/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>12545602
now I want some marzipan

Whats it made from?

>>12545646
ground almonds, sugar, almond extract

>>12545602
marzipan is an acquired taste, not everyone likes it, why not go for a hazelnut buttercream or something with more universal appeal?

>>12545663
Who the fuck doesn't like marzipan?

>>12545663
I figured if I use it like fondant and for decorations (and could nix the layered bit), then anyone who doesn't care for it could get around it. But I'm confident that the circle of friends and acquaintances that will be attending the party will enjoy it. A lot of them have spend extended periods of time in Europe and are generally open to a lot of different types of foods.

>>12545663
>hazelnut buttercream
boring

>>12545679
I like your idea, I almost would rather half it be a more soft/spreadable marzipan than a chewy fondant like substance

>>12545671
for real, I think marzipan would have universal appeal it's just that fewer people even know about it

Thanks for reminding me I have to wait another 5 months before I'll be able to buy it in stores again

I'd make a fatless sponge cake, something airy and light, then go for a layer of marzipan and a layer of whipped cream - like an easier Swedish princess cake. Could add jam or whatever flavourings you want in cake or between layers

>>12545602
Fondant is gross (no flavor other than cloying sweetness) and is the cheap secret of professional bakeries to keep their desserts' costs down and tolerant for storage/transport. It's also the cheater's way to make decorations look good. The fact that you'd swap out that trash for not-inexpensive marzipan for your friend's birthday shows you actually give a damn. Good for you OP.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAWWY75FJMM

>>12545679
What issues with handling the layers are you having? Cracking? Tearing? Does chilling it and then rolling it out to a circumference larger than the to-be-covered-object (ex: using your cake pans as a guide) and draping it over them not work? You might need to apply a heat gun/hair dryer to warm it up in places to temporarily make it more pliable to smooth out with a bench scraper and trim off the excess.

>>12545647
>>12545646
It's incredible how marzipan manages to take almonds and turn them to shit

>>12545744
Still better than fondant.

>>12545688
If I were to put it between the layers, then I would definitely want to make it into a softer more spreadable version. I do want it to taste good, but also I'm known in this group to bring elaborate desserts to get togethers and parties and would like to out do myself. I was thinking of something like a tiered cake covered with marzipan "fondant" with marzipan flower decorations accented with with "gold" cake dust and maybe chocolate covered marzipan truffles. Then when you cut into it there could be different colored layers like in pic related.
>>12545731
I've heard buying prepared marzipan is really expensive. If you'd rather not buy raw almonds that you need to blanch, peel, cool, grind it food processor, dry out, grind, etc. then you can just buy finely ground almond flour and mix it with powdered sugar and water and also possibly almond extract and/or rose water. It's not difficult, but I'm curious as to any specific recipes and ratios that anyone here who's experienced with marzipan might have, and how to adjust the recipe for different uses (cake covering, cake layers, cake toppings, etc).
>>12545740
I like this idea, sinze marzipan is so dense and rich. A light, airy cake inside would be desirable instead of a richer, more dense one.
>>12545743
I've never had fondant, but I've heard it's disgusting, and it also doesn't hurt that I happen to have quite a bunch of raw almonds in my pantry at the moment. Thank you for the video!

>>12545744
no, it improves them

>>12545743
So far I have made one test batch of marzipan. I blanched, peeled, let dry out, and grinded almonds in the food processor. Naturally, they still have moisture on the inside, so I put the ground almonds in two separate baking pans then let them dry out in the oven at 200ºF for about 20 minutes then ground them further. I still have one pan full which would probably come out to about 3 cups or more of almond flour. But the one pan full that I tried grinding even further for ultra fine flour like recipes were calling for ended up turning into almond butter. But I just let it cool fully then started adding small amounts of powdered sugar (made from sugar in the raw not refined). It grinded into a much finer non-gritty mixture then I added almond extract and rose water, blended it more, then added very small amounts of water at a time. When it seemed ready I started rolling it into a log and there were massive amounts of oil and water seeping out. It tasted really good, but I wasn't sure if this was normal and how I would make it into a cake covering (maybe more powdered sugar?). Before I waste more almonds, I'd like to get some tips on the process.

>>12545744
Have you ever had real marzipan that wasn't full of preservatives and corn syrup and was at least 60% almonds by weight?

>>12545774
>I added almond extract and rose water, blended it more, then added very small amounts of water at a time. When it seemed ready I started rolling it into a log and there were massive amounts of oil and water seeping out. It tasted really good, but I wasn't sure if this was normal and how I would make it into a cake covering (maybe more powdered sugar?). Before I waste more almonds, I'd like to get some tips on the process.
Sounds like it either got too warm or more likely not enough hygroscopic sugar to latch onto and hold the water/oil molecules from weeping out. I'd try popping the mixture in the fridge to chill and see if that stops it, and then kneading it a bit more powdered sugar in if it isn't holding together uniformly. Also your problems may stem from the homemade almond paste + added extract oil. Since you are going past the flour/meal-stage and into pureeing them without any added stabilizers, you are freeing up the natural fats in the nuts (they are ~50% fat by weight btw) that normally need an emulsifier to keep from separating (think of those natural peanut butters in glass jars at the grocery store that are separated on the shelves).

>>12545952 Continued:
This is excerpt on Marzipan I dug out of Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking for you (p.692-693):
>Marzipan is essentially a paste of sugar and almonds, has been made in the Middle East and Mediterranean region for centuries, and is especially prized as a sculptural material; it’s shaped and colored to resemble fruits and vegetables, animals, people, and many other objects. The solid phase in nut pastes like marzipan is pro-vided by finely granulated sugar and the particles of nut proteins and carbohydrates. It can be made by cooking almonds and syrup together and then cooling and crys-tallizing the mixture; or ground almonds can be mixed with a premade fondant and powdered sugar. Egg white or gelatin is sometimes added to improve the binding.
If the above suggestions don't work (keeping in mind it's summer so ambient heat/humidity can be a factor too), then I'd focus on the last sentence in the passage & what I said about the natural PB analogyand look for a recipe with one of those mentioned ingredients as a binder for insurance. I might also nix the extract oil as your nuts are pretty good quality and the resulting marzipan may exceed it's fat saturation capacity. Hope this helps some.

>>12545952
>>12545960
Ah yes that all makes sense. I definitely needed to let it cool down since I was using the oven to dry out the flour for further grinding, which is why I set one of the batches aside to work with in the morning. I read that traditional marzipan doesn't use egg whites, but if comes down to using them, I doubt anyone would notice. I happened to have about 2.5 pounds of raw almonds that I wanted to find a use for, but do you think it's better to just buy finely ground almond flour or would there be a quality difference in the final product? I can get raw almonds for $5/lb from Sprouts bulk section or for around $7/lb from other grocery stores that come in "fresh sealed" containers. I don't mind the process of starting out with whole raw almonds, since I enjoy cooking and the preparation that comes with making things from scratch, but I want to make sure to end up with a high quality result. Also it's 19% humidity here right now, so humidity shouldn't be much of a problem.

>>12545994
>I read that traditional marzipan doesn't use egg whites, but if comes down to using them, I doubt anyone would notice. I happened to have about 2.5 pounds of raw almonds that I wanted to find a use for, but do you think it's better to just buy finely ground almond flour or would there be a quality difference in the final product? I can get raw almonds for $5/lb from Sprouts bulk section or for around $7/lb from other grocery stores that come in "fresh sealed" containers. I don't mind the process of starting out with whole raw almonds, since I enjoy cooking and the preparation that comes with making things from scratch, but I want to make sure to end up with a high quality result. Also it's 19% humidity here right now, so humidity shouldn't be much of a problem.
I'd first simply see if the chilled temperature + some extra worked-in powdered sugar if necessary stabilizes the marzipan's oil/moisture content. If so then you're already golden and can save money by just make your own almond paste from the raw almonds.you already have. If that doesn't work I'd go ahead and look into getting some almond flour and cooking it w/syrup-method + egg whites unless you think you can manage to take your other raw almonds to a flour stage (maybe in smaller slower batches?) and not get to puree territory that might be a way to accomplish the same thing without buying more ingredients. Worse case I'd sliver those almonds and honey roast/candy them and sprikle them over your cake as a garnish to indicate the marzipan inside. Bitches love sweet nuts.

>>12545731
You can get marzipan at IKEA.

>>12545671
Don't like the taste and its too sweet for me.

>>12546321
You're not supposed to eat it like potatoes.

>>12546130
oh yeah these are so good, more complex than normal marzipan, very boozy

>>12546329
I dont eat it at all.

>>12545602
>>12545663
Why not go big brained and just use nutella for the layer fillings

>>12545663
>marzipan is an acquired taste, not everyone likes it
people who dont like marzipan shouldnt exist

>>12545671
people with almond allergies

>>12545663
Marzipan is a pleb filter

Would taste good but would get expensive.

>>12546530
Disgusting.

>>12545602
Marzipan is good. Don't use too much marzipan or it won't be anymore.

>>12545688
>>12545766
Spreadable marzipan ? Get the fuck out of here.

>>12545646
You seem to have accidently clicked on /ck/ but hi, we're a welcoming board.

>>12548101
Without seeing his shoes I cannot complete my assessment into whether he's got a better dress sence than me but it's about tied at the moment.

Any shoe pics?

>>12548153

>>12548215
Bastard

>>12546942
Wrong nigga, I like that shit even if it’ll give me the shits.

>>12545602
booger cake

>>12545602
Battenberg.

>>12548374
He said allergies not snowflake stomach.

>>12546942
I have made sure that no one attending has almond or nut allergies as best I can as well as other food allergies.

>>12547712
I'm just trying to come up with ideas. At this point I'm figuring as using it only to cover the cake and make some decorations. I have some time to do small test batches of everything, so if I need to change something, I can adjust accordingly.

you could make a vanilla or chocolate flavored sponge, split layers with almond or vanilla pastry cream and add an almond liqueur soak to the cake layers, then drape a thin layer of marzipan over the cake sort of cloaking it. could also be nice with an apple spiced cake

>>12550028
Just flatten it thin with a rollin pin and then cover the cake or put it in the layer. Might want to add a bit of jam unless you're okay with dry cakes.

>>12545602
Can i use honey instead of sugar

>>12545602
*BLOCKS YOUR PATH*
>Jej, nada personal, puto...

marzipan fucking SUCKS

>>12546130
Those cakes are called vacuum cleaners. They are named that because they used to be made by vacuming up all the pits and pieces off of the bakery floor at the end of the day, beating it into a paste and drenching it in Arrak to hide the taste.
>>12545602
>mother
>Fucking
>P R I N C E S S C A K E

>>12552154
>princess cake
pic related

>>12552154
>>12552158
>princess cake

They also have those at IKEA.

marzipan is heavenly

>>12545671
me, I think it's absolutely disgusting and I really can't fathom how people can like it.

Since it's kind of related, how does one make a chocolate shell? I want to coat these little cakes I make on chocolate but when I try melting chocolate it gets fucked and doesn't flow at all.

As I post this, I realize I'm trying to make ding dongs. I can't get that outer chocolate shell to work.

>>12554415
You're a real fucking ding dong, aren't you?

>>12554420

>>12554381
Consider suicide then.

>>12546942
You are not welcome.

>>12554415
>when I try melting chocolate it gets fucked and doesn't flow at all
maybe you get water in it and cause it to seize. what kind of chocolate are you using and how are you melting it? it'd be best to temper the chocolate, but if you can't even melt it then tempering is way too complicated for you.

>>12545602
Man I fucking hate the taste of almonds. I wouldn't eat anything with marzipan on it.

>Marzipan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmIOXKdpZlU

>>12545602
I tried marzipan recently and I'm not a fan, maybe I'm growing old and overly sweet stuff is too overwhelming for me.

>>12545602
Almond paste is better

>>12555560
he's probably just microwaving it and trying to pour the chocolate on top

>>12548101
>>12548215
How did you get these pictures of me

>>12546052
>>12545994
>>12545960
>actual technical discussion of food and cooking techniques

Don't you guys know this board is exclusively for McChicken posting?

>>12555753
i use the microwave to melt chocolate and don't have any problems.

For me, it's gåsebryst.

>>12554415
You need to temper it by bringing 3/4 of the amount of chocolate you're using up to something like 121ºF to 131ºF then take it off the heat while adding in 1/4 amount of it in shaving shavings/very small thin pieces in small amounts, stirring constantly to incorporate fully and bring it down to something like 86ºF. Look up tempering chocolate and specifically tempering chocolate for ganache. When you temper it properly, when it sets it will be shiny or if you prefer it to be matte and more like butter cream you do it differently I believe. I've only read about it briefly but am also considering doing a chocolate coated tier.

>>12555778
>guys im being ironic please laughxddddd

>>12555709
Hah! Mercunts are retarded.