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The Making Of marzipan

This is an excerpt from The Prince of Transylvania's Court Cookbook
(Hungary, 16th c.)
The original source can be found at MedievalCookery.com

The making of marzipan. You shall need three lots of almond, crush it and add some sugar to half of the almonds, and cook syrup from the other half with rose water; don't put too much almonds into the rose water so that it will be ready fast, otherwise its strength would waver; stir the almonds, add some sugar, knead it, then put it into a form or tin. Put the wafer where you have lots of marzipan, if one wafer is not enough, dip it into egg whites then put another wafer on it. Then put the almond dough into it, add sugar, paste the tin with sweet almond oil, if the tin is for marzipan only, put the almonds into it, then the wafer, then decorate it. Then, make a small rope from the dough that's the size of your finger. Glue this small rope with egg whites, cut it with some scissors, then put it into the four ends like a wreath, bake it, but the furnace shouldn't be too hot, it should bake slowly, but still stay white; it's better to cook it in a furnace once you've baked a bread, for it will shrink in a pate pan. If you don't like it this way, don't use a tin, just use wreath decoration. It's better to cook it in a cauldron, once it's somehow baked and the marzipan is ready, paste it with rose water mixed with sugar, warm it until the sugar starts to toast, but still remains white; then put enough coal; put a paper to it so the sudden heat won't do damage. This is the best way to make marzipan, if you want to decorate it, that is your choice. There are lots of forms and tins where they make cake candles, plates and saint pictures, crests with marzipan. But I will not talk about that, for my goal is to better the health of the patient. From this dough, you can make cherries, pears, etc. If you'd like to make a marzipan pear, put carnation to the middle of the pear, dry it, decorate it if you wish, this is a healthy food that patients like. Some put cinnamon to the wafers. This depends on the person.

