Marzipan recipe with step-by-step pictures. Learn how to make this delicious, no-cook, and eggless marzipan, a much easier alternative to the traditional recipe.
Marzipan is my favorite Christmas sweet! I’m a self-confessed, marzipanaholic, Geez!! I just made up a word 😀 Well! That’s me!
So this and milk cream were the two sweets that were prepared in my household for as long as I can remember. Most of the other sweets were store bought. Mom had a busy working schedule, so we skipped making most of the sweets, except for these two.
Table of Contents
WHAT’S MARZIPAN?
Marzipan (pronounced as mah-zuh-pan) is a sweet paste made from ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites. It is often colored and used as an icing or fondant for cakes, typical in fruit cakes, wedding cakes etc. Or it is also made into a sweet/confection/candy, and sometimes coated with chocolate to make marzipan chocolate.
MARZIPAN INGREDIENTS
It is interesting to know that marzipan is made with slight variations in ingredients from one continent to another. You can read more about the history and variations on Wiki.
The one I’m sharing is basically a Goan version. The traditional Goan version includes cooking and also contains eggs. It is a laborious process and then shaping the hot dough into these pretty shapes is another task altogether.
The ingredients that go into the traditional Goan recipe are,
- Cashew nuts instead of the usual almonds,
- Egg whites
- Sugar
- Rose water or almond extract is generally used to flavor the marzipan.
Mum learnt a simpler way of making this from her friend which happens to be no-cook and egg-free. And for that recipe you just need,
- Powdered cashew nuts
- Confection’s/powdered/icing sugar
- Almond extract
- Warm sugar solution
HOW TO MAKE MARZIPAN AT HOME?
All you have to do is gather these ingredients, knead the marzipan dough and make the shapes using marzipan molds, that simple! Since this recipe contains no eggs, it is absolutely suitable for vegetarians or anyone who is allergic to eggs.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MARZIPAN AND ALMOND PASTE | ALMOND PASTE VS MARZIPAN
- Although Marzipan and almond paste have the same ingredients, the ratio of almonds to sugar differ in both, almond paste has lesser sugar as compared to marzipan.
- Marzipan is firm whereas almond paste is softer.
- Marzipan is mainly used to make candy/confection or sweets or in lieu of fondant for cakes and other baked goods, wheres almond paste, which is less sweet and slightly coarse is used as an ingredient for baked goods.
WHAT DOES MARZIPAN TASTE LIKE?
Marzipan has a firm exterior, but it is really soft within, and just melts in your mouth. It has a strong almond taste. In India, even though we use cashew nuts, it is flavored with almond extract or rose water, so you get the flavor of those depending on what you’ve used.
In short, it tastes great, it is highly addictive and most people I know would agree with me on this! I prefer cakes topped with marzipan over fondant, it tastes 100 times better than fondant. Although fondant may have its pros as compared to marzipan since it is more pliable, but if you ask me about the taste, I’d always pick the latter.
LOOKING FOR MORE TRADITIONAL GOAN CHRISTMAS SWEETS? DO CHECK THESE OUT
- Bebinca
- Guava cheese
- Milk Cream
- Coconut Toffee
- Baath cake
- Doce de grao (chana dal fudge)
- Karanji/Neureos
- Kormolas
- Shankapali
This is a great activity to get your kids involved in. So without further ado, let’s get to the recipe.
STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE EGGLESS MARZIPAN
1.Grind the cashews to a fine powder, in batches. I ground 1 cup of cashew nuts in 4 batches, by pulsing it 8-10 times. Sieve it using a sifter by pressing the powder with the back of a spoon. If you are left with larger cashew nut pieces, collect them all, and grind again further to a fine powder. {Do no skip sifting the powder, as it is essential for that smooth finish}.
2.Now mix the icing sugar with the ground cashew nuts along with few drops of almond extract, (do not add a lot as it will be too overwhelming, I added about 10 drops), and make a dough using warm sugar solution, adding little at a time.
3.Divide the dough according to the food colors you need. Make a well in the center of each portion of dough, add about 4 to 5 drops of food color. It is ok if you see some oil releasing whilst kneading the dough. It depends on the quality of cashew nuts. Do not do anything about it as will be air-dried.
4.Once your dough is ready, divide them into smaller balls and shape them using the molds. If you do not have the mold, roll them out and cut into desired shapes, or get creative and make cute shapes 🙂
For marzipan fruits, use the uncolored dough, make fruit shapes, and paint with edible food color. Let them dry completely before storing in containers.
5.Transfer to a tray lined with parchment paper, let it air dry for 6-8 hours. Once it has dried up completely, transfer to an airtight container. They keep well for 2- 3 weeks at room temperature and up to a month in the refrigerator.

Last year’s marzipans:)
NOTES
- You can use almonds in place of cashew nuts, but you have the blanch the almonds, skin them, let them dry completely. Then powder them, finally sift and use. You can also use ready-made blanched almond powder, just make sure you remember to sift it, or else the dough will appear grainy and not smooth. Not that it alters the taste, it’s just about the appearance.
- If using almond flour, skip almond extract and knead with rose water.
- P.S. post updated with new pictures.
HOW TO MAKE MARZIPAN WITHOUT EGGS?


Marzipan Recipe (Eggless & No-Cook)
Ingredients
- 12 oz / approx 350 grams of unsalted cashew nuts
- 12 oz / approx 350 grams of Confectioner's sugar (icing sugar)
- 7-10 drops of almond extract
- 2 tbsp regular granulated sugar, dissolved in 1/4 cup of hot water
- Food colors, red, green & yellow
Instructions
- Grind the cashews to a fine powder, in batches. I ground 1 cup of cashew nuts in 4 batches, by pulsing it 8-10 times. Sieve it using a sifter by pressing the powder with the back of a spoon. If you are left with larger cashew nut pieces, collect them all, and grind again further to a fine powder. {Do no skip sifting the powder, as it is essential for that smooth finish}.
- Now mix the icing sugar with the ground cashew nuts along with few drops of almond extract, (do not add a lot as it will be too overwhelming, I added about 10 drops), and make a dough using warm sugar solution, adding little at a time.
- Divide the dough according to the food colors you need. Make a well in the center of each portion of dough, add about 4 to 5 drops of food color. It is ok if you see some oil releasing whilst kneading the dough. It depends on the quality of cashew nuts. Do not do anything about it as will be air-dried.
- Once your dough is ready, divide them into smaller balls and shape them using the molds. If you do not have the mold, roll them out and cut into desired shapes, or get creative and make cute shapes 🙂
- For marzipan fruits, use the uncolored dough, make fruit shapes, and paint with edible food color. Let them dry completely before storing in containers.
- Transfer to a tray lined with parchment paper, let it air dry for 6-8 hours. Once it has dried up completely, transfer to an airtight container. They keep well for 2- 3 weeks at room temperature and up to a month in the refrigerator.
Notes
- You can use almonds in place of cashew nuts, but you have the blanch the almonds, skin them, let them dry completely. Then powder them, finally sift and use. You can also use ready-made blanched almond powder, just make sure you remember to sift it, or else the dough will appear grainy and not smooth. Not that it alters the taste, it's just about the appearance.
- If using almond flour, skip almond extract and knead with rose water.
PIN IT FOR LATER
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Thanks for stopping by!
Regards,
Freda
Loved the eggless recipe. I halved the recipe and used 100gms cashew powder and 100gms icing sugar. 8 drops of vanilla essence, 2 drops of rose essence. Some red food coloring as well. Making the dough was easy. It did become sticky slightly so added little icing sugar to balance it out. Worked fine 👍🙏 thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Freda, thanks for the recipe. How do you air dry them? Leave it uncovered in a container? Also, I followed the same recipe except used castor sugar my Marzipan have turned a bit extra oily.
Hi Ritasha! You need to use only powdered sugar for this recipe as it dissolves fast, castor sugar won’t, because this mixture is not heated, you will have that grainy and texture in the finished product. Yes leave it unopened under the fan overnight to a day to dry it out. Then store in an airtight container.
Although I followed the recipe carefully, mine are getting stuck in the moulds and are breaking. The dough is not firm. What do I do? Have all the dough waiting for your early response. Thanks.
Hi Lourdes! I guess you haven’t added enough sugar water to knead the dough due to which it is dry and crumbly. Add more water and knead the dough.
Not crumbly .. sticky is more like it. I can form the little ball but it doesn’t come out of the mould .. just disintegrates. A bit disappointing.
If it’s sticky you have added too much sugar water to the dough. I’ve mentioned add it in increments. You can only add more mix of cashew powder and powdered sugar to rectify it. You can refer the pictures attached, it’s a non sticky dough which hardly takes 2-3 mins to knead.
Quick question – Does the silicone mold work better for marzipan or can I use plastic molds?
Thanks.
Hard silicon is ideal.
can i usevanilla essence instead of almond essence. tia
Hi Glenda, Unfortunately, vanilla essence will not work in this recipe. Use rose water to knead the dough if at all you cant find almond essence.
What do you use the sugar water for?
To knead the dough for the marzipan, Kathy!
What a colourful and cute marzipan, Kids would love to make these.
Thanks, Jagruti 🙂
Hi,nice recipe,I am a huge fan of marzipan but I am not sure for how long it can be stored,pls let me know
Hi Nikita, this will stay good at room temperature in an airtight container, for 2 to 3 weeks, or up to a month in the refrigerator.
I love marzipan…thank u for this recipe…will definitely try it out dis Christmas…could u plz let me know what is the shelf life of d marzipan made dis way
Thanks Val! 2-3 weeks at room temperature
Wow! You have made it look so nice n easy to follow. Thanks for the detailed post 🙂
Thanks Nithya 🙂
Can I use chocolate mould. Please help.I want to try the recipe 😊
You can use, but a hard silicon mold will give you more defined shapes.
Freda, Thanks for the lovely recipe and useful tips. Can I reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe without affecting the dough texture? What did you use as glue to stick parts together while making the marzipan fruits?
Welcome Amitha 🙂 The actual sugar quantity is twice the cashew powder. I have still reduced it to the same amount as cashew powder. You can further reduce it if you want, just add sugar syrup accordingly whilst kneading the dough. Nothing is used as glue to stick , you have to do it, as soon as the dough is prepared, because it is soft that time. It will dry up after few hours.
Thanks Freda for your quick reply!
Welcome 🙂
Hi, tried d way u described bt i donno where I went wrong, kind of liquid came out while kneading. Plz guide
Barbra, the liquid may be cashew nut fat . That shouldn’t be a lot, and dries up after shaping marzipan. You need to let them air dry for atleast a day.
Hi. Can i use this to cover my cake like a fondant does?
Yes you certainly can.
Points to remember-
1. Marzipan is not as malleable as fondant, it dries out if exposed to air for a long time. When these shapes are made, they are left to dry for up to a day, then stored in an air tight container. The become firm but melt in the mouth when you eat, to give you an example, it’s just like kaju katli. So you have an idea about the texture.
2. I’ve had rich dense cakes, covered with marzipan and then with fondant. Fonadant just acts like another protective layer, however if you wish to skip fondant, simply top the marzipan with chocolate ganache instead.
3. You can also use only marzipan to cover the cake, but do it just a day or two before you intend serving the cake so it doesn’t dry out too much, or store the cake in an air tight container.
4. Marzipan works best with dense cakes, like wedding cakes, fruit cakes, I wouldn’t recommend it for delicate cakes like sponge.
5.You can check out BBCgoodfood.com on how to cover the cake with marzipan.
Hope these points help:)
Tried this recipe and came out very delicious! Thanks Freda for the Wonderful recipe. I re-blogged this recipe here http://www.cookingcarnival.com/marzipan/ Happy Holidays! 🙂
Thanks for your feedback dear! Glad you liked it 🙂 Happy Holidays to you too 🙂
Loving it
THanks Anne 🙂
Absolutely beautiful ????love them.
Thanks Shreya 🙂
WOW! Just look at those beauties!
Thanks Kathryn 🙂
I’ve never tried Marzipan – they look tasty!! Thanks Freda 🙂 🙂
Welcome, Linda 🙂
I love the idea of using cashews. So delicious and beautiful Freda!
Thanks Antonia 🙂 I have no clue how this landed in spam !!
So beautiful Freda 🙂 I have never tasted Marzipan and these look amazing!
Thanks dear 🙂 They are super addictive!
It looks very delicious, Freda 🙂
I will use almonds here, because they are more easy to find in natural and grow here too.
Thanks Irene, as marzipans are originally made with almonds, they sure will taste great 🙂
Colorful and cute! Just in time for the Christmas holidays!
Thanks Chris 🙂
Looks yum! where did you get the fruit shape mould tray?
Thanks, it is from Crawford market, Mumbai
They look so cute and pretty Freda!!!! 🙂
Thanks dear <3
I’ve always been very curious about marzipan. It’s so pretty, it almost looks too cute to eat lol These look lovely Freda, good job 🙂
Thanks so much, Jess 🙂
What great photographs! If we still had our store, we would be able to vend those so easily. Do you have any good recipes for pralines?
Thanks so much. Yes I have one, that I have shared in this butterscotch cake, adding the link here — https://aromaticessence.co/2016/10/12/butterscotch-cake/
I always make my marzipans this way as I am allergic to eggs ! -. Great recipe for the vegetarians too.
I, however, would like to know if I can add half quantity of almonds,(soaked & skinned) to the cashew nuts and grind them together??
Yes you can, just make sure to dry the soaked and blanched almonds completely before you powder them.
Marzipan is absolutley gorgeous, although I’ve never thought of it as being made with any other nuts than almonds before. Marzipan has a wonderfully long history, dating back to it being called marchpane, in 16th century England – and probably centuries earlier elsewhere.
Happy New Year to you, Freda! 🙂
Wow! That’s nice to know a little about it’s history ! Wishing you and your family a Happy New Year, Millie 🙂
I’ve seen several documentaries about marchpane, and how it was used in early days. It’s also mentioned in some novels about !6th-17th century England. It was a luxury thing, and only the wealthy could afford it, of course. Have a really Happy New Year, too, Freda. 🙂
Thanks for sharing that info , Millie 🙂 I never realized marzipan had so much history 🙂
Freda, these are just so pretty and yummy! I am a big marzipan fan too!
Hehe, then you know what I’m talking about Sandhya :p thanks so much:)
Nice,
Happy New Year to U.
Thanks! wish you the same 🙂
Welcome &
Thanks.
I’ve never heard of Marzipans…should try it sometime. Nice learning a new word too 🙂
Have a great New Year 🙂
Thanks Alok! Wishing you and your family a happy new year as well 🙂
Oh and I remember these too…. wow! you are really bringing back fond memories of all the Goan sweets for me. Just lovely Freda!
Thanks Loretta ! Glad my post refreshed some lovely memories 🙂 thanks for stopping by !
Yum Marzipan and Turkish delight my two favorites…Merry Christmas 🙂
Thanks Carol! Wish you the same 🙂
Hi dear friend http://lynzrealcooking.com/2015/12/25/my-friend-freda/
They look so colorful, the best part is you have explained the process so beautifully. Making it appear so easy to make.
This looks so cute and YUM!
Thanks Kushi:)
Awwww these are way too adorable to eat! Loved them!
Thanks so much Vajeea 🙂
Ahh this brings back some lovely memories Freda! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I’m glad Shamira! most welcome sweetie 🙂
These are looking super awesome Freda! Love the shapes and colors – you have done an amazing job 🙂 Your mom’s marzipans are really nice too *with a typical mom’s touch, you know what I mean* 🙂
Yes dear, I know what you mean, hence shared it on my post! Thanks a lot dear 🙂
Oh my gosh…they look gorgeous Freda…
Thanks so much dear 🙂
Reblogged this on the extra..aamile and commented:
Christmas would never be the same without it..
Absolutely true ? Thanks for the reblog 🙂
Wow they look soo good and colourful and yumm. .love the pretty moulds. .????
Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
Thanks for the reblog Sir, wishing you a Merry Christmas 🙂
How cute is that
Thanks Ritu 🙂
They sound delicious! I can see kids fighting to get their hands on these! Adorable bet they are a hit at your house!
hehe!! totally! thanks Cher 🙂
Super cute.. Kids can’t say no for this delight yum yum
Definitely not Vidya:D Thanks dear 🙂
They look so beautiful!
Thanks Lynn! So sorry, I missed out on your comment , I don’t know how it landed in spam? weird!
no problem dear!
These look soooooooo adorable
Thanks a lot girl, did you bake the cake?
Yes I did! Just took it out of the oven actually..XD! Will send u the pictures by evening and let you know how it was…it looks really moist and rich☺
yay! Glad to know Lina 🙂
I love marzipan! I love them on cakes too☺☺
Thanks Lina! yep love them on cakes too, so much better than fondant 🙂
I hate fondant! It spoils the taste of the cake☺
absolutely!
Wooooow its chooooo chweeet
Thanks sweetie ❤️
So cute and pretty! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Chris 🙂
Can u pl tell me how to make the sugar solution
I love Marzipans ?? yum yum yum
Me too ! Just adore them 🙂