Snebolde + Snowballs

Nope. Not snowballs made out of snow. Danish snowballs! Little round marzipan confections covered in chocolate. Honestly, I am not a huge fan of marzipan. I can eat a few little marzipan chocolates over the holidays but that's about it. I don't know what it is about marzipan that I don't like. The strong almond flavor? The grainy texture it has? I think it is mainly a mix of those two things. But then I was at Strangas the other week to pick up some cakes and other sweets and Strangas threw in a pack of their marzipan for me. I made snowballs/snebolde last year and I wasn't really planning on making them again this year, but then I got Strangas' marzipan so I made snebolde again this last week!

I don't know if it is because I just love everything from Strangas, or if their marzipan is actually different. It has a much, much, much smoother texture than the regular Danish brands of marzipan that you can get at the grocery store and I find the almond taste to be a bit subtler. I'm not saying I love marzipan, but I have been able to eat a few more snebolde these past few days.

I like this snebolde recipe from Chocolat because it combines marzipan and nougat. Her recipe calls for a lower ratio of nougat to marzipan but since I'm not the biggest marzipan fan and we had a lot of nougat to use up, I decided to go for a higher nougat to marzipan ratio. But it's all up to you and what you prefer!

Snebolde (adapted from Chocolat)
Makes about 20 to 25 snebolde (depending on the size you make them)

200g marzipan
100g nougat (soft nougat, almost like a praline filling)
200g white chocolate
zest from one organic lemon or clementine
some edible gold flakes or sprinkles to decorate with

Divide your nougat into 20 or so small pieces and roll them into circles.

Combine the lemon or clementine zest with the marzipan in a bowl before rolling the marzipan out over some baking paper. If the marzipan is really sticky, sprinkling some icing sugar/powdered sugar over it will help it not stick to the rolling pin. You want the marzipan to be about 1/2 cm in thickness. Divide the marzipan into 20 small squares.

Place a piece of nougat into the center of each marzipan square. Fold the marzipan around the nougat and roll again to get a nice round shape. When you have completed this, place the sweets in the fridge for a few minutes while you prepare the chocolate.

Melt the white chocolate in a double broiler (water bath) and temper it. When the chocolate is ready, take the marzipan treats out of the fridge and dip them in the white chocolate. Place them on a baking sheet and place some gold flakes or sprinkles on top before placing them back in the fridge to cool and harden the chocolate coating.

Store the snebolde in a airtight box in the fridge. They should keep for about a week.

There are two more days until Christmas here and three for those of you celebrating on the 25th so you still have time to make these! And if you are living in Copenhagen, I would definitely recommend trying Strangas' marzipan. (You can still buy his marzipan at his pop-up location in Magasin at Kongens Nytorv.)

Have a lovely Sunday!