Save a Piece of This Marzipan Chocolate for Someone Special

Last Updated on February 26, 2024 | 0 Comments

If you’ve never tried marzipan, this February is your time to do so. Marzipan, essentially a sweet almond meal paste, just so happens to be one of the oldest and most mouthwatering confections eaten around the world today (if you enjoy sweets and almonds, that is).

There are marzipan lovers in the U.S., but most of its fans are located elsewhere. Our lack of familiarity with this otherwise common sweet could just be an accident of history and no fault of marzipan itself; we never quite developed the intimate cultural relationship Europe or Latin America have with it.

A servant in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” certainly loved marzipan. Cleaning up after Capulet’s feast and worrying that all the leftovers would be gone by the time he got to them, he asks one of the other servants to “save [me] a piece of marchpane.” (Marchpane, or “March bread,” was a very close cousin of marzipan.)

With origins arguably stemming from Germany to Persia to China, marzipan has not only a fascinating history but also a wide range of culinary uses. Highly sculptable, it’s commonly used as frosting for cakes, but you’ll also find it as adorable candies shaped as fruits, pigs, loaves of bread or even potatoes. Beyond shape, it comes in a myriad of versions worldwide as each country or region puts its own spin on the recipe. Mexico’s mazapan is made of peanuts, for instance, and in the Philippines it’s made with pili nuts.

Chocolate is one of marzipan’s most common pairings, and Chef Sima’s recipe for marzipan chocolate is the perfect way to emphasize the delicate interplay between these two flavors. You’ll make the marzipan by hand, ensuring the utmost in authenticity and flavor. You can roll the candies into any shape you want, but balls work just fine, whether you opt for the powdered sugar coating or just the chocolate.

a marzipan ball glistening with chocolate — *via Cozymeal*

This is a wonderful recipe to make alone or with a romantic partner for Valentine’s Day. It could also be a fun project to undertake with the family, as it's delightfully tactile with all the rolling, kneading and dipping involved. And in the end, you have a sweet, decadent candy to enjoy together.

Remember to save a piece for someone special.