Recipe - Marchepane

2 pound Skinned, blanched whole
almonds
Ice water
4 Egg whites
2 2/3 cup Confectioners sugar
One half cup Orange juice

Colors: Natural, or, if necessary, artificial parsley or mallow for green
sandalwood or alkanet for red saffron or dandelion for yellow blue turnsole
for light blue violets for lavender

1. In a mortar and pestal or a blender, grind the almonds to a thick paste.
Add small amounts of ice water, about One half tsp. at a time, to prevent the
almonds from becoming to oily. Place almond paste in a large mixing bowl.
2. In another bowl, beat egg whites until they peak. Gradually beat in the
sugar. 3. Add the sweetened egg whites to the almond paste. With fingers
wet in orange juice, knead the resulting mixture. If the mixture is too
sticky to handle, add small amounts of orange juice, 1 tsp. at a time.
Thoroughly knead for about 10 minutes. 4. Separate the marzipan into
several sections, on for every color required for your sculpture. 5. In a
separate small mixing bowl for each color, place the marzipan portions and
cover the bowl tightly with a clean cloth tied securely or with aluminum
foil. Allow these to ripen or "age" in refrigerator for at least 24 hours.
(One old recipe recommends aging for a fortnight). Two days ought to
suffice. 6. Mix the natural coloring agents, into the aged marzipan. The
stiff confection will be easier to knead if allowed to return to room temp.
7. Sculpture the paste according to your wildest fancy. Wet fingers,
preferably in ice water.

From: Fabulous Feasts, Medieval Cookery and Ceremony Shared By: Pat
Stockett

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini