Panellets (small cakes of marzipan)

Panellets are the traditional dessert of All Saints holiday in Catalonia. Panellets are small cakes or cookies in different shapes, mostly round, made mainly of marzipan (a paste made of almonds and sugar).  There are different shapes and tastes, but pine nuts, coconut, almond are the most common ones. The most popular are the panellets covered with pine nuts, consisting of the panellet basis (i.e. marzipan) rolled in pine nuts and varnished with egg.

This recipe is inspired by the chef Mireia Carbó.

What you need:

For the marzipan:

500 gr ground almond 

500 gr sugar

200 ml water (or half a liquor like limoncello +1/2 water)

one grated lemon rind

+ different ingredients depending on the different tastes

Let´s start:

1.Prepare the marzipan. Grind the sugar. Then mix all the ingredients (use your hands). Add the water and mix it.

2. Let the dough stand overnight wrapped with a plastic film (saran wrap/ clingfilm/..) (or at least 2 hours)

3. Then divide the dough in different portions to prepare different varieties. Up to you. *Follow the instructions below

4. Finish it by introducing the final product in a tray (with baking paper) into the oven preheated at 230ºC for about 2-5 minutes. Put in the lower tray. Check it. Cook each variety individually.

For the pine nuts panellets

marzipan portion

100 g of pine nuts

1 egg

-Divide the portion into smaller portions that will be the final product. Form the dough into balls (same size).

-In a dish whisk the egg. Coat the balls in the egg. Then fill your both hands with a bunch of pine nuts and take one ball and press it till the pine nuts get sticked into the marzipan

-Go to point 4.

For the almond panellets:

100 g of chopped almonds

egg

Follow the same instructions as with the pine nuts panellets but use chopped almonds instead.

For the quince preserve panellets:

Some thick quince preserve

whisked egg

-Use the portion and this time make a roll. Cut the roll with a knive lengthwise and introduce the thick quince preserve cut as a long portion inside (or different long portions one after the other). Close it. Paint it with some egg.

-Go to point 4

-Cut the roll in individual portions when it has completely cool down.

For the candied cherry panellets:

Some candied cherries

1 teaspoon of  Kirsch

-Add the Kirsch into the marzipan

-Divide the portion into different balls. 

-Flatten them.

-Add one cherry in each cake

-Go to point 4

For the coconut panellets:

There are 2 versions here:

Version 1:

50 gr of grated dry coconut

-Mix with your hands some coconut with the marzipan dough

-Divide it into pieces

-Shape all the pieces like a mushroom upside down.

-Add some more coconut (coated)

-Go to point 4

Version 2 (my favourite one)

Here we will not use the marzipan dough

100 gr of grated dry coconut 

100 gr sugar

1 egg

-We mix all the ingredients with your hands. You don´t need to let this stand.

-Divide it into small balls and shape it the way you like.

-Go to point 4.

There are a lot of other different varieties like coffee, chocolate, lemon, ....

Want to prepare the marzipan in a different way?

Try to do it the way of the chef Carme Ruscalleda (marzipan):

In a pan, you mix water (150 ml) and sugar (350 g). It gets over medium heat until it starts to boil and let boil it until it gets a texture of a syrup.
Then dump the grounded almonds (500 g) and stir continuously with the help of a wooden spatula for about 2-5 minutes until the pastry is homogenous and peel off the walls. Let cool it down
Incorporate into an egg white (not whipped), and mix well.
Leave the dough rest in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. (You can let it the whole night until the next day).
Mass is divided into different portions according to the tastes that you want to prepare.

Enjoy/Bon Profit !