HAHAHA! It's a confectionary originating from continental Europe. I think that both the Germans and the Belgians lay claim to it. They're welcome to it as far as I'm concerned although my mum is rather fond of it. But if you've ever tasted Dr Pepper or Cherry Coke or anything like it, THAT'S what Marzipan tastes like.
*shudder* ew, marzipan. I've been trying to put my finger on the real taste of cherry-flavoured beverages, and now I know. Marzipan. Again, ew.
I checked in The Joy of Cooking, and marzipan is basically made from ground almonds and a cooked sugar syrup. Sorry, no cherries. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
On the topic of Marzipan; there used to be a brand of margarine called "Marzipan", at least in the eastern United States. I don't know if it was marketed elsewhere as well. Seriously though, I beleive that I have found a posible answer. Here is the Betty Crocker deffintion of Marzipan, "European confection made from almond paste, powdered sugar and sometimes Kirsch (a clear brandy made from cherries)." It is good ol' Kirsch wasser that does it, though the almonds also come into play. A google search for "Dr. Pepper ingredients" and "Dr. pepper recipes" came up with nothing more than the ingredients listed on the side of the can and recipes utilizing dr. pepper. This was not helpful. The reason for this is that the Dr. Pepper formula is proprietary (sp?). Or, in other words, they ain't tellin' nobody. However, google searches for "cherry cola ingredients" and "cherry cola recipes" rendered some very relevant information. I encountered the same problem that I had with Dr. pepper in terms of factory made cherry cola brands, however there were several recipes for home-made cherry cola. To make a long story short all of them included either amaretto or cherry brandy. We should not assume that cola companies use real or good quality ammaretto and/or cherry brandy. The history of cherry cola, however, tells us that it was first made in the home and at malt shops by hand using the above mentioned ingredients. Only later did cola companies decide to market pre-made versions. It is probably safe to assume that they attempted to mimic the flavor of the home-made stuff as closely as possible and therefore used ingredients such as amaretto and cherry brandy flavoring. Thus the similarity in flavor between cherry cola and marzipan is explained. p.s. Amaretto is an almond liquer, for those of you from Rio Linda. p.p.s. A cookie for you if you get the Rio Linda reference.
Well in terms of why you taste that certain taste, it is obvious that the chemicals responsible for the taste are also found in such things as the ground almond whatever mixture, but it is also possible that soda companies use natural or artificial flavors that also contain the same chemicals responsible for the taste. Sorry about the huge run on sentence.
Mazipan only comes in one flavor? Now I'm confused. I thought I had eaten it,on a cake once,but it was chocolate flavored. I don't think any fruit flavored stuff tastes like real fruit. Have you ever noticed that watermelon flavored candy is nothing at all like real watermelon? There's no similarity whatsoever.
You are correct Wonder Girl. I have yet to tsate a fruit flavored candy that even remotely resembled the fruit that it was supposedly mimicing.
