General Chat

I am making a xmas cake this year and have all the ingredients I need except for Yellow/golden marzipan.
I have tried at my local Coop, Tesco but they have none.
I have been online and whilst I have found some at Asda, Waitrose etc, the price is awful plus postage.
Think the average price per pack is something like £6.00 without postage.
Why is it in short supply and how is it so expensive?

Any thoughts or suggestions please

Florence in the hebrides

Can you get ground almonds?

If so, you could make some.

Is it because they haven’t yet put out all the Christmas baking things yet. I often find I can’t get dried fruit as they hold on to it until the right time.

Make your own it is dead ez and tastes better.
My OH always does

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr7m0RDMhzY

That probably doesn’t really help as Florence is in the Hebrides and she doesn’t have the range of supermarkets that most of us have. She probably only has the CoOp and Tesco’s.

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D
Strange, I always find that something somebody else does really easy too!!
(sorry, dead ez - gotta get down wiv da youff)

That may solve your problem Florence - get someone else to bake it - then you can say how easy it was :-D :-D :-D :-D

I made the New Year marzipan last year 'cos OH was in France. Not the first time - my mum showed me how to make it back in the 60s. It really is a snap.

OH adds various colorings and makes marzipan flowers - eg roses, - which is not so ez. But then she is a qualified pâtissière.

https://www.meilleurduchef.com/en/recipe/almond-paste-rose.html

Florence, Tesco's in Stornaway has several different marzipans, all round about £1.75 for 100g.

I see the OP says they haven't any - can they not order some for you?

There is a recipe here for marzipan and if you want yellow marzipan you can add a pinch of saffron in a spoonful of water to give the yellow colour:-

https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/how-to-cook/how-to-make-marzipan

Kath. x

The trouble with shop marzipan inc Dr Oetker is that they use glucose syrup and inverted sugar which fails to give the correct texture and tastes bad too.
Tesco use some sort of almond flavor paste instead of ground almonds. I find it yukky. Dr O. is much better if you want it ready to go.

100g is not go very far though.

Thanks folks for your suggestions.
Nope local supermarkets wont order anything.
I was once told they have no control over what fills the shelves. its all controlled by their head office.

In the coop a product was always sold out because it was so popular and then it disappeared completely. The staff member said the product was delisted! I said how does that make sense?
Well the products that sell are on a list at head office and the most popular get kept. So just because its popular in our local store, overall in Scotland it may not be so popular.

It means the local stores have no control over what comes in.

I spoke with a friend in Dundee tonight and they have kindly offered to get some if they see it and post it to me as a gesture of goodwill...Lovely person so they are.

It is just possible as someone said, the xmas baking products may not be out yet.

I havent been able to get a slot online for 5 weeks. Lucky my daughter and i stocked up over the last 2 months. She goes once a week on the bus to get fresh milk etc..

They only have 6 online delivery vans on the island and slots just now are like goldust.

Anyway time enough yet...heres hoping.

Florence in the hebrides

Florence, I am so glad someone is posting you your marzipan. I was going to suggest one of us doing just such a thing, or that Rollo made you some and posted it to you.I

Hope it arrives safely and your cake is a great success.

Lizxx

Thankyou liz, very kind gesture xx
Daughter was in both shops today and they have said that the marzipan should be back in stock soon. Cant wait as love making and decorating xmas cake. Ill post a pic on my profile once its done.

Take care all
Florence in the hebrides

You are welcome, Florence xx

My Mum used to make lovely Christmas cakes and enjoyed decorating them too.

One year the cake rose in the middle like a mountain so Mum turned the top into a crinoline lady with the frilled icing skirt covering the height and a model bust of a lady on the top. It was very clever. Shame we never took photos, as we would these days.

Lizxx

Wow Liz, how very inventive. Bet it looked fab

Florence in the hebrides

My Christmas cake recipe advised levelling the cake as much as possible and then turning it over. This gave a lovely smooth surface all ready for decorating. :-)

I always turned my Christmas cake upside down as well. Otherwise I would have a ski slope scene.

:-D :-D :-D@ namelessone

Florence in the hebrides

It did look pretty, Florence.

We would have lost a lot of cake had Mum cut the peak off lol but she did turn most cakes over for a smooth surface. We did have a ski slope wintry scene one year.I

Mum's mince pies and sausage rolls were legendary in our extended family.

Lizxx

Amazon has it, various size packs and various prices.

Annie