The paste of almonds is very popular among various cuisines of the world because of its flavor and taste. It is used commonly as a filing in pastries, pies, and cakes. There is another product used frequently in confectionaries called marzipan that has many similarities with almond paste. In fact, there are many people who use the two products interchangeably. However, despite similarities in ingredients, there are differences between almond paste and marzipan that will be talked about in this article.
Almond Paste
Almond paste is, well, paste of almond that requires blanching of almonds and then ground it in a processor and then mixes sugar and cooking oil to bind the ingredients together. Beaten eggs and cream are also used at times to make almond paste that is used heavily in a confectionary as a base for making cookies, cakes, pastries, and even biscuits. The paste can be colored and also flavored to be used in decoration of cakes or even as a filling inside sweets. Almonds being very costly these days, it is common to find ground apricots and peach kernels to be ground and mixed in almond paste to keep the price affordable.
Marzipan
Marzipan is a sweet confection that is made up using almond paste. Many believe it to be a type of almond paste which it, in fact, is. After blanching, almonds are ground in a processor and later mixed with corn syrup to be changed into a colored paste that can be used as clay to make decorative confectionary items or to be used as a filling inside cakes and pastries. In many places, the decorative items themselves are referred to as marzipan.
Almond Paste vs Marzipan
• The ingredients used in both almond paste and marzipan are the same though the quantity of almonds is lower in marzipan.
• Marzipan is sweeter than almond paste.
• Marzipan is more pliable than almond paste which makes it more suitable for making decorative pieces.
• Almond past is more flavorful than marzipan because of higher content of almonds.
• There is a French Marzipan, German Marzipan as well as a British Marzipan to indicate differences in ingredients and the taste of the confection.
• Marzipan can be sold in the form of a candy, whereas almond paste can be used as a filling inside cakes and sweets.
• Marzipan is a type of almond paste while almond paste is a more generic term.