Pulse 150g (5oz) bought ground almonds with 50g (2oz) caster sugar and 175g (6oz) icing sugar in a food processor just until the mixture is fine (do not over-process). Add 1 medium egg white (make sure its Lion stamped for safety as wont be cooked) and a few drops almond essence and whiz until the mixture comes together.
Step 2
Tip out on to a work surface, then press together with your hands, to make a smooth but not sticky dough. Roll out on a worksurface lightly dusted with icing sugar until 1cm (1/2in) thick. Use a 5cm (2in) star cutter (or any shape you like) to stamp out shapes, re-rolling trimmings as necessary.
Step 3
Arrange the stars on a baking tray lightly dusted with icing sugar and leave to dry overnight.
Step 4
Alternatively finish in one of the following ways:
• Dust the just-rolled stars on the baking tray with silver or gold edible glitter and allow to dry, uncovered, overnight.
• Preheat a grill to low. Transfer stars to a baking tray (without icing sugar), and grill for 5-8min or until lightly golden. Cool before transferring.
• Transfer the dried-out stars to a wire rack. Melt 50g (2oz) of your favourite chocolate, then drizzle over the stars. Allow to set and dry (alternatively chill for a couple of minutes to set).
To store
Store the dried marzipan stars in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. To gift, simply bag or box.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
