Seasonal Recipe of the Week
There is something about certain food words that make them extra special. I have gone on for years about how much sexier tangerine is than orange. Drizzle is way more upscale than drip. There is nothing I can do with foam, but put a a savory marmalade on my plate and I am in. I feel this way about marzipan, much cooler than almond paste.
Which brings me to the cake I just pulled from the oven. I was wandering about LIDL, my local weird supermarket which I have a love/hate relationship with. They are a European chain and often have unusual products littered randomly throughout the store. Things I don't really think anyone on Long Island wants or needs, like pickled Greek Octopus salad (rubbery and inedible) to the bar of marzipan I found today which was 40% off, a leftover from Christmas. Fortunately this stuff is almost indestructible.
Recently I had read a Nigella recipe for a marzipan loaf which sounded like it needed trying. Here it is, unchanged from original, though now I'm thinking adding chocolate chips would be divine!
Note: this is a British recipe so it's in grams, get out those scales!
Ingredients
150 grams marzipan
125 grams unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50 grams granulated sugar
75 grams all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
3 large eggs, room temperature
Procedure
Heat oven to 325. Spray and line a loaf pan with parchment and spray parchment.
Tear up the marzipan into small pieces and put in food processor, then add everything else and run till batter is smooth. Stop twice to scape down sides of the bowl. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until the top is golden, it springs back, and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Freezes well.
