National Marzipan Day
National Marzipan Day:
Celebrated annually on every January 12th, the National Marzipan Day encourages you to lose yourself having the sweet confections of Marzipan that take many forms and colors! This mutable confection is often served during Lent and combined with chocolate, the rest of the year!
Year | Date | Day | Where |
2021 | 12th January | Tuesday | United States |
2022 | 12th January | Wednesday | United States |
2023 | 12th January | Thursday | United States |
Twitter Hashtags:
#NationalMarzipanDay
#MarzipanDay
Related: Other National Days Celebrated on January 12th:
Why Marzipan Day?
Marzipan is a light and tasty confection that uses ground Almonds, sugar or honey, and some binding agents like sorbitol or corn syrup to give it a flexible texture! Sometimes Almond oil or Almond extract is added to the mixture to augment this confection. Sugar can be replaced by honey and sometime may also include ingredients like hazelnuts, pistachios, and rosewater.
It is commonly filled with chocolate, turned into fruit and vegetable imitations, or converted into thin sheets of glaze for icing cakes. On New Year’s Day, enjoying small animal-shaped Marzipans is a favorite tradition that we can witness in some countries! The crowd favorite being the pig-shaped ones!
The origin of Marzipan can be most likely traced back to Persia as stated by the culinary historians. But there is a compelling amount of evidence in support of Spain being the original creators of Marzipan. The Turks seem to have introduced marzipan to Europe via trade routes.
To make marzipan, raw almonds are cleaned and blanched. The balancing loosens its skin. They are then introduced to the rotating cylinders to rid their skins. It is followed by coarsely chopping the almonds and grinding them to paste with 35% of sugar. They are further roasted and cooled. Sugar and the binding agent are finally added to give a flexible texture and eaten!
A similar recipe with less expensive alternatives is called Persipan. They use peach kernels and apricots to substitute the Almonds. In Goa, India, the same version is made using cashews instead of Almonds.
This simple and luxurious confection stands proudly for its history and manufacturing in Tallinn and Lubeck, in Estonia and Germany respectively. Marzipan can sometimes be found at the centers of chocolate and biscuits as well!
How Can We Celebrate National Marzipan Day?
- Enjoy a few Marzipans
The best way to celebrate the Marzipans Day is to dig into some Marzipans! Have them all day without having anyone to judge you for enjoying them to your heart’s content.
- Explore everything that includes Marzipans!
Treat yourself to the fake fruits and animals filled with chocolate or jellies! Don’t forget the icing cakes that use Marzipan or you could simply enjoy fruits and cream wrapped in thin Marzipan sheets!
- Create some Marzipans with family!
Celebrate National Marzipan Day by making some Marzipans with your family! It’s a perfect time to bond with your family as you unleash different marzipan figurines!
- Throw a Marzipan party
To add more fun to your Marzipan Day, Invite friends and family to unleash their creative side with marzipans. Pair up twos or threes to mold the marzipans into a creative shape and may the funny and weird Marzipans win today!
- Show some Marzipan love on social media!
Show your love for Marzipans by sharing your favorite Marzipan pictures, stories, and recipes on all your social media pages. Use #NationalMarzipanDay and #MarzipanDay to share your posts today!
Interesting Facts About National Marzipan Day?
Here are some Marzipan facts that will make your day more fabulous!
- Marzipan was subscribed as a medicine for mental and physical ailments during the middle ages
- Marzipan became a popular dessert through the stories of Grimm brothers, Andersen, and Hoffmann as a symbol of magic and children’s happiness
- Marzipans in Germany are made by grinding sugar and almonds coarsely and subjected to heat until they attain a dry texture. After cooling, the mixture is introduced to icing sugar and glucose to create Marzipans!
- The French Marzipans have a fine, white, and delicate texture as sugar is boiled with water and then added to the almond meal!
- For something to be called a “Marzipan”, it needs to qualify for the percentage of almonds that are regulated by the manufacturers’ country. This was done to discourage other cheap substitutes in Marzipan.
- Marzipans are good for your brain health as almonds contain large amounts of lecithin responsible for stimulating the nerve cells
History of National Marzipan Day:
The founder and origin of the National Marzipan Day remain unknown to our research. We do not know why January 12th was chosen either. While we continue digging to find more about this day grab a few Marzipans back home to enjoy its medicinal and creative benefits!