Give a Marzipan Pig for New Year Good Luck / 🇩🇪 Germany

Some New Year gifts are meant to make a person smile as soon as they open the box. In Germany, the Glücksschwein does this with a round body, a little snout and, often, a soft pink colour. The name joins Glück, which can mean good luck, to Schwein, the word for pig. The marzipan version is a sweet you can hand to someone when you wish them a good start. Choose one person you would like to surprise, then think about what a happy beginning would look like for them. The gift gives you an easy way to say it.

1. Set aside a small marzipan pig. If you have a block of ready-to-eat marzipan, you can roll an oval for the body, add a flattened ball for the snout and pinch up two little ears.
2. Serve it on a small plate or wrap it in a clean food-safe bag to give away. Keep the ingredient information with it, especially if you are sharing sweets with a group.
3. On New Year’s Eve or when you first meet after the holiday, hand it to the person and give your good wish. If you are practising your German, say Viel Glück, meaning “good luck.”
4. For a dinner, set a little pig by each place. Let everyone find theirs before you raise a glass or pass the dessert.

The marzipan pig belongs to the group of small tokens exchanged for the turn of the year in Germany. It brings the good wishes of the occasion into the confectioner’s window. In Lübeck, almond paste and sugar have a long history as the raw materials for sweets, and confectioners shape marzipan into figures as well as loaves. The pig is immediately recognisable even with very few details. A flat nose, small ears and a round body are enough. That is part of the pleasure of giving one. You can use a neatly made piece from a confectioner or shape the same outline yourself and still have a pig to put on the table.