Sunday, December 14, 2014

Almond Paste, Paste vs Marzipan

Almond Paste Recipe
Almond Paste vs Marzipan

The Main Differences
While they both are made of almonds, marzipan and almond paste are completely different creatures. Marzipan is smooth, sweet, and often dyed and molded into shapes. It's also used to cover sweets much like fondant and is sometimes eaten as is. Almond paste, however, is coarser, less sweet, and used as an ingredient or filling for baked goods.


Can They Be Substituted for Each Other?
The texture and flavor of the two are different enough that they shouldn't be substituted for one another.


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Almond Paste
Ingredients:
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons water
3 cups plus 3 tablespoons blanched whole almonds
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon simple syrup, *optional

Scant 1/4 cup butter

*
Directions:
Place the sugar, honey and water in a saucepan and bring to a strong boil.

Place the Almonds in the food processor and grind until course. Remove the boiling sugar from the heat and pour over the course almonds. Blend until smooth. This may take 10 minutes or more, depending on the strength of the food processor. Remember, food processors are usually strong enough to yield the same consistency as the almond paste that you can buy.

If your mixture is too thick and the food processor is straining, you can add a little simple syrup to the food processor. Add the liquid slowly and stop when the food processor is moving more freely. The quality of the almond paste is determined by how smooth the consistency is.

Wrap the paste in plastic wrap and allow it to cool.

When you are ready to use it, knead in the butter. The butter makes it smooth and not so sticky.

Can be frozen in the freezer until ready to use. Wrap well.
Recipe courtesy, Jacques Torres

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