Date: Sun, 28 Nov 204 20:44:30 +0100
From: Fred Schwohl <wladislaus at mac.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Marzipan in Munich
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Let me offer some humble advice on buying Marzipan in Germany, 
especially in Munich.

First, you might consider not to buy confectioned Marzipan which is
available in Standard stores throughout the country, but for your task so
called "Marzipn Rohmasse" is much better to be used. This pre-fabricated
mass consists of almonds and sugar only, mostly in a 60:40 ratio
(60% almonds), thus enabling you to get the final product to your
taste with ease. You should evade all products containing other ingredients
like Invertase, Coloring or other additives as these show a low Quality product.

Pre-fabricated products you can buy from the shelf here are not necessarily
easy to use or to bring in shape and mostly are containing to much sugar for
my tast.

As Marzipan is somehow regarded as a German Speciality (according to some
sources the main reason for that is the fact that after it´s long history
dating back to the romans and later to Venice it was later regarded as a
Royal Treat due to the high pice for imported sugar from sugar cane, a fact
which changed after blocked imports to Europe during Napoleon´s era and
cheap new sources for Sugar where found in the sugar beet by the German
Scientist Andreas Marggraf in 1747. In 1801 the first factory or beet sugar
was build in Cunern in Lower Silesia in the north eastern part of Germany
(well it was Prussia then, but please do not bother with details :o) ) and
in 1806 import of cane sugar into Europe had dropped nearly to zero.

The Best German Maripan comes still from the northern part of the country
and Brand names as "Niederegger" or "Schwermer" are famous for their
products. This might have to do with the fact that they use a large quantity
of high quality almonds from Italy and Spain insteadof the more easily
available but less palatable almonds from other countries.

The mentioned "Marzipan Rohmasse" is available in most larger Warehouses in
the area the baking utensils are stored and there are various brands
available. Mostly you can buy his in blocks of 250 grams, but sometimes you
will find larger rolls wrapped in plastic of 400 grams weight. Do not mix
this up with "Persipan" which is sold in the same form but consists not of
almonds but of peach and apricot kernels. As this contain only almonds and
sugar, sometmes you might want to add flavouring (Rosewater) and of course
it is much easier to work with this as due to the high content of almonds
additional Sugar or eggwhite can be added without spoiling the taste.

At the moment uch a 400g roll is around 3.99 €. In Munich I would suggest
the Walmart or similar larger department stores as there the turnover
guarantees fresh quality. You might want to make sure that importing such a
Quantity back into the US does not cause any problem.

Other sources like the already mentioned "Hamberger" (a Wholesale
Distributor for cooking articles, mainly doing business with Restaurants and
caterers) might not have Marzipan on sale all the time, there it might be
necessary to pre order the product, which is then available in batches of 10
- 25 kg only (intended to be sold to patiseries, bakeries et. Al.

If you happen to know a baker here in Munich, just contact him and let him
do the ordering through his sources, as this is the easiest method to get
hands on such large quantities. But then exporting might be even harder as
this will be a fresh product in a cartonage without proper labeling for any
US customs officer, looking (and smelling) very suspicious like Semtex (some
exlosives from Eastern Europe, smelling like Bitter almonds and as well
kneadable).

Unfortunately I will not be in on the weekend in question as I would
otherwise have offered my assistance in this.

My best regards
Fred

(Living in Munich and having the pleasure to cook a Medieval Feast on that
Weekend in a Kitchen dated back from 1587)

> elaina wrote:
>> i will be in munich for the weekend over the 12-13th of december and
>> want to buy marzepan.  does anyone have any specific ideas where to go
>> o a specific shop to recommend.  i'm not looking for some little bit to
>> munch - i'm looking for 5 or 10 kilos to take home to use for 12th 
>> night.
>
> hmm, I never had to buy that much... if you'd stay longer, you could
> probably try a wholesalemarket like Hamberger (Friedensstr. 16), but I
> found a sweet-wholesale market in Rosenheim, some 100km south-east of
> Munich:
> Richard Fohlmeister
> Austrasse 3
> 83022 Rosenheim
> http://www.best-sweets.de
>
> You should also consider that Germany doesn't yet belong to the civilised
> world and so most stores are closed on weekends.
> kai


Date: Fri, 21 Oct 2005 06:46:37 +0200
From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Another Marzipan Question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Am Freitag, 21. Oktober 2005 04:34 schrieb CLdyroz at aol.com:
> Has anyone ever put flavorings in it, such as mint?
> (I would think that crushed mint would give you a delightful green
> color-and a good taste...and a good breath-freshener <G>)
> But, would this have occurred? (to add flavorings, I mean-not just  
> mint)

I can't think of any specific instance of recipes telling us to put flavouring
*into* marzipan, but Balthasar Staindl has recipes for marzipans made with
spices or confits on top, and there are some recipes that include  
spices and raisins.

Giano


Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 23:05:58 +0100
From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] marzipan advice
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Am Dienstag, 6. Dezember 2005 22:03 schrieb elisabetta at klotz.org:
> I am making a sutlity (ok, I can't spell that word) for EK 12th Night. The
> current idea is to do a hunting scene with marzipan and cake.
>
> I have worked with store bought marzipan, but have never made my own,
> which I am assuming is cheaper.

Depending on how extortionate the prices for almonds are, you may be in for a
surprise. I can get 200g marzipan for the price of 100g ground blanched
almonds retail ATM here. Yes, it gets cheaper if you blanch them yourself,
but the labour involved is very wet, tedious, and unpleasant.

> So I have many questions:
>
> Is it cheaper to make marizipan and how do you do it?

Several ways. You need to get (or make) ground blanched almonds, the finer the
better. Then you either mix them with powdered sugar and add a little liquid,
or mix them with hot sugar syrup. Either way gives you a malleable mass,
though the 'cold' method stays malleable for longer and is easier to work
with. I have tried grinding in the food grinder and food processor, and
neither was very satisfying. If you can get pre-ground 'almond paste', you
can save yourself a lot of bother, but it's hard to get here.

> Can you buy commercial marizpan at bulk?

I'm sure you can, but don't ask me where. I only know addressse for  
Germany, and they can't legally sell to non-business customers.

> Is there something else I can substitute for marizpan that is
> period (sigh, no chocolate clay)? How long does marizpan last in  
> and or out of the fridge?

Weeks, even months. If it hardens out a bit, almost indefinitely. Marzipan
doesn't get mouldy if stored in a cool, dry place. I've eaten a marziopan
bunny that was three years old without undue effect.

Giano


Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 16:18:26 EST
From: KristiWhyKelly at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] marzipan advice
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

You can get almond flour here in our stores, Wegmens, Giant,  Wholefoods.  It
runs 5-8 per pound.  And I've seen it advertised on  line for low  
carbers.

It makes a nice almond milk.

Grace


Date: Fri, 9 Dec 2005 09:17:47 -0500
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Re: Marzipan-filled fried chicken
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Hah!  Don't laugh too hard!  There is a marzipan chicken recipe that I made
back in the early 90s.  I believe it's from the Anonymous Andalusian
cookery book that His Grace Cariodoc has in his Collection.  If memory
serves, it contained marzipan (almonds and sugar) and finely shredded white
chicken meat, formed into patties.  I _think_ it was baked but don't recall
where I put the recipe.  My then-teenage son said it was "weird", but he
ate several.

Alys Katharine


Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 21:58:39 EDT
From: Devra at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] rose things
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

Rose things - you can make roses out of marzipan.  Cut a long, narrow
rectangle, roll it up loosely, pinch at the bottom - eh  violet! er -  
eh, rose!  Also you can make roses such as seen on birthday  cakes - make a teardrop center, stick a toothpick coated in Crisco into the fat  part, cut out petals and layer them on, starting  very tight and widening  out

Yes, this is a very incoherent description, but the Wilton cake books and
decorating books give much better ones. Fondant also works for this,  
but that's awfully late...

     Devra


Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2006 12:25:04 -0500 (CDT)
From: Cat Dancer <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Roses was Late SCA-Period Sweets?
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

>> Theme wise
>> there's this book Sugar Roses for Cakes
>> by Peck, Tombi; Dunn, Alan; Warren, Tony
>> which contains virtually every kind of rose decoration that can be
>> applied to a cake, as well as sugar roses in bouquets, sprays,
>> posies, and for table arrangements. Sugar Roses for Cakes includes
>> templates and features collections of all different kinds of roses:
>> wild, climber, rambling, traditional varieties and the various
>> modern roses, from full blown modern blooms to delicate, five-petal
>> wild roses.
>
> Hmm, if these are modern frosting type roses, i don't think i'd have
> the skill, and i'm trying to make things mostly historical.. but i
> could make them of colored marzipan. I'll see if the library has it...

Actually, it's about making sugarpaste or gumpaste flowers. (I have other
books about sugar flowers by Tombi Peck) I can say with full conviction
that it takes practice to achieve the level of realism in the book. Lots
of practice, depending on how good you are with your hands. Also the
techniques are mostly modern, but you could probably use them as a
jumping-off point for making your own sugarpaste or marzipan roses.

It's the sort of work I'd love to devote my life to, if there were a good
way to do it.

Margaret FitzWilliam


Date: Fri, 13 Oct 2006 19:40:24 -0400
From: "Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius"
	<adamantius.magister at verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pistachio marzipan?
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

On Oct 13, 2006, at 5:46 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> 'Lainie mentioned:
> "Lessee what I can remember... Gyngerbrede, shortbread,
> marzipan, pistachio marzipan, White Torta, candied orange peels,
> apricot
> roses, some almond and honey candy..."
>
> "pistachio marzipan"? I assume, since you also mention just
> "marzipan" that this is marzipan made using pistachios, rather than
> almonds?

I forget where I've seen this, but I definitely have seen a reference
to [a] marzipan alternative[s] in earlyish period based on either
pignoles, or pistachios, or both (separate entities, that is, if
both). I know Chiquart mentions pine nut paste as an ingredient in
his Tourtes of Parma, but doesn't define it or give a recipe for it,
and I STR (but could be wrong) that pistachio "marzipan" is mentioned
somewhere. If nowhere else finely ground pistachios appear in one or
more of the Teste de Turte recipes.

Okay, after searching the inner depths of assorted hard drives (I had
a major, catastrophic partial data loss a few weeks ago when the
250GB backup drive, almost full, died on me), I find a reference to
an actual marzipan variant called pignolat, made more or less as
marzipan is, using pignoles, sugar, and rose water, in that 15th-
century Milanese Wedding feast account found among, IIRC, the papers
of Nostradamus.

Adamantius


Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2006 07:49:58 -0400
From: "Elise Fleming" <alysk at ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Pistachio Marzipan
To: "sca-cooks at ansteorra.org" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Greetings!  I had _thought_ there was mention of pistachios being used for
marzipan in the Anonymous Andalusian cookbook, but a quick scan of where I
thought I had seen it doesn't show anything like that.  That doesn't mean
it's not there but I don't currently have the time to read the cookery book
in detail.  However, I _think_ that the Andalusian has "masapan" or
"mazapan" with pistachios.

Alys Katharine


Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2006 17:57:15 EDT
From: Aldyth at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] pistachio marzipan?
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

adamantius.magister at verizon.net writes:

I forget  where I've seen this, but I definitely have seen a reference
to [a]  marzipan alternative[s] in earlyish period based on either
pignoles,  or pistachios, or both (separate entities, that is, if
both). I know  Chiquart mentions pine nut paste as an ingredient in
his Tourtes of  Parma, but doesn't define it or give a recipe for it,
and I STR (but  could be wrong) that pistachio "marzipan" is mentioned
somewhere. If  nowhere else finely ground pistachios appear in one or
more of the  Teste de Turte recipes.

http://www.ou.org/shabbat/recipes/miketz62.htm

I found this reference with a recipe for pistachio marzipan, and have  
asked for the original.  Ideas?

Aldyth


Date: Sun, 25 May 2008 14:44:16 -0400
From: "Robin Carroll-Mann" <rcarrollmann at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Walnut Macaroons - peri-oid recipe
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

There's a walnut marzipan in the Anonymous Andalusian.  Though I
suspect Urtatim already knows that...

Brighid ni Chiarain

On May 24, 2008, at 9:45 PM, Lilinah wrote:
<<< Also, i've read about people making macaroons with different nuts -
besides almonds or walnuts, they tried pecans (New World) or
hazelnuts, replaced weight for weight. I suspect it could also work
with pine nuts or pistachios. >>>


Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:12:18 -0500
From: silverr0se at aol.com
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] A question about dates and marzipan
To: sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org

<<< Is there any textual evidence for almond- or marzipan-stuffed dates in period?  I've run across a modern reference to them as a "traditional Scottish treat" (for what that's worth), but it got me to wondering.

Talana >>>

Martino has marzipan-stuff fava beans - the bean is carefully removed from its skin and replaced with marzipan. 

Sort of like those "lima beans" you made, Selene, for a lima-hating Duchess we know.

Renata


Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:57:40 -0500
From: "Elaine Koogler" <kiridono at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] A question about dates and marzipan
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

There is also documentation for marzipan-stuffed dried apricots...my source
was the Madrone Culinary Guild, who obtained it from the "Babarnama" or
"Memoirs of Babar", one of the Mughal Emperors in the 16th century.  The
name of the dish was Subhani, and it's absolutely to die for!!

Kiri

On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 3:12 PM, <silverr0se at aol.com> wrote:
Martino has marzipan-stuff fava beans - the bean is carefully removed from
its skin and replaced with marzipan.

Sort of like those "lima beans" you made, Selene, for a lima-hating Duchess
we know.

Renata >>>


Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:43:14 -0500
From: Elaine Koogler <kiridono at gmail.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan question

<<< I purchased a tin of almond paste from NutsOnline (thank you it arrived
slow but in good shape) and last night mom and I went to turn some of it
into marzipan.  It very quickly turned oily in my hands.  I was adding
powdered sugar and a little rosewater.  I was only kneading it by hand, not
using any machinery, and I dont think my hands were that hot, though I do
run warm.

Gwen Cat >>>

Have you tried dipping your hands into orange juice?  Seems that does keep
it from being so sticky...not sure whether it would help with the oil.

Kiri


Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:58:00 -0600 (CST)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan question

When I did the wedding cake fruits, I did the same thing--dry food color 
mixed with vodka, then they got painted with confectioner's glaze 
(food-grade shellac). Any of the ones in the pictures that are very shiny 
have already been glazed.

http://pics.livejournal.com/pixel39/gallery/00006ysf

As for sticky, IIRC my marzipan recipe uses egg whites, icing sugar, a 
dash of rosewater, and some corn syrup (no, it's not period, neither was 
the cake).

Margaret FitzWilliam

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009, Kathleen A Roberts wrote:

Susan Lin <susanrlin at gmail.com> wrote:
<<< Or, I'll make my figures (usually fruit) and then use luster dust
to "paint" them.  I can get the colors pretty realistic that way. >>>

The few times I have done marzipan, I used dry food color and mixed it with 
alcohol (booze, that is) and painted it like I was painting a picture, rather 
than kneading color in.

My latest passion is the edible silver and gold dust you can either 
reconstitute (booze again, hmmm...  a theme....) and paint or you can just dust 
with.

I put a bit (goes a long way) in a baggie with some 1 inch gingercookie stars 
and shook, and it was just beautiful. Far prettier than if I had painted them 
gold.

Cailte >>>


Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:47:01 -0600
From: "otsisto" <otsisto at socket.net>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] oily marzipan Vol 44, Issue 69

From a friend who has worked with marzipan but not in SCA:

If sticky, use cornstarch or arrowroot.

If oily, use a paper towel and blot it.

If using a mold, one should freeze the filled mold for easy removal (do not
dust the mold with cornstarch).

If making from scratch, after mixing the ingredients together place in
Ziploc freezer bag and place in frig for about a month. Then take is out and
knead it. If it becomes oily you may have kneaded it too much or the kitchen
is to warm. Try to knead it on a cool surface but not cold.

If your marzipan is to stiff you can add corn syrup or honey in very small
amounts to soften it. Note that this will change the flavor a bit. If the
marzipan is too soft (which she has never had this problem) she has been
told that she could add fondant to it, a 2-1 ratio of marzipan to fondant.

The glaze she has is standard
2T light corn syrup, 1/4 cp. water
Mix together in a sauce pan and heat to boiling till the corn syrup has
dissolved or basically has integrated into the water. Cool, brush on
marzipan fruits.


Date: Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:22:25 -0600 (CST)
From: "Pixel, Goddess and Queen" <pixel at hundred-acre-wood.com>
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Marzipan fruits, edible glaze, etc.

In no particular order--

The glaze I used is an edible shellac made by CK Products. It was long ago 
enough that I don't remember who I bought it from--some online cake 
decorating supply place.

This is the stuff: http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=CE0298

I used it because the wedding was in October and I spent the summer making 
fruit that I wanted to stay nice and not dry out or mold or anything. Also 
it made them shiny.

As for the fruit, I used a combination of newly purchased dry color and 
some that I already had, of various brands. I don't know that one is 
necessarily better than another in this particular case. Color effects 
were accomplished by a combination of colored marzipan (using gel color 
rather than powdered for consistency's sake) as a base and then layers of 
color. Some of it was dry pigments mixed with vodka to form a paint, some 
of it was dry color dry-brushed on with a stiff boar-bristle paintbrush, 
and some of it was gel color. For accents I did a few fruits with "gold" 
luster dust mixed with vodka and then glazed them once dry.

http://pics.livejournal.com/pixel39/pic/0000rez0/g6 actually shows the 
process pretty well--there are completed unpainted fruits drying a little 
waiting to be painted gold, there are painted and glazed fruits including 
two of the gold ones, and the glaze and thinner are in the background 
along with my shaker of icing sugar and my plastic water glass. The fruits 
are on toothpicks stuck into that block of green foam.

Stems and blossom ends were done mostly with cloves. It was a lot of fun, 
but it took a lot of time. Also the cake made my kitchen smell like 
chocolate for three weeks. Ugh.

Margaret FitzWilliam

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