No. 3392

Orange Marchpanes

Massepains a l'Orange

Pound a pound of almonds with two and a half pounds of sugar; add twelve egg-whites, one by one; form into a smooth paste. Lay it in a vessel and continue to work until it acquires body; then add six ounces of finely chopped orange peel; mingle well and dress on buttered and floured baking sheets in the shape of oval macaroons one and a quarter inches long; bestrew with powdered sugar and cook in a slack oven; detach and fasten together two by two with apple jelly (No. 3668) flavored with orange.

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For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer's massepains are a piped almond-paste petit four rather than a modelled marzipan, and the whole recipe turns on baking them slowly enough that they set without coloring. Scale the quantities down before you start: as written this is a professional batch.

Scale it downA pound of almonds, two and a half pounds of sugar and twelve whites will yield several hundred ovals, or well over a hundred sandwiched pairs. A quarter batch (4 oz almonds, 10 oz sugar, 3 egg whites, 1 1/2 oz peel) is plenty for a home oven.
"Slack oven"275-300F. The point is to dry and set the paste while keeping it pale ivory; anything above about 325F browns the sugar and the interior stays sticky and shrunken.
Pounding the almondsUse blanched, skinned almonds and grind them with a portion of the sugar in a food processor, pulsing rather than running it. Ground alone they release oil and turn to butter; the sugar absorbs it and keeps the mass dry.
"Until it acquires body"This is the hinge. After the whites are in, keep working the paste with a spatula or paddle until it thickens and holds a soft ridge. Underworked, it spreads on the sheet and the ovals run together.
Orange peelAlmost certainly candied peel rather than fresh zest, given the six-ounce quantity; the recipe itself says only 'orange peel'. Chop it very fine or it blocks a piping tube and tears the surface; a teaspoon of grated fresh zest alongside sharpens the flavor, which candied peel alone does not carry far.
Buttered and floured sheetsParchment does the same job with less trouble and releases far more reliably. Pipe through a plain 3/8-inch tube in ovals about 1 1/4 inches long, well spaced.
Detaching themLet them cool only until firm, then lift them. Cold, the sugary bases weld to the sheet and split; if that happens, warm the tray briefly.
The apple jellyRanhofer's No. 3668 is his apple jelly. Any firm, well-set apple jelly warmed slightly and flavored with orange liqueur or a little zest will pair the shells; use it sparingly so it does not weep.
KeepingSandwiched, they soften within a day. Bake and store the shells airtight and fill them the day they are served.

A Little History

Marchpane is the older English form of marzipan, from the Italian marzapane by way of French massepain, and by the late nineteenth century French pastry cooks distinguished modelled and glazed marzipans from the baked massepains that behave like a firm macaroon. Charles Ranhofer, chef at Delmonico's in New York for some three decades, filled the petits fours chapter of The Epicurean (1894) with variations on this one paste, differing mainly in flavoring and finish. Candied orange peel was a common citrus flavoring of the period.