Homemade Marzipan

HappyBunny's Note:

I made my own marzipan for my Christmas cake this year and will never ever go back to the stuff they sell in the shops. It was so easy to make and the orange zest gave it a lovely flavour. The recipe is from the November issue of the Good Food magazine.

• Total Time: 45 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 0 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 20cm cake

• 175 g caster sugar (6oz)
• 175 g icing sugar , plus extra
• icing sugar , for dusting (6oz)
• 250 g ground almonds (9oz)
• 1 orange, juice and zest of , grated
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk

Directions:

1. Sift the sugars and ground almonds together, then stir in the orange zest. Beat together the egg and egg yolk, and stir into the sugar mixture.
2. Knead briefly to make sure the marzipan is well mixed, and easy to work with. If it is too dry, add a little orange juice. If it is too wet, add some more icing sugar.
3. Place the cake on the cake board and use small balls of marzipan to plug any holes in the cake. Glaze the cake with a thin layer of apricot jam or shredless marmalade.
4. Dust the work surface with a little icing sugar and roll out the marzipan in one direction, keeping the pressure even and turning a 1/4 turn every feel rolls.
5. When it's large enough (about 40cm for a 20cm cake), roll the marzipan onto the rolling pin and lift onto the cake. Smooth the top with your hands and continue to smooth it over the sides of the cake. Trim the marzipan where it meets the board and leave it to dry overnight.