Is Marzipan like gumpaste or fondant? Can I use it to cover a cake like you do with fondant? Does it dry fast like gumpaste? Does it taste good? Sorry for all the questions

here's something i found on the internet about marzipan...hope this helps.

Marzipan is an almond and sugar paste used to ice cakes and other pastries or sculpted into a variety of shapes to be eaten as candy or used as cake decorations. Marzipan is simply a mixture of almond paste, powdered sugar, and a moistening agent such as water, corn syrup, glucose, fondant, or egg whites. After the ingredients are mixed, marzipan reaches a consistency of dough or soft rubber and can be rolled, shaped, cut, or molded.

Because marzipan is both delicious to eat on its own and simple to make, it is often used both as the icing for cakes and as decoration. When used to ice a cake, marzipan is rolled into a thin sheet and draped over the cake, usually with a fruit glaze applied between the cake and marzipan so that the icing sticks more securely. Once the marzipan is draped over the cake, the sides are carefully smoothed down so that the icing is uniform and free of bubbles or wrinkles

Marzipan is also applied to a rich fruit cake like we make in the Caribbean BEFORE the fondant goes on to act as a moisture barrier between the two. The alcohol content of the fruitcake, seeps out and will stain the fondant colour, so we use it to prevent seepage. It is rolled out like fondant and applied to the cake, then allowed to 'dry' for 24 hours, before icing with fondant. Only a little simple syrup is required to 'adhere' the fondant to the marzipan.
It takes great!!!!

My wedding cake was Tiramasu covered in Marzipan. It was delish!!

Thanks for the info. never used it before! But will try sometime. Is it good for modelling?

check out what earlene's wrote about marzipan.

http://www.earlenescakes.com/Marzipan.htm

I cover almost all my cakes with marzipan since it is the way cakes usually are made here in Sweden. People here just won't eat fondant, because it doesn't taste good. It's almost like eating sugar I think... Marzipan is a little less sweet, with the taste of almonds. Marzipan is harder to work with than fondant or gumpaste. It tends to break and crack easily because it is "grainier" in its consisency. It is therefore harder to get the cover on the cake. When modelling or making flowers it is not as hard, but still harder than fondant. You can also not make marzipan white, it has a beige, sort of flesh-like color, but can be colored like fondant in any other color. I know some people blend marzipan with fondant, 50/50 to get the taste of marzipan but easier to work with. I have not yet tried this myself.

Hope this helps you. You are welcome to email me [email protected] if you have any further questions. And, as I said, almost all my cakes are covered with marzipan. If you want, you can have a peek at my gallery at www.cakehelp.se

Does marzipan dry hard like gumpaste?

No, marzipan does not dry hard as gupaste. It dries almost like fondant, but not quite as hard.