Marzipan is a sweet dough composed of three ingredients: almond flour, sugar, and egg whites. It is a basic recipe of ancient origins used in pastry for making sweets, pastries, and for cake coverings.

Although it is often thought that marzipan and almond paste are the same product, they actually have substantial differences: while marzipan is a basic dough that uses almond flour, egg whites, and sugar in varying amounts, almond paste is usually made with almond flour, sugar, and sugar syrup or honey, therefore it does not use egg whites, and it also has a higher amount of almond flour compared to marzipan.

Although it is difficult to trace its origins, it is certain that marzipan has roots in Arab countries and seems to have been used in Europe as a trade commodity. Sicily is its undisputed home, with this dough used to create extraordinary sweets like cassata and the famous frutta di Martorana. Besides being widespread in other Italian cities, it has found extensive use in other countries like Germany, Austria, and Northern Europe.

The recipe is really simple; you can use whole almonds and grind them into powder or purchase almond flour to which you must add powdered sugar and egg whites. If you want to make uncooked marzipan sweets, I recommend using pasteurized egg whites to avoid food poisoning; flavors can vary according to taste. Personally, I add a few drops of almond essence and then add other flavors if needed when processing the various recipes.

Before moving on to the recipe, here are some almond-based sweets: