Marzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and ground almonds.It derives its characteristic flavor from bitter almonds, which constitute 4% to 6% of the total almond content by weight. Some marzipan is also flavored with rosewater. Persipan is a similar product, for which the almonds are replaced by apricot or peach kernels.Marzipan is often made into sweets: common uses are marzipan-filled chocolate and small marzipan imitations of fruits and vegetables. It is also rolled into thin sheets and glazed for icing cakes and is traditionally used in wedding cakes, Christmas cakes, and stollen. In some countries marzipan is shaped into small figures of animals as a traditional treat for New Year's Day. Marzipan is also used in Tortell, and in some versions of king cake eaten during the Carnival season.In Italy, particularly in Palermo, marzipan (marzapane) is often shaped and painted with food colorings to resemble fruit — Frutta martorana — especially during the Christmas season. In Portugal, traditional marzipan (maçapão) fruit shaped sweets made in the Algarve region are called morgadinhos. There are other regions, as Toledo in Spain in which marzipan is shaped into simple animal shapes, and usually filled in with egg yolk and sugar (yema). In Latin American cuisine, marzipan is known as mazapán and is also traditionally eaten at Christmas. In the Netherlands Marzipan figures are given as presents to children during Saint Nicholas' Eve.In the Middle-East, marzipan (known as lozina, which is derived from the word "lows", the arabic word for almonds) is flavored with orange-flower water and shaped into roses and other delicate flowers before they are baked.The Indian sweet Badam Barfi, also made from Almonds, tastes similar to marzipan.