Mom's Marzipan Candies

MOM'S MARZIPAN CANDIES

Dough: 

• 1 lb. almond paste (or macaroon paste) cut into small pieces

• 1/3 cup light corn syrup

• 1 1/4 cup marshmallow fluff or cream (1 jar)

• 1 tp vanilla

• 6 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

Mix all but confectioner's sugar together until smooth.  Then add sugar, 1/2 cup at a time until dough is consistency of modeling clay.  Turn onto table top and knead until smooth.  Divide and color portions with food coloring, using a little extra confectioner's sugar if needed.  Makes 2 1/2 to 3 lbs.

Glaze:

• 1/4 cup corn syrup (light) blended with 1 tbsp. hot water

Let fruit stand for 2 or 3 hours to form a crust.  Then tint with diluted coloring using a water color brush ant fruit that needs further coloring. Let painting fruit stand at least 3 hours and then glaze, again using water color brush. Glaze anything that does not have a finish, like peaches, potatoes, strawberries, etc.

Colors and Quantities:

• Light yellow (delicious apples, peaches, pears): a lot

• Bright yellow (lemons, bananas): little

• White (mushrooms, white radishes, potatoes): medium

• Light green ( peas in pod, cucumbers, mushroom): medium

• Yellow green (green apples, grapes, pears): medium

• Orange (oranges, pumpkins, carrots): medium

• Deep red (cherries, strawberries, red apples, red radishes): a lot

• Violet (plums, beets, grapes): little

• Tomato color(add yellow to red paste): little

• Acorn color (combination of orange and light green): little

Table of Fruits and Vegetables

1.  Apples-yellow, green or red. Form ball, put clove in lower end and apple leaf in top.  TInt with red where needed.  Delicious have depression in bottom along with clove.

2. Cucumbers-light green paste. Paint on dark green stripes.

3. Acorns-shape, then dip large end in chocolate shot (cake decoration). Use stem end of clove for acorn stem.

4. Peas in pod-flatten an elongated ball of light green paste, please 3 or 4 or 5 small balls in line in the middle and fold up sides.

5. Peaches-light yellow paste. Use skewer or toothpick to make depression. Tint this part red-spreading color with finger to make pinkish.  Dip in pink tinted confectioner's sugar for fuzz.  Clove end and peach leaf.

6. Lemons-bright yellow paste. Make elongated ball, roll on grater for depressions.  Put clove in one end. 

7. Potatoes-white paste. Shape, irregularly, dip in cocoa, shake off loose cocoa and finally make "eyes" with a skewer.

8. Bananas-yellow paste. Tint one end and stripe with water diluted with a bit of cocoa.  Tint the other with a bit of green.

9. Carrots-orange paste. Make crosswise depressions with skewer. Pleat carrot leaf and push into top.

10. Orange-orange paste. Make a ball. Put clove in end, the roll on grater for depressions.

11. Pumpkins-orange paste, and light green paste for stem. Make depressions from top center out and down part way on side.

12. Tomatoes-Tomato paste, strawberry leaf.  Make depressions as for the pumpkin from center to sides.

13. Cherries-red paste, use pear leaf and carefully bend the stem into a "V". Make two red balls, stick one end of v-shaped stem in each. The leaf is then above and between both balls.  And, the unit should end up being the same size as a single fruit.

14. Radishes-Use red paste and if desired work a tiny bit of white into one end for the tip. Make a ball and then pull out the tiny tip shape.  Pleated carrot leaf on top.

15. White Radishes-Use white paste and treat as carrots.

16. Strawberries-Red paste. After shaped, roll in red tinted granulated sugar. add leaf.

17. Grapes-Form flat base. lace small balls on top, shaping into grape bunch. Insert carrot leaf (unpleated) in top so one half is above the grape bunch.  insert carrot leaf (unpleated) in top so one half is above the grapes and covers part of the bunch and the other is under the base.  Use either yellow, green or violet paste.

18. Mushrooms-White paste and acorn paste. Form base and caps separately.  Caps can be dipped into cocoa instead of using acorn paste. 

19. Beets-Violet paste. Carrot leaf pleated. Shape like radishes.

20. Plums-Violet paste. Make a ball then make a depressions like a peach, with skewer.

21. Pears-Light yellow or yellow green paste. Tint side lightly with red. Clove and pear leaf.

Finding the different plastic leaves may be a bit of a research project. I googled Marzipan fruit leaves gave me a few options.