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First off, allow me to apologize for not posting on Friday. It appears that my “post date” function was set for January, and not December. 

That said, let’s move on to the topic of Spanish Holiday desserts – a topic near and dear to my heart. Prior to moving to Spain, Holiday desserts comprised solely of pumpkin pie and Christmas cookies. Both of these desserts are still some of my favorites, but over the years, I’ve added some new delicious delectables to my favorite’s list. The first being Marzipan.

Although the true etymology of the word is unclear, it It is suspected that Marchpane was taken by the Germans for the English bread “March bread”. Another theory held by the, the Real Academia Española suggests that the Spanish word mazapán was derived from the Hispanic Arabic pičmáṭ, which is derived from the Greek παξαμάδιον. Can’t pronounce that one can you? Don’t worry, my Greek isn’t up to speed either, so you may want to stick with the first theory.

What is marzipan? It’s a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal, while cheaper versions contain rice flour or potato starch. If you buy a box from any Spanish supermarket, and compare it with those from a pastry shop, the difference is astounding. The cheaper version tends to have a courser texture, typically leaving your mouth dry and powdery. On the finish, it has a plastic taste to me that makes me think like chewing on cardboard layered in powdered sugar. Yeah, clearly not a delicious taste. While read Marzipan is like heaven in the mouth. Soft, slightly chewy with a long sumptous and almost zesty flavor, it can be compared to a bite of heaven.

Mazapan , or marzipan, can come in a variety of different shapes and colors, is occasionally covered with sugar or pine nuts, and can even contain a rich, unctuous filling such as a blend of egg yolk (yema) and sugar.

Interestingly, many desserts from Spain are made with egg yolks, thanks to wine. Albeit a practice still used on occasion today, in the olden days, monks utilized egg whites to clarify sediment from wine. But with hundreds of yolks left over, it was only logical that marzipan, among the thousands of other Iberian desserts made with egg yolk, came into existence.

Which city is internationally renowned for their marzipan? Toledo, located just south of Madrid, is required to use sweet almonds that contain at least 50% fat. Plus, the ratio between almond to sugar must be a least 1:1, where the almonds represent at least half of the total weight of the final product.

Historically however, despite the fact that both Venice and the Orient debate with Toledo’s claims to having innovated marzipan, evidence suggests that the Moors (Northern Africans) carried a sweet almond and honey concoction called, mautha-ban or mahsaban, to the peninsula when they invaded in the 8th century.

If you travel to Toledo, a trip I highly recommend, make sure to peruse the dozens of pastry shop windows filled with extravegant marzipan desserts such as 3 foot high meticulously designed cathedrals, life sized animals and intricate doll houses. The artisan work is phenomenal and absolutley worthy of a beautiful gothic day trip from Madrid.

Saludos,

Gabriella

Gabriella Opaz is co-founder of Catavino.net – a website dedicated to Spanish and Portuguese wine and can be found on Twitter here.