Marzipan. Love it or Hate it - no in betweens, I think

Marzipan

What is it?

Fundamentally it is a sweetmeat that consists of sugar, egg, a little liquor, almond essence and ground almonds.

Where did it originate?

One possible geographic origin for Marzipan is in Spain, then known as Al-Andalus. In Toledo (850-900, though more probably 1150 during the reign of Alfonso VII) this specialty was known as Postre Regio instead of Mazapán) and there are also mentions in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights of an almond paste eaten during Ramadan and as an aphrodisiac.  Mazapán is Toledo's most famous dessert, often created for Christmas, and has PGI status.  Almonds have to be at least 50% of the total weight, following the directives of Mazapán de Toledo regulator counseil.

The above has been copied from Wikipaedia.

The following recipe largely follows that of Delia Smith who I credit with the source recipe.  I have made my own slight changes.

Marzipan – Almond Icing

Ingredients

90gm Icing sugar, plus a little extra for dusting the mixture

90gm soft golden brown sugar

225gm Ground almonds

1 egg, beaten

6 drops pure almond essence

1 dessert spoonful Amoretto liqueur or other liquor of your choice

Method

Sift the icing sugar and caster sugar together into a large bowl, then, stir in the lightly beaten egg. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and whisk continuously for about 10 minutes, until the mixture is thick and fluffy.

Remove the bowl from the heat and sit the base in about 5cm of cold water. Whisk in the almond extract and brandy and continue to whisk until the mixture is cool.

Next, stir in the ground almonds and knead the mixture to form a firm paste on a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar.

Finally roll out the quantity you need on a clean cold surface dusted with icing sugar.

I have found that prepared marzipan can be kept in the fridge for at least a week, maybe more