Apples and Marzipan Honey

September 23, 2025

Apples and Marzipan Honey: The Promise of a Sweet and Prosperous Year Ahead

By Merrie Witkin

 

As late August rolls into September and the nights become refreshingly cool, the fruit ripens in the local apple orchards.  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is this week.  It is customary to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with apples and honey, their sweetness symbolizing the promise of growth and prosperity for the coming year.

Several years ago I came across a jar of Marzipan Honey at  Breads Bakery, an Israeli-inspired bakery in New York City that has become iconic for its wonderful chocolate babka, challah, olive and rye breads and, of course, its buttery pastries. The honey was delicious— creamy and spreadable like creamed honey, but with a distinctive nuttiness and almond undertone. I understand they use New York City-harvested  honey (from roof-top apiaries—yes that is a thing!) and prepare it in-house.  Once my jar was finished I tried to buy more, but was told that they only make it in the fall for the Jewish High Holidays.  So I set out to create my own version.

Bees are critical to apple orchardists to pollinate their trees, so they rely on local apiaries.  You can thus easily find local honey at apple farm stands and other local farm stores, containing apple blossom, clover, or other wildflower honeys. They pair wonderfully with fresh sliced  farm stand apples.  

My recipe uses local honey and almond paste—no need to use prepared marzipan as it contains mostly sugar which is unnecessary when mixed with sweet honey (1).  Readily available commercial brands of almond paste are Solo and Odense which are sold in 8 and 7 ounce packages, respectively (2).  The ratio of honey to almond paste I use is roughly 2 to 1 by weight, but ultimately this is a matter of taste.  

Serve the marzipan honey with a spreader and a platter of local sliced apples.  If you are serving this for the holidays, the varieties available locally will be those that ripen early or around the same time.  This includes McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Gala, Cortland and SnapDragon apples, subject to weather.  Marzipan honey also makes wonderful dessert crostini spread on toasted challah or other bread with ricotta and sliced apples.  Spread the toasted bread with ricotta and honey and top with sliced apples. You can glaze the apple slices on top of the crostini with the marzipan honey, but you may need to warm it in the microwave or in a gentle water bath to make it more liquid, or mix it with a bit of water to make it syrupy .  Heat the assembled crostini under the broiler for a minute or so—watch carefully so they don’t burn—and enjoy.  

Marzipan Honey

Ingredients

1 pound of local honey

7-8 oz almond paste (that is one package of Odense Almond Paste-7oz, or one package of Solo Almond Paste—8 oz).  If you make your own, use a kitchen scale to weigh out 8 oz  for consistent results.

Special tools

Food processor or mini processor with a strong motor

Clean jars and lids well washed in soapy hot water and air dried

Instructions

  1. Crumble or cut the roll of almond paste into small pieces.  Almond paste is sticky, so you can place it in the freezer to make it easier to work with.  You can then slice or grate it. Place into the processor bowl and process with a few pulses to break it up.
  2. While you are cutting up the almond paste, gently warm the honey in a hot water bath on the stovetop or in a microwave so that it is pourable. Pour the warmed honey into the processor and process the mixture until well blended and smooth, and the almond paste is evenly distributed.
  3. Pour or scrape the mixture into the clean  jars while the mixture is still warm.  Close with the jar lids.  The jars can be stored like honey and need not be refrigerated given their high sugar content. Over time the mixture may get stiffer, but it can be softened like crystallized honey by gently rewarming prior to use.

 

 

 

FOOTNOTES:

(1) The main difference between marzipan and almond paste is the sugar content, texture and uses. Marzipan is a confection of sugar and almond meal used in making sweets and icing for cakes. Almond paste has a higher percentage of almonds than sugar and is used as an ingredient in baking or as a base for tarts and pies.

(2) Alternatively, you can make your own almond paste with just a few ingredients—mostly almond flour and confectioner’s sugar. The ratio of these two that I rely on is from the King Arthur almond paste recipe, available at www.kingarthurbaking.com.   When making your own almond paste, use almond flour which is made from blanched skinless almonds and is finer than almond meal (which also contains almond skins).