Marzipan tree cake petit fours

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 150 g ground almonds
• 200 g marzipan paste
• 325 g powdered sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 pinch of salt
• 250 g butter, soft
• ½ lemon(s), untreated
• 65 g flour
• 65 g cornstarch
• 100 g apricot jam or lemon marmalade
• ½ dark chocolate coating
• 1 piece(s) palm fat
• 25 g chopped pistachios
• Fat for the mold

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Rest period approx. 2 days; Cooking/baking time approx. 45 minutes; Total time approx. 2 days 2 hours 45 minutes

wonderful for Mother’s Day

Cut 100g of marzipan into small pieces, knead with 50g of the powdered sugar, and divide into 4 equal portions. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 225°C (top/bottom heat) and grease a square baking dish or cake tin (35 x 35 cm). Grate the lemon zest. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form. Cream the butter with 250g of powdered sugar and the lemon zest until fluffy, gradually stirring in the egg yolks (approx. 30-60 seconds for each egg yolk). Mix the flour with the cornstarch and almonds and fold into the butter mixture along with the beaten egg whites. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of batter into the dish and spread evenly. Bake in the oven on the top rack for 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Spread another 2-3 tablespoons over the baked layer, bake for another 5-7 minutes, then bake the third layer. While the third layer is baking, roll out a portion of the prepared marzipan thinly between two sheets of cling film to the size of the baking tin. Once the third layer is finished baking, spread 1 heaped tablespoon of jam on it with a brush and place the marzipan on top. Then smooth out another 2-3 tablespoons of dough and bake. Now add another 3 layers of dough, jam, and marzipan. Repeat this process until all is used up. Important: After the second marzipan filling, place the tin on the middle rack of the oven and reduce the temperature to 180°C. Allow the base to cool in the tin, turn it out, and spread the surface with the remaining jam. Knead the remaining marzipan with the remaining icing sugar, roll it out between two sheets of plastic wrap, and cover the base with it. In the meantime, melt the chocolate coating with a little palm oil, trim the edges of the cake if necessary, and cut into 3.5 x 3.5 cm pieces. Glaze and decorate with chopped pistachios. The petit fours should be baked 2-3 days before consumption and then refrigerated; they taste best after they’ve fully set.