Where's the marzipan?

For as long as I can remember, part of the joy of eating a beautiful plump, moist Christmas Cake, was the topping. Not just icing, such as you might see on a mere wedding or birthday cake, no the Christmas icing was always served with a layer of exotic marzipan. Well if you came from the wilds of Northampton, then it was indeed exotica.
This sugary almond marvel, craved annually, was sufficiently sweet to be on my diabetic taboo, not to do list, along with Sherbet, Curly Wurlies and that old favourite the Easter Egg. Therefore my annual marzipan haul was minimalist to say the least.

The confection affection spread throughout Europe in the middle of the last millennia and was especially honed in the ancient Hanseatic trade ports of the Baltic...Lubeck and Konigsberg became synonymous with the treat. But over time, cities rise and fall, people migrate and tastes adapt.

Now Konigsberg is the Russian city of Kaliningrad, its beautiful city centre laid waste during the last war and it's Prussian marzipan endeavours are no more.

Meanwhile Endeavours of a different nature reached down under to NZ with Captain Cook. Following in his footsteps, after 170 years of migration, a nation of self sufficient chefs was formed. Baking became a national sport and now every cook in the land is proficient with Cake and it's decoration. Sadly my favourite Northern European almond topping was not a success here, replaced instead by plain icing, sugary candied peel and fruits. In fact the notion of heavy fruit cake has been displaced by the pavlova.

Not that the pavlova isn't a bad substitute for a fruit cake, with heaps of meringue, lashings of whipped cream, chunks of fruit and yet more cream.

These treats get lavished on us at Christmas, as we sizzle in the summer, eating al fresco on the beach or at the BBQ. A traditional Christmas cake might be too heavy after ham, sausages, salads and barbecued food. But something in me still wishes for that taste of almond promise, which is virtually unheard of down here. A treat which I am now unrestricted in enjoying!  I shall console myself with another helping of pav.