[Sca-cooks] Marzipan question

[Olwen the Odd]

>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 homemade 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
>they 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 pachment 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.

Hope that is a help.
Olwen, as far as I know, still coming up with Chirhart.

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