These may look like real carrots, but they’re actually marzipan – a sweet pale yellowish paste made from ground almonds, sugar, and egg whites. Marzipan can ether be bought in a package or you can easily make it yourself. Marzipan is unique compared to other kinds of candies because it can be shaped into any shape desired.
To make our carrots, we first kneaded the dough, similar to kneading clay, until it became pliable, similar to the texture of play dough. Because we intended to make marzipan carrots, at this point we added a few drops of orange food coloring. We massaged the dye in until the dough was uniformly orange. The coloring will get all over your hands no matter how cautious you are: you might want to wear rubber gloves, and do the kneading on a wax or parchment paper.
We then divided the marzipan into marble-sized spheres. To form the carrot shape, we simply rolled it out slightly and squished the top to form a cone. This can be a good job for a child, perhaps while the adults are making other food to go along with the meal. After rolling out our carrots, we indented a few lines to make it look more authentic and rolled it in “dirt” – i.e. cocoa powder.
To make the stem, we snipped pieces of chive, but any other type of herb or leafy food can be used. The carrots looked so real that when you bite into them it surprises you!
Almonds and marzipan are a staple in Danes’ cooking. Besides looking cute, marzipan figures can be used as cupcake and cake toppers, decorations, or accompaniments to place cards on a table setting. Most importantly you get to play with your food.
Our finished product!
Here’s a link to Martha Stewart’s Recipe
