Almond Paste

Almond paste is made from almond meal and sugar, with a small amount of cooking oil added to bind the two ingredients.

Almond paste is similar to marzipan, but contains much less sugar, typically 50-55%, whereas marzipan of cheap quality usually consists of 75-85% sugar (for comparison: Lübecker Marzipan contains 66% of almonds). It is mainly used as filling in pastries, but can also be found in chocolates, as a higher quality alternative to marzipan.

In commercially manufactured almond paste, ground apricot or peach kernels are sometimes added to keep the cost down.

Almond paste is one of the main components of the Swedish traditional dessert semla, American bear claw pastry, and chinese sweetheart cakes. It is also the main ingredient of traditional calisson candy from Aix-en-Provence in France, and a common filling in croissants.

In the Netherlands, almond paste is used in "gevuld speculaas" (Stuffed brown spiced biscuit) which is sold around the celebration if Saint Nicholas.

In German, almond paste is known as Lübecker Edelmarzipan, i.e. "high quality marzipan from Lübeck".

It derives its characteristic flavor from bitter almonds, which constitute 4% to 6% of the total almond content by weight. Some marzipan is also flavored with rosewater. Persipan is a similar, but cheaper product, for which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels.

Marzipan is often made into sweets: common uses are marzipan-filled chocolate and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables. It is also rolled into thin sheets and glazed for icing cakes and is traditionally used in wedding cakes, Christmas cakes, and stollen. In some countries marzipan is shaped into small figures of animals as a traditional treat for New Year's Day. Marzipan is also used in Tortell, and in some versions of king cake eaten during the Carnival season.

In Italy, particularly in Palermo, marzipan (marzapane) is often shaped and painted with food colorings to resemble fruit — Frutta martorana — especially during the Christmas season. In Portugal, traditional marzipan (maçapão) fruit shaped sweets made in the Algarve region are called morgadinhos. There are other regions, as Toledo in Spain in which marzipan is shaped into simple animal shapes, and usually filled in with egg yolk (yema) and sugar. In Latin American cuisine, marzipan is known as mazapán and is also traditionally eaten at Christmas, though "Mazapan" is generally made with peanuts in place of almonds. In the Netherlands Marzipan figures are given as presents to children during Saint Nicholas' Eve. This is also common in Germany, with the marzipan often being in the shape of a pig, and known as a "glückschwein".

In the Middle-East, marzipan (known as lozina, which is derived from the word "lows", the Arabic word for almonds) is flavored with orange-flower water and shaped into roses and other delicate flowers before they are baked.

The South Asian sweet Badam Barfi is also made from almonds.