[Sca-cooks] marzipan advice

[Robert Downie]

elisabetta at klotz.org wrote:

> I am making a sutlity (ok, I can't spell that word) for EK 12th Night. 
> The
> current idea is to do a hunting scene with marzipan and cake.
>
> I have worked with store bought marzipan, but have never made my own, 
> which I am
> assuming is cheaper.
>
> So I have many questions:
>
> Is it cheaper to make marizipan and how do you do it? Can you buy 
> commercial
> marizpan at bulk? Is there something else I can substitute for 
> marizpan that is
> period (sigh, no chocolate clay)? How long does marizpan last in and 
> or out of
> the fridge? Any volunteers to help?

Do you have a specific period in mind or just something that fits 
anywhere into SCA timeframe?  A good later period sculpting option is 
sugar paste.  It will set up very hard and strong and can be made well 
in advance without deterioration of quality.  To the best of my 
knowledge (which these days isn't saying much, lol) cake as we know it 
was not in use until post SCA period, although there are some later 
period yeast raised cakes (I remember seeing some recipes in the 
Florilegium).

You could also try modeling with the honey/bradcrumb variety of 
gingerbread, or even meat or bean pastes if you don't mind savory versus 
sweet.

Faerisa