# Is marzipan candy a Euro only thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 8, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813 "2012-08-08T01:15:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/21 "2012-08-09T02:59:12Z")
There’s always See’s dark chocolate-covered marzipan, which I think is yummy. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/22 "2012-08-09T03:22:07Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#): > > I’ve seen it in fancy candy shops, and marzipan is available plain in many supermarkets, but marzipan candy doesn’t seem to be very popular in the US. > > I personally find marzipan dreadful and foul and am glad nobody ever gives me any. ^ This times 1000. My Hungarian granny makes me buy them around Christmas. I’ve only seen them here (Canada) in specialty “European Deli” shops that sell Vegeta and other East European specialty stuff. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/23 "2012-08-09T03:23:39Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > Some children’s book I read long ago said the British word for marzipan was marchpane. I have no idea why that has stuck with me all these years I learned that from Shakespeare (I believe Romeo and Juliet). I remember it because it’s so damn…weird looking!! 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/24 "2012-08-09T03:26:05Z")
I _love_ marzipan. I always have. I always will. Many years ago, when I was in high school, there was a store a few blocks from my school that sold marzipan. And pretty much only marzipan. In all kinds of shapes. Little animals, vegetables, fruits, all the way up to whole castles populated with lords and ladies, servants, knights, serfs, farm animals, domestic pets and who knows what else. The brick and mortar store is long gone, but they’re online now. Here’s the link: [http://www.elkcandy.com/](http://www.elkcandy.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/25 "2012-08-09T03:57:22Z")
It’s available in NYC in a lot of places. I don’t think I’ve ever tried it. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/26 "2012-08-09T05:17:33Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > The best marzipan I ever had was in Toledo, Spain. Also the worst. Was the same piece of marzipan both the best and worst, or you tried a couple different kinds? I also got some marzipan in Toledo (I think it’s required by law, as Toledo is the purported birthplace of marzipan). It was very dry and not sweet enough for our American palates, but we found on the bus back to Madrid we could not. stop. eating it. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/27 "2012-08-09T11:04:28Z")
Surprised no one has specifically mentioned [marzipan potatoes](http://www.zoonar.de/photo/marzipankartoffel_565898.html) since in Germany (or at least here in Berlin) around Christmas time these are everywhere. They look exactly like little potatoes. I wasn’t a big fan at first but I have a sweet tooth that can rival just about anyone you know, so when all the chocolate and ice cream and cookies and cakes are gone, and the cravings come, and all that I can find in the apartment is a big bag of marzipan… well, it’s not bad. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/28 "2012-08-09T12:14:55Z")
Marzipan fruits and vegetables are very popular in Sicily too. Small wonder, since sugar cane cultivation was introduced to Sicily by the Arabs, and Sicilians were among the first people in medieval Europe to have sugar. They shape marzipan into fruits seen locally in Sicily including figs and prickly pears. So when I was growing up my Sicilian-American aunts would make a… sort of… Americanized excuse for marzipan. The only shape they ever made was strawberries. They made it of American-style flaked coconut and sugar, with maybe a drop of almond extract, rolled in red-colored sugar in a strawberry shape, and topped off with green plastic strawberry stems. It was no more than a pathetically sad imitation of the real stuff from the old country. I never encountered real marzipan until we visited Sicily. ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/29 "2012-08-09T12:42:57Z")
Fruit-shaped things should taste like fruit, dammit. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/30 "2012-08-09T16:49:51Z")
You know that you can make your own marzipan and little fruits? Or you can buy premade decent quality marzipan [almond paste and knead in some rosewater with the coloring] If you are not good enough to shape them by hand you can buy marzipan molds, cute little silicon things. I actually have a few, my favorite is a little scallop shell, about .75x1 inch. Sort of like [this one](http://www.sunflowersugarartusa.com/Sea-Shells-Small-Mold-M-077.htm) without the other shell added. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/31 "2012-08-09T17:48:08Z")
I don’t know what it is. Almonds are delicious, and sugar is delicious, but marzipan…yuck. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/32 "2012-08-09T18:06:09Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > There’s always See’s dark chocolate-covered marzipan, which I think is yummy. [Ritter Sport](http://www.ritter-sport.us/#/en_US/product/100g_marzipan) makes an excellent dark chocolate marzipan, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/33 "2012-08-09T21:44:40Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > [Ritter Sport](http://www.ritter-sport.us/#/en_US/product/100g_marzipan) makes an excellent dark chocolate marzipan, too. 🙂 That’s the brand I was thinking of. They’ve got a good half dozen flavors at least, not all marizpan. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/34 "2012-08-09T22:16:06Z")
Yeah, I like a lot of the Ritter Sport flavors; the marzipan is just my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/35 "2012-08-09T22:54:06Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > (snip)… for her birthday I made a [cake topped with ducks and duckweed](http://www.flickr.com/photos/7386791@N03/7737552842/in/photostream). And a really neat cake it was too. As per the Requirements of Being a Kiwi Chick, I have an [Edmonds Cookbook](http://www.edmondscooking.co.nz/) which has a whole section on making little marzipan fruits. It suggests presenting them in teeny tiny mini cupcake papers in a gift box. Luckily for my tastebuds, you can do something almost identical with fondant. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/36 "2012-08-09T23:00:44Z")
The Swiss Colony, a mail order candy/cake/cheese/etc. company sells marzipan. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/37 "2012-08-10T01:07:46Z")
> [@misnomer](#): > > yeah, i like a lot of the ritter sport flavors; the marzipan is just my favorite. +1,001 🙂 Grand Mart on Leesburg Pike is the only place around here I’ve found that has it. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/38 "2012-08-10T01:31:52Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Grand Mart on Leesburg Pike is the only place around here I’ve found that has it. Ooh, I know exactly where that is and will have to check it out! I usually get my “fix” from the deli next to my office building (in Tysons). Trader Joe’s sells Ritter Sport, but not the marzipan one. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/39 "2012-08-10T01:34:33Z")
Marzipan reminds me of Home Star Runner, so that makes it doubly awesome! ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2012, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813/40 "2012-08-10T01:53:41Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > That’s the brand I was thinking of. They’ve got a good half dozen flavors at least, not all marizpan. A little grocery near my office stocks a whole shelf of Ritter Sport - I’ve seen 15-20 different flavors when fully-stocked. The marzipan is usually the first to sell-out, so there seem to be a lot of Ritter Sport marzipan fans. I consider them all to be competitors and enemies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-marzipan-candy-a-euro-only-thing/630813.md?page=3)