How to make pasta di mandorle: the recipe
While in Italy, I widely meditated on the food to make during Christmas time. My husband has kindly indicated that he doesn’t wish the traditional home-baked panettone (he came home with a pack of an industrial one, which has cost him some money though :P). Despite that, we agreed I will bake pandoro by following the wonderful Simili’s recipe (not too bad as a solution given that pandoro takes “only” a day and a half…nothing compared to the three days needed for panettone!).
Anyway, for the first time in my life, the idea of making my own almond paste (pasta di mandorle in Italian or marzipan) came to my mind. Don’t ask me why I have always associated marzipan to Christmas (not to mention to the Sicilian patisserie :)). Moreover, ready made marzipan is available in almost every grocery store here in Ottawa, in particular during Christmas time (ah! :)). But as usual, I am stubborn and when something gets into my head I have to pursue my goals…So, let’s see how to make marzipan, which is not so difficult after all!
What is almond paste or marzipan
It’s a paste obtained by mixing ground almonds and sugar, in about 1:1 proportion. Some liquid ingredients must be added (egg whites, water and/or glucose syrup) that determine the firmness of the paste. Seemingly, we can make other kinds of nut pastes by replacing almonds with pistachios, hazelnuts, walnuts…
This preparation is named “paste” because it is actually kneadable. You can work it as a shortbread or a shortcrust pastry. Almonds must be ground to obtain a flour, whose granulometry affects the final results (a fine flour is the key for a kneadable paste).
And pasta reale?
Pasta reale contains a higher ratio of sugar and liquids than the classical almond paste. This makes the paste squeezable and spreadable. You can actually place it into a sac-a-poche and use it to decorate cakes.
Remember that the amount of liquids and sugar added determined the final results. If you want a product destined to make cookies, you must decrease the amount of liquids.
Tips and tricks to make marzipan
Start from whole almonds or almond flour of good quality. Almonds represents almost 50% of the final product, so their quality determines the final taste.
If you start from whole almonds, remove the peel or select those without peel.
Grind the almonds well. Remember that you must obtain a fine flour to make the paste kneadable.
Do not overgrind the almonds or you’ll extract the oil, which will affect the final results.
The recipe comes from Giallo Zafferano, with a few modifications. The result wasn’t bad, but next time I will try Di Carlo’s recipe that doesn’t use egg whites and it is thus suitable for vegans.
Pasta di mandorle (almond paste, marzipan)
(Dose for 15-20 cookies)
250 g of almond flour
250 g of sugar
2 egg whites
15 g of water
a teaspoon of almond extract
a handful of almond or candied cherries to decorate
Mix the almond flour with the sugar. Add the egg whites, the almond extract and knead all the ingredients. . You should obtain a kneadable paste. Then, make some small balls and place them on an oven pan covered with parchment paper. Press each marzipan ball a bit and decorate them with one almond or a cherry. Place the cookies into the fridge and let them rest for about 4 hours (Giallo Zafferano suggested 7, but my paste was quite firm already). After this time, preheat the oven at 180 C and bake the cookies for 10-15 min (they must brown just a little). Remove the almond paste cookies from the oven and serve them cold.