Monday, March 23, 2009

Marzipan Easter Eggs



When my daughter was six, she was diagnosed with an egg allergy that lasted the next five years. Instead of dying eggs for Easter, we made them out of marzipan.

If you’ve never played with marzipan, it’s like play dough you can eat. What could be better than that? Okay, some kids might argue that you can eat the regular kind of play dough, but I’m sure this tastes way better. And our homemade marzipan tastes much better than any commercial type I’ve tried, but maybe I’m a little generous with the sugar and corn syrup.

We didn't stop at eggs. We made other things, too, like little animals…



One year we made a whole vegetable garden out of marzipan. We made cabbages, tomatoes, carrots, watermelon, gooseneck squash…



…believe me, it’s a lot easier to convince kids to eat a marzipan squash than the real thing.

We always made extra and packed them in pretty boxes to give away, too.



If you want to give it a try, here’s the recipe:

½ pound almond paste (it comes canned – I found it at World Market)
½ pound confectioner’s sugar
6 tablespoons light corn syrup

Mix together almond paste and confectioner’s sugar in food processor by pulsing on/off until combined. Add corn syrup and pulse again until thoroughly mixed. Mixture should hold together when pressed. Knead until smooth dough forms.

To color, separate into several Ziploc bags. Add a few drops of desired color to each, and squeeze to mix color (this part is also fun for kids).

Some tips for working with it – a dusting of confectioner’s sugar keeps it from sticking to surfaces. You can press it into candy or Fimo molds, or cut shapes with tiny cookie cutters. Toothpicks are great for drawing details.

16 comments:

Kimbra Kasch said...

My husband loves Marzipan - don't know if I could make anything so cute though. I might try this weekend.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

I'm so excited to try this. We used to marvel at the marzipan treats in France and I've never made it myself.
Yours are so fun! It'll be the first time Sam has ever tried squash!

PJ Hoover said...

What a blast this looks like! Man you are creative. And energetic. I love this!

LW said...

What pretty eggs...
They look like one of your paintings…

Thank you for sharing this cute idea.


Louise

Anonymous said...

Very sweet--all those bright colors make it look even better1

Suzie said...

Theyre very pretty but I hate to say I hate the way they taste

ICQB said...

Ooh, yummy. Maybe we'll give that a try this year. My kids are way too old to be dying eggs and hunting for them (they're both in college), but somehow we still do it.

I was thinking about breaking the news that this year we'd just hand them each a chocolate bunny and say "Happy Easter."

Maybe this way we can ease out of one tradition and into another.

And your creations are beautiful!

C.R. Evers said...

oh wow! This is such a great idea! I may have to try this. Thnx for posting the recipe. The pictures are awesome!

Kelly Polark said...

You are so creative! Your marzipan treats are so beautiful! Thanks for the recipe!

Keri Mikulski said...

I'm definitely trying this out!

Yum! ;)

Debbie said...

You have a talent! I've tried marzipan and mine never looked that good.

Bish Denham said...

Absolutely beautiful! Miniature works of art. Thanks for giving the recipe.

Brenda said...

I have to admit, I've never heard of marzipan until this post...I love what you did with it and might have to give this recipe a try...okay, you know how I cook...heck, I name my crockpots, so I will be passing this along to MIL to see if she can make it...Thanks...

Rena Jones said...

Beautiful work, Adrienne. I haven't had marzipan in years.

sruble said...

Ooh, fun, thanks! I love the things you've made. They all look wonderful. We made marzipan at least once when I was a kid. It didn't taste great, but maybe we didn't have a great recipe. I don't remember that much about it, except that it was more fun to make stuff that it was to eat it. I'll have to see if DH wants to make some eggs and bunnies for Easter.

Craftyville said...

Those are the cutest little easter eggs and I love the vegetable garden.