Christmas Cake Marzipan - buy or make?

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

I know it contravenes the MN food police rules, but do I buy or make marzipan for my Christmas Cake?

Ditto on the flat fondant icing? Is it hard to make?



TIA

[expatinscotland]

i buy it.

[dosydot]

Buy mine, cos everyone here picks it off anyway!!
I wish you could just Ice it and forget the horrid almonndy yellow stuff

[dosydot]

Buy mine, cos everyone here picks it off anyway!!
I wish you could just Ice it and forget the horrid almonndy yellow stuff

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

Thanks all. So buying is the way forward then.

Ditto on the Fondant icing?

Expat - hope you're OK, I know you have had a horrible time of late.

[Bluestocking]

A dissenting voice! If you actually like marzipan, then make it, because home-made marzipan is so delicious. As for icing, if you want flat icing then buy it, but royal icing is really easy to make.

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

OK. I'll check delia for marzipan, but deffo buy flat icing, and see if I have enough time to actually make the marzipan!!

[chirpygirl]

Any recipes for home made marzipan then? Is it easy to make? I love it and am constantly buying more than I need as DH and I sneak bits out of the pack to nibble on!

[Bluestocking]

This is the recipe I use.
250 grams ground almonds
125 grams icing sugar
125 grams caster sugar
2 small eggs, or 1 very large one
a few drops of lemon juice
teaspoon of brandy
couple of drops of almond essence

I do sometimes buy whole almonds and grind them; if you decide to do this, grind them with the sugar or they turn to almond butter! Depending on how dry the almonds are, you may need slightly more or less of the liquid ingredients.

[cadeLaideInAManger]

I always buy the marzipan (a good one mind) but always make the icing.
Has to be royal icing see, can't bear that fondant stuff.

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

Is it just a question of putting dry ingredients together and then adding in the wet stuff?

I do have recipe books, but am too lazy to get off arse and look.

Don't like Royal icing though, much prefer yummy fondant, and it gives ds something to peel off and eat. Fondant icing is impossible to make though isn't it?

[Bluestocking]

Yes, just chuck dry ingredients in a bowl and add wet ingredients. If you need a bit more liquid, I'd go for a splash more of either the lemon juice or brandy. It is quite messy and sticky but does leave the hands nice and soft - think of all that lovely almond oil.

[lizziemun]

I always buy ready rolled if i can get it along with icing .

Icing is the one thing i cannot do, always to thin.

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

Brilliant thanks for the recipe. And I can just do this a week or so before I ice it (if I keep it in an airtight box)?

And with the ready rolled icing - how on earth do I get it lovely and smooth over the corners and sides?

Can you tell this will be the first Christmas Cake I have made, ever ?

[Bluestocking]

Sorry, I've been away ... yes, a week before is fine, just to give it a chance to dry out a bit before you put the icing on. When you put the marzipan on the cake, you usually need about one-third for the top and two-thirds for the sides - the top is easy, you just make a disc of marzipan the same size as the cake tin you used. As for the sides, I usually roll it out in bits and kind of slab them on. The traditional way to make it stick to the cake is to warm up some apricot jam and sieve it to get the lumps out, then brush it onto the cake. However, I don't usually bother, and it seems to stick OK. I've only used ready-made icing once and I just followed the instructions on the box, it worked fine. Good luck!

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

Thank you! I will follow your marzipan recipe and let you know!

[bozza]

I always make marzipan and royal icing. I hate fondant. I think it depends on whether you are going for taste or looks, but real marzipan and proper royal icing taste much better than the bought stuff IMO. But real marzipan is harder to roll and royal icing is also more of a challenge to get looking good on a cake. I generally go for the snow scene effect.

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

I just remember having difficulty negotiating my mother's Christmas Cake with a huge layer of hard spikey royal icing.

I think I've opted for make marzipan, buy fondant icing. I wouldn't know where to start with making lovely smooth fondant icing.

[bozza]

Fair enough if that is what you like. I never make my icing early enough for it to go hard.

[moodlumtheHOHOhoodlum]

We were still eating Christmas Cake in February, so that probably explains it!!

[Bluestocking]

I need to know how your marzipan turned out, MtheH! Full report please!

[Claresio]

Please could somebody tell me where I can buy marzipan that has more than 25% almonds, which seems to be the standard. Thanks.