Mass Pav – East Indian Almond Marzipan shapes

Traditional East Indian Christmas sweets include one delicious dessert made from almond marzipan. They take a while to make, but these almond marzipan shaped like stars, Santa, trees, fruits, flowers, veggies, and more are the perfect Christmas treat for friends and family.

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After Christmas mass, many cultures celebrate Christmas by visiting nativity scenes, opening gifts under the tree, eating Christmas dinner together, and then enjoying eggnog and mulled wine with Christmas cake and sweets.

We do too! Except our Christmas sweets are quite different. Inherited from the Portuguese who once colonized us, we make some of their traditional desserts with a twist or two.

Take for example the delicious vanilla cream – from the name my Western friends expect it to be something akin to condensed milk, but when they bite into those tiny bites of heaven, they’re instant fans!

Another popular one is what we call mass pav, one of my favorite almond marzipan recipes. This is how dad’s side of the family makes marzipan using almonds, while mom’s side make marzipan with cashewnuts at home in my granny’s style!

Ingredients For Christmas Almond Marzipan Dessert

All you need to make these delicious marzipan shapes for Christmas are almonds, rose water, powdered sugar, egg whites, butter, and almond essence. Any food colors of your choice can be added.

Ah, another thing you need tough skin. Making the best mass pav recipe requires a certain amount of muscling of the cooked almond mass while it’s still hot and quite often you end up with very red hands later. But it’s worth it!

How To Make Almond Marzipan Sweets for Christmas – East Indian Style

Soak the almonds in water overnight or at least for a few hours. The longer you soak the better because they will absorb the water and the almond skins will become easier to peel off.

If you have less time, boil water and then soak the almonds in this hot water for 10 to 15 minutes, before dropping them in really cold water. This will help to remove the skins a little quicker.

Put the peeled almonds in a mixer grinder and grind. Add rose water, since this helps it to grind faster.

Next, you can also add in the egg whites to the mixer and beat them with the ground marzipan. This all used to be done without mixies in our grandparent’s time. Real muscle-working stuff!

Pour the almond, rose water, and egg white mixture into a wide-bottomed pot; the same one that you’re going to be using to cook it in later. Also, add the powdered sugar, mix well, and allow to rest for around 30 minutes or more. An hour is fine too.

After the time’s up, place the pot on the stove on a low flame and stir continually. We usually take turns and change up every 10 minutes because it’s a really tough mass and when you make in large quantities like we do, it takes a bit longer. That’s my mum helping me stir. 😍

The almond mixture will gradually thicken. Once it does, add in a tablespoon of butter and stir again for a little while.

You can test the consistency of the almond marzipan with a teaspoon. Remove about a quarter teaspoon of the marzipan let it cool. After it’s cool, butter your fingers and try to form it into a ball. If it does, it’s ready to be taken off the flame. If not, continue stirring and check again after a few minutes. Repeat this process till it’s ready.

Once you’re able to form a ball, pour the almond marzipan onto a thala (large flat steel pan) that has been dusted with powdered sugar. Or you can use a large flat board instead of the steel one, just as long as it’s sugar-dusted. Don’t want to waste mass pav by having it stick to the flatboard surface.

Allow the almond marzipan to cool for about 5 minutes (making sure it’s not getting dry) and then knead it for a while. (We’re allowing it to cool so that we don’t burn our fingers while kneading it.)

Divide the marzipan into smaller portions depending on how many colors you want. We do anywhere from 3 to 5 colors – pink, green, yellow, blue, and one colorless.

Knead each almond dough ball again to mix the color and then use the marzipan molds to form your shapes. We make angels, Santas, stars, bells, snowmen, trees, flowers, fruits, veggies, and other shapes!

To de-mold the shapes, simply turn the form over and hit it over the back with a wooden spoon or spatula. Not too hard. You don’t want the pieces to break!

Place these Christmas dessert shapes on a sugar-dusted plate or flat board and allow to dry. We usually leave them overnight and some of them mysteriously disappear.

Once the shapes are ready, you can add them to a gift box and send to friends and family. We used to sell sweets too, but that was ten years ago!

Recipe Pointers For East Indian Almond Marzipan Sweets

• Peel the skin off the almonds before grinding them.
• Use powdered sugar so you do not have to worry about sugar granules.
• Use the rose water to grind the almonds in the mixer. It will help to grind finer to a finer paste which is really the epitome of marzipan sweets.
• Once you reach the 30-minutes mark, remember to start checking the consistency by forming a tiny ball every few minutes.
• If the marzipan gets too dry, add in more rosewater to soften it.
• If your almond marzipan is too wet, you can put it back on the stove for a few minutes. Or you can add in powdered sugar which is easier but will make it sweeter.

Common Questions About Almond Marzipan Dessert

Why is marzipan called marzipan?

The history of the name is not certain, but it can be traced back to the wheat shortage faced in Europe in the 1500s when almond flour was used as a replacement for wheat flour. Marzipan is a German-derived name that is more well-known than the old English word ‘marchpane’ or march bread.

What can marzipan be used for?

Marzipan can be used to make Christmas sweets like mass pav, or even marzipan muffins, tarts, or Easter eggs. We can also use marzipan to layer sugarcraft cakes.

How long can Marzipan be stored?

Marzipan can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 6 months in a refrigerator. Marzipan Christmas sweets can be stored in air-tight containers at room temperature for a few weeks.

Can you freeze almond marzipan?

Yes, you can freeze almond marzipan for as long as 5 to 6 months. Simply thaw it before eating.

Can We Make Marzipan Without Eggs?

Yes, you can make marzipan without eggs if you want to. Just substitute it with rose water and it works quite well. The reason we use egg whites in marzipan is so that it holds its shape better and lasts a few weeks longer. But if you want to try it, here’s my sister’s recipe for eggless marzipan.

What Other East Indian Christmas Desserts Can You Make?

Christmas desserts East Indians make usually include traditional dark fruit cake, light fruit cake, kulkuls, carambolas, nevries, vanilla cream, cordial, fudge, and many more. You’ll find all the recipes listed in our East Indian Christmas List.

So that’s everything you need to know about how to make East Indian almond marzipan! Which one do you prefer almond or cashew marzipan? Comment and let us know!

Other Recipes You Might Like

• Homemade Carrot Cake with Raisins
• East Indian Dark Fruit Cake
• East Indian Bol Lucrecia – A Coconut Pie
• Carambolas: East Indian Starfruit Shaped Kulkuls
• Dark Choc Coconut Bites