I live in Canada, can anyone tell me where I might find a store that sells marzipan? I've been to some local bakeries and deli shoppes with no luck. I've also talked to the staff in the bakery section of some major grocery stores with no leads . . .

I have found almond paste (yummy) but it is not durable enough for figurines, etc.

Any ideas? or is it better to make my own? (my next question, of course will be if you have any recipes . . .)

Thanks in advance

Hi, here is a link from Uk goods in USA. But its very expensive.

http://www.ukgoods.com/products.php?pid=408&detail=true

But I have to say that I always use gumpaste for all my figurines.

HTH.

Here's everything I have on Marzipan (and almond paste).....

Marzipan Circle Roses:
(Instructions w/photos.)

http://tinyurl.com/42lval
(Duff style roses.)

Other Marzipan Decorations:
(Instructions w/photos.)

http://tinyurl.com/4lftkx

How to Make Marzipan Fruit:

http://www.fabulousfoods.com/index.php?option=com_resource&controller=article&category_id=223&article=19973

Model with Marzipan:

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-23409-.html

http://www.marzipancakes.com/cakes.htm

http://rebeccarusselltoppers.com/index.html
(Both sites courtesy of 7yyrt.)

http://www.earlenescakes.com/Marzipan.htm
(Also includes recipe.)

Making Your Own Marzipan (Recipes):

http://www.pastrywiz.com/season/marzipan.htm
(Courtesy of snowboarder.)

http://tinyurl.com/4256dr
(Courtesy of ShirleyW.)

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-43029-.html

Marshmallow Creme Marzipan:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-15736-.html

Mixing Marzipan and Fondant (Marzifon):
(Also mixing marzipan with gumpaste.)

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-230181-.html

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-37245-.html

Coloring Marzipan:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-29864-.html

Marzipan vs. Fondant:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-24314-.html

Storing Marzipan:

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-207131-.html

http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-51633-.html

Recipes using Almond Paste:

http://tinyurl.com/5xtaxd

HTH

Edited to correct broken links.

You could always just buy the almond paste and make your own:

225 grams high quality almond paste (50/50 almonds/sugar)
55 grams light corn syrup
170 grams powdered sugar, sifted

Knead the corn syrup into the almond paste thoroughly. As the sifted powdered sugar in small amounts kneading to combine. Once all the PS is incorporated, if the mixture is still sticky or becoming oily, work in a little more PS. When powdered sugar is complete incorporated, wrap in plastic wrap until needed. Be careful to knead only as much as necessary to incorporate. Overkneading will cause the oils in the almond paste to separated.

You could try your local grocery store. In my grocery store it comes in a tube that kind of looks like a tube of sausage.

If I ever decide to hack into a computer, I am hacking into JanH's files.

I made some marzipan (sort of) using recipes out of the Joy of Cooking. The marzipan and the almond paste recipes were almost identical, except I think one had more icing sugar. Oh, and one had stuff melted on the stove and the other just had it all blended together. Anyway, I bought the gigantic bags of blanched almonds (not slivered but sliced thinly -- name for that escapes me) and I just ground them up in my food processor. This ended up okay for my purpose (I covered a cake in a layer of marzipan then a layer of fondant), but it was very grainy. The point of my story is that it is not as easy to make from scratch as the joy of cooking makes it appear, unless you have access to some honking big bags of ground almonds.

JanH - you're amazing. Thanks for posting all of those links.

Just in case you have to make Marzipan for a true European person and it doesn't need to be modeled I thought I'd save you the hassle I went through figuring out why it was too sweet to them all. (I married into a European family. My MIL was a baker in Poland, her brother was a famous chef in Europe who traveled all over cooking for royalty and the upper crust and her niece is still in Poland and a gastronomy instructor for a college.) They told me my marzipan was way to sweet whenever I put corn syrup and a higher amount of powdered sugar in it. I finally one day just took the almond paste (I use SOLO brand -- too much work from scratch) mixed it up with a very very small amount of powdered sugar and with whiskey. They LOVED it. I found out much later that they were trained to put either whiskey or Brandy in the marzipan and just enough P.S. to hold it together and never used corn syrup as a binder. I know that this won't work for modeling though.

I didn't read through all of JanH's links (she is so awesome), so if this was covered forgive me.
You can add CMC or Tylo/Tylose powder to almond paste or marzipan just as you would to fondant. Let it rest overnight and you should have a workable modeling paste.

Here in England, marzipan has to be a certain percentage almonds to be called marzipan, otherwise it has to be almond paste. (Rules in other countries don't seem to be as specific.) I've noticed that people who are used to the high almond content tend to think that almond paste or marzipan in other countries is too sweet.