Is this the most delectable sweetmeat ever?

[tim]

I think so!!

[tim]

[PurpleHeather]

I love the name

A play on

More Please.......

[Squash64]

No, not for me Tim.

These Sicilian cakes and pastries are -

[attachment=1]

[Mortality]

My weakness, sweet pastries

http://www.persisuk.com/

My mother bought me some in London years ago, been hooked ever since, fortunately (for me) they are hard to find in the UK. Waitrose sell them also.

[mat]

sorry, not for me either :(  too sweet for me (like many indian "sweets")  I do love the ones they make thought which are basically sesame seed snacks...

[Vinlander]

Are they that sweet? If so then yes - Ugh! I don't like cakes either or hard biscuits for that matter.

I'm pretty fond of the soft slightly bitter amaretti called (disconcertingly) morbidi.

My absolute favourite is the kind of marzipan you get at New Year parties in Spain - a lot more almond and a lot less sugar to the point where it holds together but only just.

If you like this idea I can help with a recipe that's much easier than starting from scratch - buy 250g of reasonable marzipan (25% almonds).

Basic action:

Roll it out to a pancake about 3-6mm thick and sprinkle 100g of ground almonds over it, then roll it up like a swiss roll and knead it like dough.

Do the basic action again.

You now have really good marzipan. To make it even better do the basic action again but with some walnut or hazelnut liqueur sprinkled over the ground almonds.

If your second kneading was too dry just add the liqueur to it at that point.

I mean real walnut liqueur that's sweet and viscous and 20 proof - not the wine infused with walnuts that's sometimes labelled the same.

Amaretto is also good but I find it a bit too much of the same flavour. You can try other liqueurs.

I think any really good marzipan is improved by covering with a layer of dark 70% cocoa chocolate.

Cheers.

[Tulipa]

Vinlander your marzipan sounds lovely.  At christmas I always make marzipan logs.  Roll out marzipan, spread with melted plain chocolate, roll up and cut into small swiss rolls and cover with chocolate, they are lovely.  I will definitely have a go at your marzipan though.

For Baklava lovers, I bought some at the Winchester Christmas Market this year from here....

http://www.baklawasecrets.com/html/home.htm

They were delicious.  You could sample before buying and the almond rolls were the best I have ever tasted and I lived in the Middle East for 5 years.  They keep well too as long as you keep them covered, all my family enjoyed them.

T.

[PurpleHeather]

Lets get it straight

There is no such thing as
Too sweet
Too sickly or:-
Too chocolaity.

OK?

[Vinlander]

Lets get it straight

There is no such thing as
Too sweet
Too sickly or:-
Too chocolaity.

OK?

I sort of respect people who can eat anything that ain't poison, but personally I'd rather eat raw liver than eat a cup of sugar (just about).

I agree there is no such thing as too chocolatey - but that's because the more cocoa you put in the less sugar you can get in alongside it. Also pure cocoa is one of the best plant extracts you can buy - in moderation.

As for sickly - is this some kind of 'street' language like 'bad' or 'wicked' for good?? ;D

I've often wondered who buys those low-cal drinks that are actually sweeter than if they were pure syrup.

I think it's that genetics thing again.

I admit I have a reasonably mixed bunch of genes - so far I've been mostly lucky, I tan easily (south), but have 'hunter's hands' which are rarely cold (north).

They recently discovered that northern genes can also make you sensitive to sugar - this means you are happy eating stuff that's less sweet (because in the north you're mostly likely to find slightly sweet stuff so it would be a bad idea to turn your nose up at it).

I think I've been lucky with this one too - but you're welcome to all the sugar I don't eat - as long as there's enough left to turn into my share of the alcohol...

Cheers and waes hael.

[Mortality]

Stollen cake, another one if you like Marzipan  ;D