[Sca-cooks] Mazipan

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Mary Eileen Mooney:
>I hope you can help me...I have been going thru some cook books and
>they mention mazipan..
>
>what is it, and how do you make it...

Mazipan, variously referred to as marzipan, marchpane, and by other
names, is a paste made from ground almonds, finely ground sugar
(usually equal parts), and just enough water (often rosewater) to
bind it all together into a cohesive mass and keep the almonds from
leaking almond oil. The finished product resembles edible,
almond-flavored modelling clay, and it can be baked in loaf or tart
shape, or any other shapes, for that matter, or simply formed into
shapes or stamped out, and air-dried.

It's a great favorite for making illusion foods (both in the Middle
Ages and Renaissance, as well as today) and is commonly used in a lot
of commercial pastry decoration, as well as for coating things like
wedding cakes and fruitcakes in the UK, to keep them moist.

Adamantius

--
"No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes
deserves to be called a scholar."
	-DONALD FOSTER