Bethmännchen

Three almonds, because the fourth was taken off when a son died.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 300 g marzipan
• 60 g ground almonds
• 60 g icing sugar
• 1 tablespoon rosewater
• 2 tablespoons plain flour
• 1 egg white
• 72 blanched whole almonds, split in half
• 1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon milk, to glaze

Method

1. THREE ALMONDS, BECAUSE THE FOURTH WAS TAKEN OFF WHEN A SON DIED. The article tells it and then takes it apart. ORIGINALLY THE BETHMÄNNCHEN WERE DECORATED WITH FOUR ALMONDS, ONE FOR EACH SON of Simon Moritz von Bethmann, and AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS SON HEINRICH IN 1845, THE FOURTH ALMOND WAS REMOVED.
2. AND THEN: HOWEVER, THIS STORY IS UNLIKELY, SINCE SIMON MORITZ HAD DIED ALREADY IN 1826. The explanation cannot be right, because the man it turns on was nineteen years dead when the almond is supposed to have come off. The three almonds are real; the reason given for them is not.
3. SO COUNT THEM, BECAUSE THE COUNT IS THE DISH. Three halves pressed round each ball, evenly spaced, points upward. The article says that in a hundred and fifty years of making them, the form and the recipe have never been changed -- so the form is part of the recipe, not decoration on top of it.
4. THE PASTE IS MARZIPAN WITH ALMOND, ICING SUGAR, ROSEWATER, FLOUR AND EGG, which is the article's own list and the whole of it.
5. WORK THE MARZIPAN SOFT BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE GOES IN. Cold marzipan crumbles and the additions will not take evenly.
6. THE FLOUR IS STRUCTURAL, NOT FILLER. Two tablespoons in three hundred grams of marzipan is what stops the balls spreading into discs in the oven.
7. THE ROSEWATER GOES IN LAST AND SPARINGLY. A tablespoon flavours; two makes it taste of soap.
8. ROLL WALNUT-SIZED BALLS AND PRESS THE THREE HALVES IN FIRMLY, far enough that the paste grips them. Laid on, they fall off once baked.
9. GLAZE THEM AND LEAVE THEM TO DRY AN HOUR before baking, which sets a skin and keeps the shape.
10. A HUNDRED AND SIXTY DEGREES FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES ONLY. They should barely colour; marzipan browns suddenly and then tastes burnt.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Germany · All recipes