Baking Help

[Erinesque]

I have been practicing my baking skills, and my latest endeavor has been a Battenberg cake. My sponge cakes turn out beautifully, and everything tastes great - the marzipan is diabetic coma-esque sweet. In addition to being so sweet, the marzipan is difficult to manipulate; once it's formed, and I've got it into a ball, I want to roll it out like I would fondant, and drape it over the cake as such. Marzipan doesn't seem to like that idea very much, so the last time I made one of my Battenbergs, I pinched small pieces of the marzipan, and layered them on the cake, and smoothed it out with water. I didn't want to make it too dry (or sweet), by adding more confectioner's sugar, so I'm hoping that others, who have more experience than I with marzipan, may offer some helpful tips.

[Aria]

Battenberg cakes are supposed to be coma-inducing sweet in general. You eat them with strong, black tea. Or coffee, either way. I'm impressed! I read a recipe for one of those and decided it was just too much bother.

The only real advice I have for the marzipan is to maybe try making your own? The stuff from the supermarket seems a bit iffy to me.

[LesserSouthernFroglet]

Try warming the marzipan a little before you roll it.

I've had success rolling it, but I was in a very hot kitchen in a subtropical climate at the time.

[Erinesque]

The marzipan I've used both times I've made Battenbergs was homemade, using almond flour, confectioner's sugar, and as a binding agent, an egg.

I'll have to try warming it up a bit before rolling it - I had tried cooling it down, but with little success.

My next Battenberg, I hope, will be even prettier and easier to make than the other two I did.

[CoffeeMonkey]

I have discovered your difficulty. What you are making is not what we of the fancy pastry world would typically call marzipan. From your post, it sounds like your problem is that it is not achieving the proper play dough-like consistency, and I can guess why. Almond flour will make something crumbly, and you have nothing to make it plastic.

Here is the recipe from my pastry text, which you can scale down as needed:

Almond PASTE (not flour!) 1#
Glucose or corn syrup 4oz
Confectioner's sugar, sifted 1#

Blend the almond paste and glucose until well combined. If you're using a stand mixer, use the paddle. On low speed, add just enough sugar to make a flexible paste that is not oily.

You're looking for a texture not unlike rolled fondant. It should be smooth, flexible, and a little bit stretchy. It is also mind-numbingly sweet, and there's really no way around this. Roll it as thin as you can that will still cover your cake nicely.

[Erinesque]

Ah ha! Thank you very much! I will hunt out almond paste now! The sweetness is not really a problem, I just make sure to disclose the fact to people who have never seen, let alone tried a Battenberg.