HI! can anyone help me how to make marzipan from scratch...is this the best way to use in covering first a nut cake before finishing it with a rolled fondant and make it smooth.

Also in Britain called almond paste
(makes approx 2lb)
750g Icing sugar ( or the equivalent you use to make bc and royal icing)
250g Ground almonds
3 egg yolks
2 tablspns brandy or sherry
a few drops almond essence
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Seive icing sugar and add ground almonds
Combine eggs, sherry or brandy, lemon juice & essence in a small bowl.
Make a dip ( well) in the centre of dry ingredients and add the liquid mix gradually combining to make a firm paste. Knead together in the bowl by hand before transferring to a working surface sprinkled with icing sugar. Knead well. If mix is too dry add extra lemon juice, if too sticky add icing sugar. It can be used immediately. Store left over marzipan in a sealed container. It keeps well.

I've never used a mixer to make up marzipan so I cannot comment on a quicker way. Hope this helps. I'm always a little worried about giving out recipes on this site as I know I have trouble converting some of those on this site to make use of British equivalent ingredients. Happy Baking

Marzipan has a similar consistency to sugarpaste. The cake you cover should have been brushed with a jam that has been watered down and boiled (to sterilise it - alternatively heat to boiling point in the microwave)- we traditionally use apricot jam with fruit cake, this is done to help the marzipan stick to the cake. The rough holes or craters in the cake can then be filled out with little bits of marzipan and flattened with a spatula until the cake looks fairly smooth. Brush the jam on the marzipan pieces that you have used to fill out the uneven areas. You are now ready to roll out your marzipan on a finely dusted icing sugar area and coat the cake. On a rich fruit cake we would coat with rolled out marzipan, brush with cooled boiled water or vodka to help the next coat stick, and coat again with sugar paste or royal icing. Sometimes the marzipan is just used to cover the top of a cake prior to coating with sugarpaste or royal icing. In this case the marzipan would be rolled out a little thicker. Sometimes the cake is coated in marzipan only - traditionally at easter and called a simnel cake. Some fruit cakes are cooked with a piece of marzipan inside of them although I have never done this. Hope this helps. You really need to try and do a tester cake before attempting something for a special occassion to get a feel for the marzipan and its properties as it does not stretch in the same way as sugarpasteand could crumble and break without careful handling if you are covering a full cake. I do not know how it reacts in different climates and humidity. I personally cover unused marzipan with catering clingfilm and save in the refridgerator in an airtight container for up to a week. It can be used to mould into small animals and shapes for cakes and coloured with food colourings. On simnel cakes traditionally small balls of marzipan are rolled and placed on the top edge of the cake as decoration.