This is another amazing marzipan based treat.  You find these sweets in the medieval mountain top town of Erice, in Sicily, a town that is renowned for its almond based sweets.  Since discovering Maria Grammatico’s recipe book, I have been making all her amazing sweets, one after the other.  If you follow this blog, you will remember this lady’s name as I have already pubished the recipes for Genovesi Ericine and Chocolate Covered Marzipan Rum Balls, both adapted from her book.  She has the best pasticceria in Erice and you cannot miss a stop by her shop if you are ever in town!  These little marzipan balls are among my favourite.  The most famous versions are orange flavoured and chocolate flavoured.  For Victoria’s birthday I only made the orange marzipan balls, but I am publishing both recipes in this post.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do… they do take you to Sicily with each and every bite!

Adapted from Maria Grammatico’s recipe of Palline all’arancia and Palline al cioccolato – from the book “Bitter Almonds: Recollections and Recipes of a Sicilian Girlhood” by Mary Taylor Simeti

Orange Flavoured Marzipan balls

Ingredients (makes 24 marzipan balls):
200 gms almond meal
200 gms sugar
More sugar to work with
1/2 orange with thick skin OR 1/3 orange with thin skin
1 tbsp rum
1 tsp almond essence

Put the almond meal, sugar, rum, almond essence and orange in a mixer and blend until well combined.

Transfer the almond mixture on a benchtop covered in sugar and knead it, adding more sugar as required, until you get a pliable dough that is not too sticky and can be made into small balls.

Make small balls (3 cm in diameter) by rolling pieces of dough between your hands and then roll them in some sugar.

Put them on a tray to dry for at least 3 hours, then put them in paper cups and store in an air tight container for 3 or 4 days before serving them.

These keep well up to several weeks if kept in an air tight container.

Chocolate Flavoured Marzipan balls

Ingredients (makes 24 marzipan balls):
200 gms almond meal
200 gms sugar
More sugar to work with
3 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp water (put little by little as required)
1 tbsp rum
1 tsp almond essence

Put the almond meal, sugar and cocoa powder in a mixer and blend until well combined.

Add the rum and almond essence and mix well.  Add the water little by little and stir with a spoon until you get a mixture of a pliable consistency, like in the picture.

Transfer the almond mixture on the benchtop covered in sugar and knead it, adding more sugar as required, until you get a pliable dough that is not too sticky and can be made into small balls.

Make small balls (3 cm in diameter) by rolling pieces of dough between your hands and then roll them in some sugar.  Put them on a tray to dry for at least 3 hours, then put them in paper cups and store in an air tight container for 3 or 4 days before serving them.

These keep well up to several weeks if kept in an air tight container.

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