Almond chocolate balls - Marzipankartoffel

Get
300g organic almonds
1 tbsp honey (Prickly box honey, Bursaria spinosa)
2 tbsp organic cocoa powder

Do
Blanch almonds.
In a saucepan or bowl, use a puree stick to make a smooth paste from the almonds and the honey. Kneed the paste to marzipan. Cool for some time in the fridge.
Put the cocoa in a bowl.
Roll into small balls and roll them in the cocoa.
Place them on a baking tray.
Put into a preheated oven and bake at 180°c for about 10 minutes on the second shelf from the bottom.

By keeping the amount of honey small, the marzipan is dry. If it is too moist the powdery cocoa becomes moist and the outcome is more like truffles. They should feel powdery to the touch. Refrigerate.

Macadamia truffles

Four black Macadamia truffles with a red Hicksbeachia pinnatifolia and a blue Atherton Oak Nut

Get
300g organic macadamia nuts
1 tbsp honey (Prickly box honey, Bursaria spinosa)
2 tbsp organic cocoa powder


Do
In a saucepan or bowl, use a puree stick to make a smooth paste from the macadamias and the honey. Kneed the paste to marzipan. Cool for some time in the fridge.
Make small balls and roll them in the cocoa powder.
On a baking tray, bake the truffles for 15 minutes at 180°C.

Use more honey for a moister result. Serve with a fork. Refrigerate!

Baked Marzipan Biscuits

These biscuits are pure nuts and honey. They can be very brittle.

Get
300g organic almonds
2 tbsp honey (Prickly box honey, Bursaria spinosa)
Some (macadamia) nuts for decoration
2 tbsp organic cocoa powder optional
1 egg yolk

Unglazed

Do
Blanch almonds.
In a saucepan or bowl, use a puree stick to make a smooth paste from the almonds and the honey. Kneed the paste to marzipan. Cool for some time in the fridge.

Take a clean (pure linen) tea towel and role out the ball of marzipan. Use cookie cutters to get the desired shapes or make a roll and cut into pieces and decorate with nut pieces. Mix the egg yolk and paint biscuits. Put into a preheated oven and bake at 180°c for about 10 minutes on the second shelf from the bottom. They should be golden.

One traditional shape is little cones, called Bethmännchen ("a little Bethmann"). They have been around since 1393 on Christmas markets in Frankfurt. They usually contain powdered sugar, rosewater, flour and egg as well.

Click to enlarge

For our cones we made a ball, flattened it with an indentation in the middle, and added a fresh macadamia nut in the centre. Pinch the top to close around the nut.
When little bits are left over that cannot be rolled out at the end, cocoa was used to hand kneed them into shapes.
Refrigerate if done anywhere on The Mid North Coast at this time of the year.

Finger lime macadamia confectionary

GET

300g organic raw macadamia nuts
1 Tahitian lime
2 tbsp light clear honey
4 finger limes (Microcitrus australasica)
all organic


DO

Medium grate 300g macadamia nuts into a bowl.
Add the juice of the Tahitian lime. Mix.
Cut a finger limes in half lengthwise. Press the caviar-like fruit flesh out into a bowl. Remove any seeds. Add half to the mixture Add 2 tbsp clear honey. Mix well.
Press and compact the mixture with a spoon. Knead it. Press down and leave it in a cool place for 2 hours.
Cut into small portions and roll them into small balls between the palms of your hands.
Place the balls a few at a time on the remaining finger lime caviar and move the bowl so the balls become covered in finger lime. If necessary, use more finger limes.
Store in glass jars in the fridge.

Click for close up of vegan 'caviar'.

note:

This recipe will make a small number of high quality pieces of confectionary.

Macadamia confectionary

GET
300g organic raw macadamia nuts
1 meyer’s lemon
2 tbsp light clear honey.
all organic

DO
medium grate 300g macadamia nuts into a bowl.
Add finely grated rind of a Meyer lemon and the juice of half a lemon. Mix.
Add 2 tbsp clear honey (Mallee honey). Mix well.
Press and compact the mixture with a spoon. Knead it. Press down and leave it in a cool place for 2 hours.
Cut into small portions and serve.
Store wrapped in greaseproof paper.

Marzipan, varieties and origin
Marcipane or "The bread of Marcus" originated from Persia. It is based on almonds and made its way via the 13th century crusades to Europe. Since 1809 Königsberg marzipan is known for its flamed confectionary surface, which results in a golden-brown finish. It contains almonds, rose water and jam.

Frankfurt Bethmännchen cookies are made from marzipan with almond, powdered sugar, rosewater, flour and egg. Since 1393 they have been sold at the Frankfurt's Christmas market. After one and a half centuries of manufacturing, its form and recipe has never been changed.

In the land of macadamia it is obvious to adjust these old cultural traditions to a contemporary and geographic setting.

Image:
Lovis Corinth, Königsberger (Kaliningrad) Marzipantorte, (marzipan cake), 1924

See also
Finger lime macadamia confectionary

Macadamia-Lime Marzipan Macaroons with Honey

No eggs, no flour, no dairy, no sugar.

This recipe is quite simple to make and takes little time. You can vary the amount of honey and lime to taste. Use a local honey. Tallow wood is good in Australia, Linden in Europe.

Get
500 g organic macadamia nuts, raw
8 tbsp honey, e.g. tallow wood, or linden, lime flowers
3-4 limes

Do
Grate nuts finely with a hand grater. Add honey and mix in. Add enough of the lime juice to make a paste. It should hold all the gratings together. The paste is quite sticky.
Preheat the oven to 180°c. Oil 2 baking trays (use macadamia oil or butter).
Use 2 spoons to form the paste into almost oval shaped pieces and place them on the baking dishes.
Bake for 12 minutes on the second shelf from the bottom until slightly golden. Turn off oven. Leave in open oven for another 10 minutes.
Remove from baking trays onto plates.
Cool.
These macaroons are quite moist because of the lime juice. Store on a plate wrapped in a linen cloth to prevent them becoming soggy.
An alternative presentation is to spread the paste onto the baking trays and cut it into rectangles when it is baked.

Serve with herbal tea, such as Lemon-scented verbena, Lime flowers , Lemon Myrtle, (Backhousia citriodora) or any other drink you fancy
Alterations for the southern hemisphere could be to use Australian limes, such as Citrus glauca, C. australasica or C. australis