Interesting facts about marcipans

Marzipan is a candy or a confection made of almonds and sugar or honey as a sweetener, plus flavorings such as almond oil or almond extract, rose water, or orange blossom water.

Commercially produced marzipan often contains additives and preservatives such as glucose syrup, invertase, or sorbic acid.

Almonds and sugar are the two basic ingredients in marzipan, and all you need to make marzipan at home. Optionally, you can also add flavorings and/or food coloring. Beyond the basic ingredients of almonds and sugar, the ingredients and types of marzipan vary, often from country to country. Most commercially produced, European-style marzipan does not contain egg whites so it’s vegan. Strictly speaking, marzipan is always made with almonds.

However, marzipan-like confections made of nuts instead of almonds, such as pistachio marzipan, are also often referred to as marzipan.

In Germany, which is renowned for its marzipan, especially the Lübecker Marzipan from the north German city of Lübeck, food laws regulate the different marzipan classifications. The quality of the marzipan is determined by the ratio of sugar and the raw marzipan material called Marzipanrohmasse which may not be more than 1:1. In other words, the higher the amount of almonds, the better the marzipan quality.