Sunday, December 12, 2010

Christmas Marzipan With Silver and Chocolate Coating........


Christmas is for us a Marzipan time.....well...we enjoy eating marzipan every time of the year, but in Christmas it is present in almost every recipe along with cranberries and pistachio.

With this recipe I participate in the Concurso de Recetas Navideñas Santa Teresa-Lazy Blog 

LAZY BLOG           -           YEMAS DE SANTA TERESA S.A.


Marzipan Filled with Cranberries and Pistachio covered with Chocolate and Silver (for 12 pieces)

115 grams of almond (very grinded, but not flour)
60 ml of water
40 grams of sugar
Few drops of lemon juice
Few drops of your favourite liquor (whisky, amaretto, cointreau....)
Cranberries and Pistachio (chopped)
Chocolate (bitter)
Silver leaves (edible 0.999 Silver)

In a pot, mix water, sugar and few drops of lemon juice. Let it boil. Once the liquid has been reduced (about 30-40 % of reduction), add few drops of your favourite liquor. Incorporate the grinded almond in a "rainy" motion, and stir it well. The mixture has to be sticky, but able to work with your hands. The mix has to become off of the sides of the pan. You will end up with a density as it is shown in the following pictures:



Let it cool to avoid burns. You will need to work this dough with your hands.

First make a ball, then make a flat circle with this dough. The almond dough has to be dense, but not sticky to your hands.

 

Place this almond paste circle over a plate, and fill it with chopped cranberries and pistachios.

Make a ball, then flatten it in a cigar shape....


Make transversal cuts, and shape them in balls covering the cranberries and pistachios. Let them rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.


Cover them with edible silver leaves......

 

Or with black chocolate...... 
 
You can dip every marzipan filled in melt chocolate. To melt the chocolate, I use a double boiler. Dip the marzipan filled, flip them with two forks in the chocolate, remove them, and place them over a tray with aluminum foil. Place them in the freezer for five minutes, take them out of the aluminum foil and serve on a tray.

 
 
From left to right...
1) Marzipan filled with pistachio and cranberries covered with edible silver leaves
2) Marzipan filled with pistachio and cranberries covered with chocolate
3) Marzipan filled with pistachio and cranberries without cover

You can make your own fillings, and play with your own covers.....

ENJOY!!

9 comments:

  1. What a luscious and delicious X'mas pralines~!

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  2. Quedan preciosas en platas, cualquiera dudaría que se puedan comer!!! Buena receta me encanto.

    Un saludo

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  3. Angie....I'm glad you like it!!....Abrazotes, Marcela

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  4. Mari....son totalmente comestibles!!....las hojas de plata se usan en pasteles Indios....Abrazotes, Marcela

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  5. How many days can I keep this in the fridge? I'm planning to make this for Christmas, in advance. MH

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  6. Hi MH....I have no idea for how long you can keep it!!....I usually make them, and eat them in a couple of days. During that time, I'll keep them in the fridge.....However, they don't last long....we eat them almost immediately.....Abrazotes, Marcela

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  7. Hi Marcela, is this marzipan recipe good for covering cakes? Annie

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  8. Hi Annie.....Unfortunately, it is not good because when you roll it flat, you can't get a big piece to cover a cake. I did it only once, and it was very difficult. I will explain how I did it:
    1)Grind the almond very fine in order to have a smooth dough.
    2)Do the dough. Let it cool.
    3)Put a piece of dough between saran wrap. Use icing sugar on top and bottom of the marzipan dough to avoid get stick in the saran wrap.
    4) Flatten it with roll pin

    I ended up with pieces that I put it together in my daughter's first birthday cake. I was happy with the result, but it was difficult to gold all the piece together. I made a pink castle, but I add the pink colour to the water not the dough. Therefore, the colour was homogeneous......

    I hope it helps!......Abrazotes, Marcela

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