Homemade Marzipan and Chocolate Marzipans

Step 01

Tip the sugar into a medium saucepan, add the cream of tartar and 150ml water. Stir to dissolve the sugar then bring the syrup to the boil with a sugar thermometer in the pan and cook steadily until it reaches 118C. Remove from the heat and leave the syrup to cool for 3-4 minutes.

Step 02

Meanwhile, whizz the blanched almonds in a food processor until finely ground and mix with the ground almonds.

Step 03

Tip the nuts and the remaining ingredients into the pan and beat with a rubber spatula until smooth. Return to a low heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously, to cook the eggs and thicken the almond paste. Scoop into a bowl, cover the surface with cling film and leave until cold.

Step 04

Flatten the cooled marzipan into a disc, wrap in cling film and store in the fridge until ready to use. When ready, dust the work surface with icing sugar and knead until smooth before rolling out.

Step 05

To make the chocolate marzipans, line a baking sheet with baking paper. Roll out 175g of the marzipan to a 3-4mm thickness.

Step 06

Stamp out as many pieces as you can with a 3-4cm cookie cutter and arrange on the baking sheet. Gather the off-cuts, re-roll and stamp again until you have about 20 pieces. Chill the tray for 15 minutes.

Step 07

Melt 100g of the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water then remove from the heat. Add the remaining chocolate and mix until melted then leave to cool for 10 minutes before returning to the pan to heat until runny again.

Step 08

Dip one marzipan piece at a time in the melted chocolate, turning to coat with a fork. Lift out, letting the excess drip back into the bowl, then slide onto the baking paper and press your decorations on top. Repeat with the remaining pieces and leave the chocolate to set completely before packaging.