Almond marquises. Christmas dessert

How to make Christmas almond marquesas.

As we get closer to Christmas we are already turning the dishes and desserts that we are going to prepare.

But despite this, I still don’t have the complete repertoire. One that was missing, and I’ve always had in mind, are the delicious marquesas .

Some almond muffins , with a flavor reminiscent of marzipan , which are decorated with abundant icing sugar, which are present in all Christmas assortments.

They are a Christmas sweet with a smooth, delicate flavor and a fluffy texture that everyone likes. There are very rich marquises on the market, but if you make them yourself, things are even better. I assure you because I have verified it when making the recipe, and they are much better than those bought.

The origin of these sweets is located at the beginning of the 20th century, in the town of Sonseca (Toledo). A place that has always stood out for its confectionery and sweets. The Marquesas were created by the teacher Hipólito Juanes De la Cruz, in 1924, who began selling them in his confectionery.

They quickly had great success among the public and spread throughout the rest of Sonseca. And from there, they have been increasing their popularity, until reaching all of Spain and being a fixture in Christmas assortments.

The recipe is very simple, suitable for all kitchens. They are usually prepared at Christmas time, but seeing the success at home, I almost recommend that you do it at any time of the year.

Preparation of the marquesas dough

1. We preheat the oven to 180º C, in the “heat up / down” position.
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs, and then add the 2 types of sugar.
3. We continue beating with energy, until they increase in size. If you have, you can use electric rods.
4. Now we are gradually adding the ground almonds, while we mix. We sift the flours, which we mix and add the baking powder.
5. Add to the cream of the bowl, and mix carefully, with the help of a spatula or rods.
6. Grate half a lemon and add it to the obtained mixture.

Baking and final presentation of the marquises

1. We place the paper molds in the holes of the metal mold, and pour the cream up to ¾ capacity. Then it will increase in volume in the oven.
2. We place in the central tray and bake 20 minutes at 180ºC. As I always tell you, the time is approximate depending on the power of your oven.
3. The best thing is that you check with a skewer. If it comes out clean, the marquesas are ready.
4. Remove from the oven, remove from the metal mold and let cool at room temperature.

Before serving at the table, we sprinkle well with icing sugar (because it can be moistened if we do it earlier), to give it that characteristic aspect of Christmas marquises.  

Here you have a step by step in photos where I show how to prepare this recipe for almond marquises . Do not miss any detail so that they come out of you delicious.

Tips for perfect marquesas

• The only thing that gave me a little work has been looking for the square mold, which I did not have at home. But do not panic, in any todo100 or store with kitchenware, you will find them. In my case, I used a mold with 12 square holes, 6.5 cm. each side.
• The almond flour (the ground almond) must be raw. Better if you can grind it at home instead of buying it ground, the recipe improves a lot (I tell you because what I did with the 2 versions, and the raw almond wins by a landslide).
• The lemon flavoring is optional, the classic Toledo marquesas do not usually carry, because I have prepared this dessert for the blog, after trying them there, although I think that the lemon zest improves the dessert, at least in my house.
• If you make many and they are superfluous (which I doubt) like all cakes, you should keep them in a tupper or in airtight ZIP-type bags. They can be frozen too, always tightly wrapped in plastic and without air.