Have you ever made almond paste icing, or do you just use marzipan?

[PattyCakes]

I was talking with my mother in law yesterday about a cake she's baked for a christening, and she's working on her icings now. Normally I would just buy a block of marzipan and put that onto the fruit cake before applying the royal or fondant icing. My mother in law is making her own almond paste (marzipan) icing, and I think that's a lot more trouble than a simple block of marzipan. I can't say I've ever noticed the difference even when people tell me they've made their own almond paste, and I wonder if anyone here makes their own, or uses the block stuff?

 

[kammy]

I do like the taste of almond paste icing but unfortunately i've never tried to make it on my own...however it's one of my mom's favorite icing ...so i know it's a must this Christmas that's exactly what will be adorning her fruit cakes.

 

[Zyni]

I've never tried making my own marzipan, but now that you say it's not much different from the packaged kind, I'll probably just not bother trying to do the homemade version.