[1] The Geographical indications and traditional specialities in the European Union recognize two marzipans in Europe: one in Toledo (Spain)[2] and one in Lübeck (Germany).

[3] In Spain, marzipan is a traditional Christmas dessert (mazapán), although in Toledo, where the first written reference of this product dates back to 1512, it is eaten all year round.

In Italy, particularly in Palermo, marzipan (marzapane) is often shaped and painted with food colourings to resemble fruit—frutta martorana—especially during the Christmas season and on Il Giorno dei Morti (All Souls' Day) on November 2.

[citation needed] In Malta, marzipan is used as a filling in the traditional Maltese Easter treats called figolli (singular: figolla).

[7][8] It is also used in a large variety of cakes and confectioneries unrelated to the holidays, including træstammer, gåsebryst, and napoleonshatte, and as an ingredient in remonce-filling for Danish pastry.

[12] Traditional Swedish princess cake is typically covered with a layer of marzipan that has been tinted pale green or pink.

Traditional Finnish Käpykakku is typically coated with a layer of marzipan, which is dark brown color and Conifer cone-shaped and spiky.

It is also prepared in Gironde, it is named Girondin pudding made from hard bread, brown sugar and flavored with raisins soaked in rum.

Stollen can contain marzipan, and it is often featured as an ingredient in seasonal baked goods, such as Bethmännchen, Dominosteine and other Christmas cookies.

According to Sephardic Jewish custom, friends of the woman giving birth would cook for her and prepare homemade marzipan.

[19] This peanut paste preparation is used in a commercial Mexican candy called mazapán de la Rosa [es].

There are two proposed lines of origin for marzipan; they are not necessarily contradictory and may be complementary, as there have always been Mediterranean trade and cooking influences.

[21] Other sources establish the origin of marzipan in China, from where the recipe moved on to the Middle East and then to Europe through Al-Andalus.

[22] Although it is believed to have been introduced to Eastern Europe through the Turks (in badem ezmesi), and most notably produced in Edirne), there is some dispute between Hungary and Italy over its origin.

[23] The city's manufacturers such as Niederegger still guarantee their marzipan to contain two-thirds almonds by weight, which results in a product of highest quality.

Many confectionery products sold as marzipan are made from less expensive materials, such as soy paste and almond essence.

[32] To control and detect the authenticity of marzipan, polymerase chain reaction methods can differentiate almonds from substitutes and adulterants at concentrations of less than one percent.

Among the other possible etymologies set forth in the Oxford English Dictionary, one theory proposes that the word "marzipan" may be a corruption of Martaban, a Burmese city famous for its jars.

[37] The Real Academia Española suggests the Spanish mazapán is perhaps derived from the Hispanic Arabic بسمة, pičmáṭ, from the Greek παξαμάδιον, paxamádion ('little cake').

From about the fifteenth century, when the coins were no longer in circulation, the boxes became decorative containers for storing and serving luxury sweetmeats.

[37] To produce marzipan, raw almonds are cleaned "by sieving, air elutriation, and other electronic or mechanical devices",[32] then immersed in water with a temperature just below the boiling point for about five minutes, in a process known as blanching.

[41] In the traditional production of marzipan raw filler, a similar process is followed: Sweet almonds are scalded, peeled on rubber-covered rolls, coarsely chopped, and then ground with the addition of not more than 35% of sucrose.

[41] The almond flour mixture is roasted and cooled, after which sucrose (table sugar) and possibly a binding agent such as starch syrup or sorbitol are added.