Here is this year's marzipan. I made around 200 pieces to distribute to friends and family. As you can see, I made pears, apricots, carrots, oranges, onions, garlic. Last year I made some very darling sprouted garlic cloves. The oranges have whole cloves stuck in them to imitate the stem end. I used small twigs and broken cloves for the pear stems. The apricots' stems are made of cardamom seeds. My marzipan is made entirely from ground almonds, beginning with almond paste: I ground blanched and slivered almonds to a fine powder in our very powerful blender. Then I stirred in a sugar syrup and some kirsch, cured the resulting mass for several weeks, then kneaded it with one egg white and a quantity of confectioner's sugar. The recipe is taken from the Joy of Cooking (1975 ed.), and from all the ones I've tried, seems the best. Last year I did extensive research on flavorings. I tried hard to replicate the flavor of my favorite commercial marzipan, Niederegger. This year I saved stones from nearly every peach, plum, and apricot we had this summer intending to use their noyaux, but when the time came, I elected to add just a few drops of almond extract instead of grinding those kernels of bitter almond flavor.
I typically form the pieces forty at a time, let them dry for an hour or so, then paint them with food coloring diluted with water.
