Marchpane

Marchpane is a kind of almond biscuit. Take a packet of Aldi ground almonds (400g, pretty cheap), 200g of icing sugar (not icing mixture), and add two dessert spoons of rosewater or orangewater. Mix it in well by hand, then add little bits more rose(etc)water until it’s easy to mould. Add colour if you wish, then shape as you will.

Lately, I’ve been doing heraldic shield biscuits. I make a shield template from heavy plastic; I’ve been using the clear A4 type they use for report covers — this works well, but becomes invisible after you’ve made a few biscuits.

You can do particolour biscuits quite readily: the halves will stick together quite well (icing sugar and a little water as the glue). Cook at 150C, they don’t take long. Leave on a rack to dry out.

I got a friend to make some heraldic stamps for the biscuits, which work quite well, not so great in photos. I’ve tried icing them which is a pain in the neck, and I tried making stencils and using food colouring as paint (not great results). I’ve recently started stamping them then painting with food colouring, which works better.

Marzipan

I often use marzipan, it’s one of those flexible foodstuffs you can adapt for many things.

The simplest version is to buy pre-made ground almonds (Aldi). Mix with an equal quantity of icing sugar (NOT icing mixture), and some eggwhite and rosewater. If desired, you can mix with food colouring, and marbled marzipan works well too.

You can then roll out on greaseproof paper, and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. With prior planning, you can find amazing cutter shapes online for just about any shape. Leave them for a day to dry.

The next step up is to use a mould. The commercial silicon moulds are best, and again you can find some great designs commercially. It’s best to grind your own blanched almonds for a really smooth paste. If you vibrate the mixture into the moulds (tapping with a teaspoon), you get a smoother result, a bit like making concrete.

You can also produce your own moulds, carved from wood or (these days) printed by machine. A light coating of spray oil will greatly improve your ability to get them out.

For those with artistic aptitude, you can sculpt 3D marzipan creatures or tokens. If you have ever entertained a toddler, you’ll have the requisite play-dough skills.

Marzipan can be a bit sickly-sweet. As a child in the 1960s, I often got marzipan shaped like little fruits for Christmas. They looked great, but had a strong taste which took some getting used to.

That flavour, which I now like a lot, comes by adding a few drops of essence of bitter almonds to the recipe. You may know it as the flavour in amaretti. Not everybody likes it, so use carefully.