Marzipan & other nut-based products

Marzipan typically contains 25-35% almonds and 65-75% sugar (1:3 ratio) and often includes glucose syrup or invert sugar to keep it pliable. This means it is primarily used for covering and modelling. The higher sugar content makes it smoother, whiter, and more elastic, allowing it to be rolled out into thin sheets to cover cakes (like Battenberg or traditional fruit cakes) or sculpted into fruits and figures.

Almond paste typically contains 50% almonds and 50% sugar (1:1 ratio). The paste is used as a baking ingredient rather than a decoration. Because it has less sugar and more nut oil, it is denser and less pliable. It is baked into products like bear claws, almond croissants, and frangipane tarts to provide a dense, moist, chewy centre.

Beyond tasting like nuts, these products perform specific jobs in the chemistry of the bakery product:

Moisture retention: Nuts are high in oils and proteins. When almond paste or marzipan is incorporated into a cake batter (like a Dundee cake or a heavy fruit cake), the nut oils coat the flour proteins and trap moisture. This significantly extends the shelf life, keeping the cake moist for weeks.

Texture and ‘shortness:’ In biscuits and cookies, adding ground nuts or nut pastes interferes with gluten development. This creates a ‘shorter,’ more tender, and sandy crumb (as seen in Viennese whirls or sablés).

Structural barrier: A layer of marzipan is often placed on top of a fruit cake before icing it with fondant or royal icing. This acts as a seal, preventing the dark moisture and oils from the fruit cake from bleeding into and staining the pristine white icing.

Professional pastry chefs utilise a range of other nut-based products beyond marzipan. Praline paste, a blend of caramelised sugar and nuts, and Gianduja, a combination of chocolate and hazelnut paste, both delicious and functional ways to incorporate nuts into bakery products.