Homeade Marzipan

There seems to always be that person at Christmas who is the toughest to shop for. Every family has one. In ours it's Beau's dad Gary. He never says what he wants if you ask him but he does have his favorite things in life so usually we just capitalize on those things: the green bay packers, fox news, pigs, cats, and marzipan. (He's an unexpected character in the story, so random and so funny!) Anyways Marzipan is his favorite Christmas time treat and we usually raid our local Cost Plus World Market for the selection of it but this year I wanted to add a special touch so I wanted to try and make it myself! It's not the same as the store bought stuff for sure but it is very yummy with a sweeter flavor and more texture. 

Here's how I made Marzipan: 

For the Marzipan:

2 cups almond meal (I bought blanched and slivered almonds from the bulk section of our grocery store and ground it myself in the food processor)

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract (approximately I didn't really measure just poured a splash in :)

Water

For decorating:

1 cup of semi-sweet morsels

sprinkles for that Christmas time flare

Red and/or Green food coloring

Directions: 

Mix almond meal and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Add almond extract and then SLOWLY add water to the mixture while stirring until it forms together in a large clump. 

(Mine was too wet because I poured the water in too fast :/ so to recover I just pulverized some more almonds and added an equal amount of almond meal and powdered sugar to get my marzipan more dry. That last pick is the fixed up version, so nice)








Decorations:


Next I separated the marzipan into 3 sections. Well actually two equal sections and one of those sections into two sections, but you can ration it how ever you want. The two smaller portions I used food coloring on. One red and one green then rolled them into little balls for eating. With the larger portion I rolled it all in to balls and dipped them in melted chocolate and topped with sprinkles. Yum! 

leave the chocolate dipped ones out to dry before storing. store best in zipper bags, or air tight containers.

I brought over a few pieces for Gary to try the other day to see if he would approve, being the connoisseur of marzipan in the family, and he never put them down. He said they're great but there's only enough for tonight :) Yep, I know what I'm making him for Christmas!