Wednesday, December 2, 2015

2. Day of December - Marzipan Potatoes (Marzipankartoffeln)


Today marks the second day of December and for today´s Advent Calendar post, I chose traditional German marzipan potatoes, also known as Marzipankartoffeln in German. Marzipan Potatoes are a confection, not actual potatoes.




Marzipan potatoes can be made easily in the home as a little Advent treat. Basically, they are made from fine marzipan and covered in a thin coat of cacao. If you do not want to go through the trouble of making your own marzipan, you can also use pre-made, purchased marzipan, but not almond paste. Around here, marzipan potatoes are traditionally given to friends in little bags or placed on the Adventsteller (plate of goodies set out on Christmas Eve on December 24).




Making these adoradable treats is a two-step process, first you make the marzipan itself, which is not difficult at all. You need but four ingredients, namely, raw almonds (or pre-ground almond meal), confectioners´ sugar, rose water (I always get mine at a local pharmacy), also known as Rosenwasser in German and a few drops of natural almond extrat (optional).




Marzipan Potatoes

Ingredients for the Marzipan Potatoes
(this recipe makes a small batch, about 2 to 3 dozen marzipan potatoes, that are less than 2.5 cm (1 inch) in diameter)
  • 125 grams (1 1/3 cups) ground almonds
  • 125 grams (1 1/8 cups) confectioners' sugar
  • 3 tbsp rose water (use very high quality from a pharmacy or your favorite spice merchant)
  • a  few drops of natural almond extract (optional, go easy here)
  • 4 tbsps Dutch process cocoa powder (really good quality one)
  • 1 tsp Ceylon cinnamon




Preparation
  1. Advance Preparation: You can buy ground almonds as almond flour, also known as almond meal. Or you can also blanch 2 cups of raw almonds, slip their skins off and grind them  in a food processor. Depending on your food processor, your resulting almond meal might be slightly coarser than the purchased almond meal.
  2. If making your marzipan potatoes with purchased pre-made marzipan, chose a high-quality one, the best you can afford (such as Odense or Lübecker)
  3. Making the potatoes: Mix together ground almonds, confectioners' sugar, rose water and natural almond extract in the food processor or by hand until well blended and sticky.
  4. Remove from food processor.
  5. Using 1 tbsp or less of the marzipan, form small potato-like balls. You can form perfectly smooth, round balls or go fort he potato shapes instead.
  6. Mix the cocoa powder and cinnamon together in a bowl or use a zip-lock bag to toss the little balls of marzipan in.
  7. Roll the balls in the cocoa and cinnamon and set apart on parchment paper to dry for a good 30 minutes. Store the Marzipan Potatoes in an airtight container with wax or parchment paper between the layers, in a cookie tin or wrap them in pretty cellophane bags or just munch away on them.




Try them, you might get addicted to these traditional German Christmas treats that are quick and easy to make and utterly irresistible!




If you are looking for more marzipan treats, do take a look at my Speculaas Muffins filled with Marzipan (here) or my Gevulde Speculaas (here) or you can make different marzipan fruits or vegetables and use them as decoration on my European-style Carrot Cake (here).




Please make sure to drop by again tomorrow when we will open our third special surprise in my virtual Advent Calendar!


18 comments:

  1. Look beautiful Andrea, I love marzipan!!!
    xoxoxo

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    1. Dear Gloria, thank you so much! Marzipan is a wonderful and very versatile confection indeed!
      Andrea
      P.S.. There is much more to come so stay tuned, please!

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  2. Sehr schoen, Andrea, Marzipankartoeffelchen duerfen auf keinem Adventsgebaeckteller fehlen. Wir haben hier gerade typisch deutsches Wetter, Nieselregen... so kommt das Kerzenlicht besser zur Geltung :-) LG

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    1. Wally, hast du mal Marzipankartoffeln selbst gemacht...schmecken um Längen besser als die gekauften - mit süßen Mandeln, selbst gemahlen, richtig gutem Kakaopulver und ein wenig dezentem Rosenwasser aus der Apotheke...
      Es regnet und regnet hier...
      Das nächste Törchen kommt bestimmt,
      Andrea

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  3. What a fun tradition Andrea! They do look exactly like potatoes!

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    1. Chris, yes, they do indeed look like real small potatoes.

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  4. These are adorable, Andrea! It would be easy to get this mixed up with real potatoes. How fun!

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    1. Betsy, these marzipan potatoes are so traditional and for us, Advent would not be the same without them. Sweet, almondy and simply adorable.

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  5. I love marzipan and those are the cutest little treats!! Yum!

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    1. Marcelle, glad you like these darling and delicious marzipan potatoes. The perfect treat for all those marzipan lovers.

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  6. Oh, what a fun and unique idea (and so festive!)

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    1. Cher - thank you , dear friend! Next time your hubby is in Germany, tell him to bring a big bag of marzipan potatoes for you! If you like marzipan like we all do, these are for you!

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  7. LOL - an interesting tradition. Who would have thought of sweets shaped as potatoes - yours are perfect.

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    1. Gaye, let´s just say that I have had a bit of practice shaping these...

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  8. These are beautiful! I had no idea marzipan was so easy to make - that's dangerous knowledge! :)

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    1. Teresa, marzipan is so very easy to make but it is good to know. Once you get good almonds, some sugar and that high-quality rosewater you will be in for a real treat - it tastes sooo good - try it, at least once and let me know wether you like it and how it compares to store-bought.

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  9. While they weren't called Marzipankartoffeln, I remember getting these ib Bäkerei Müller in Heidelberg in the 1980s! The zimmt is the one ingredient I didn't think of when I tried to recreate them at home, even as recently as a month ago when I had some leftover marzipan form a cake. Now I know their names, and they really do look like potatoes! Liebe Grüße, David

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    1. David, they are universally known as "Marzipankartoffeln" (marzipan potatoes) around here and very much-beloved at Christmas time, it just would not be Advent without them

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