SC - Re: Marzipan/Marchpane

[Elise Fleming]

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
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