For an added touch of luxe, dust the finished marzipan flowers with edible decorating dust or glitter, which can be found at a specialty food store.
ROSES
MAKES: 6 flowers
INGREDIENTS:
TINTING THE MARZIPAN
- Tint about ⅔ cup marzipan pink, peach, or red.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.CUTTING AND ROLLING THE MARZIPAN
- Form the tinted marzipan into a log, about 4 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.
- For each pair of roses, cut five slices from the log, each about ⅛ inch thick.
- Place five of the slices between two sheets of wax paper.
- With the underside of a spoon or your finger, thin out the edges of each slice.
- Line the slices up in a horizontal row, slightly overlapping.
- Starting with the slice that was placed down first, roll up the row of slices, continuing to roll until the last sliced is reached.
- Pick up the rolled-up slices and gently roll the middle part between your finger and thumb to form an hourglass shape.
- The top of the hourglass will be one rose, the bottom another.
- With a sharp knife or scissors, cut the marzipan close to the base of each rose to separate them.
- Carefully flare out the petals of each rose to make them more realistic.
- Repeat with the remaining slices of marzipan to make three pairs of roses in all.
2.MAKING THE LEAVES
- For the leaves, tint a small piece of marzipan green.
- On a surface lightly dusted with icing sugar, roll the marzipan out to ⅛-inch thickness.
- With a sharp knife, cut out leaf shapes.
- Use the tip of the knife to score veins in the leaves.
VIOLETS
MAKES: 6 flowers
INGREDIENTS:
TINT MARZIPAN
-
- About 3 tablespoonfuls of marzipan purple
- About 1 tablespoonful yellow.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1.FORM PURPLE MARZIPAN INTO LOG
-
- Shape it into a log, about ⅝ inch long and ½ inch in diameter.
- Cut five slices from the log, each about ⅛ inch thick.
- Repeat for each violet.
2.THIN OUT EDGES OF EACH SLICE
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- Place the slices in a single layer between two sheets of wax paper.
- With the underside of a spoon or your finger, thin out the edges of one side of each slice.
3.ROLL YELLOW MARZIPAN INTO LOG
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- Roll the yellow piece of marzipan into a log, about ¾ inch long and ¼ inch in diameter.
- Cut this log into six pieces, each about ⅛ inch thick.
- Roll each into a teardrop shape.
4.FORM PETAL
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- Wrap the thicker side of one slice of marzipan around one of the teardrop shapes to form a petal.
- Position the teardrop with its thicker end uppermost.
- Flare out the outer edges of the petal.
5.ADD MORE PETALS
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- Wrap a second petal around the teardrop, just slightly overlapping the edges of the first.
- Gently pinch the base to seal the pieces together.
- Repeat the process with the remaining petals.
6.FINISH VIOLETS
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- With a sharp knife or scissors, cut off the excess marzipan at the base of the violet.
- Repeat with the remaining marzipan to make six violets in all.
