Pasta di Mandorle, Pasta Reale, Marzapane, Marturana

A sweet paste based on ground almonds and sugar, marzipan is used by pastry chefs to make cakes and petits fours, and is especially popular in the South and Sicily, where almonds grow in abundance. Another special almond paste called marturana, was originally made by nuns in a convent at Marturana in Palermo, Sicily. It is used to make figures and various shapes like fruit and animals, which are then coloured and used to decorate cakes and other desserts.

Pasta di mandorle is very simple to make and tastes much nicer if homemade. To get the best results, grind the almonds yourself using fresh nuts, as pre-ground almonds tend to dry out quickly and lose their flavour.