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How To Make Marzipan from Almond Paste

Marzipan is very expensive to buy in the grocery store, and is often dry and flavorless. This marzipan recipe is super easy. I’ll show you how to make  marzipan that is much cheaper than pre-made, and tastes much better.

marzipan roses
Add a little extra sugar to your marzipan to make decorative pieces

If you live in the US and you’ve bought marzipan in the grocery store, chances are you were sorely disappointed. Pre-made marzipan is expensive and is usually dry and tasteless.

I always make my own marzipan recipe from almond paste. Marzipan is a fairly luxurious ingredient but is very easy to make. You’ll need just 3 ingredients and it comes together in mere minutes.

Ingredients

  • Almond Paste – Almond paste is made from “bitter” almonds, which have the distinctive marzipan flavor.
  • Corn Syrup – Gives the marzipan a supple texture.
  • Confectioner’s Sugar – Add less sugar for a softer marzipan like you’d use to cover a cake. Use more sugar for molding marzipan into fruits or flowers.

How to make Marzipan from almond paste:

a bowl with almond paste
  • Combine almond paste with corn syrup to start making your own marzipan.
a piece of almond paste and a piece of homemade marzipan
  • Almond paste is darker in color and has a rough texture. Homemade marzipan is lighter in color, is sweeter and has a smooth texture
  • Add enough sugar to make the marzipan as soft or firm as you need.

How to use Marzipan

Homemade Marzipan has a million and one uses.

  • Cover Christmas fruitcakes with marzipan before finishing them with fondant. The marzipan creates an extra layer to keep the cake moist, plus it tastes much better than fondant. When making marzipan to cover cakes use the lower amount of sugar in the recipe. With less sugar the homemade marzipan is very soft and has a strong almond paste flavor, perfect for a cake covering.
  • Marzipan can be used as a candy filling. Add orange zest to the marzipan and a little extra sugar to make it a little firmer. Cut the flavored marzipan it into small squares, cover the squares in tempered chocolate and you’ve got a fantastic little bon bon.
  • Use homemade marzipan to make tasty and pretty decorative pieces. Add enough sugar and the marzipan becomes firm enough to make rose petals or holly leaves and berries.
  • You can mold life-like pieces of fruit from marzipan, hand color them with powdered food coloring and create a show-stopping centerpiece that is delicious.
a plate of marzipanfruit
Marzipan fruit makes a beautiful and delicious table decoration.
marzipan holly & berries
Use homemade marzipan to make delicious decorations for you holiday desserts.

If you love this recipe as much as I do, please consider leaving a 5-star review.

marzipan rose
Print Recipe
4.48 from 46 reviews

Marzipan Recipe

Marzipan is very expensive to buy in the grocery store, and is often dry and flavorless. Homemade marzipan is cheaper than pre-made, is super easy to make and tastes much better.
Prep Time30 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
24 portions

Ingredients

  • 7 oz Almond Paste (see note)
  • 2 oz light corn syrup (1/4 cup)
  • 8 oz confectioner’s sugar (approximately)

Instructions

  • In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the almond paste and corn syrup on low speed until it forms a smooth paste. If working by hand use a wooden spoon to mix until combined.
    7 oz Almond Paste, 2 oz light corn syrup
  • Scrape the bowl. With the mixer running on low speed add 1/2 of the confectioner's sugar. If mixing by hand stir half the sugar. Turn the dough out onto a surface generously sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. Add additional powdered sugar to achieve the desired consistency (see note).
    8 oz confectioner’s sugar

Equipment

My Book
KA Stand Mixer
Petal Dust for Decorating
Holly Leaf Cutters

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Notes

A softer marzipan is good for covering cakes.  Add more sugar for a firmer texture if you plan to make roses or other decorations

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 45kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 0.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 26mg | Fiber: 0.4g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin C: 0.01mg | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @eileen.bakingsense or tag #bakingsense!
Recipe Rating




Ernesto

Tuesday 24th of January 2023

Hi there. I use marzipan for the center of stollen (a baked Christmas sweet pastry) and unless you go high on the sugar, it gets runny and leaks out of the pastry. Just for info.

Eileen Gray

Tuesday 24th of January 2023

I use almond paste, not marzipan in my stollen recipe.

Jane

Tuesday 6th of December 2022

I love the fact that it's EASY because I am going to attempt the Princess Cake no bakery in Charlotte will make for me for my birthday. I want a cake I LOVE ! I'm crossing my fingers, ordering the Marzipan Paste that I can't find at ANY grocery store (Not Whole Foods, not Fresh Market ) & going for it ! Thanks ! P.S. The scariest part is ROLLING out the Marzipan covering on this particular cake. Oh ! And the fact that although I'm a pretty good cook, baking ? Not so much !

Eileen Gray

Tuesday 6th of December 2022

Just make sure you order real almond paste, not marzipan. There's a link in the recipe card to the brand I use. It's very good. (I'm obliged to say that as an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases)

Is Marzipan Gluten Free? (Yes, Here's Why) – Choosing Nutrition

Saturday 16th of October 2021

[…] This article and recipe from Baking Sense, the Art and Science of Baking, goes into detail about making your own marzipan from almond paste. […]

Claire

Monday 21st of December 2020

How much would you reduce the sugar by to make marzipan for icing my Xmas cake? So happy to have found a recipe that uses almond paste which I found with the jello in America.

Eileen Gray

Monday 21st of December 2020

I give a range of the amount of sugar to add. For covering fruitcakes I use the lower amount so the marzipan is soft.

Astrid

Wednesday 5th of August 2020

Hi there. I was hoping to make this recipe a few days in advance before I assemble my cake. Could I leave this in the fridge for a day or two and then use the marzipan or should I make it and assemble the cake immediately?

Thanks.

Eileen Gray

Wednesday 5th of August 2020

This can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped, for several days.