Pumpkin marzipan
Author Notes: Oh gosh! I wish I had the whole week to play with these. I make small marzipan candies using a host of recipes, some even from potatoes! My joy is painting them with natural food coloring where I blend my own colors. Usually I am doing portraits in miniature of actual fruits and vegetables. Sometimes I use these on chocolate frosted cakes to create my mini gardens. But I have to drive to Queens this weekend to hang a show of my abstract miniature landscape paintings for an opening later at a Thai cafe there! Still, I just had to make the time to create a series of mini pumpkins for this theme. For a very fun children's party, have each child make one. Kids are very good at molding these, especially if they are to carve jack-o-lanterns using toothpicks! It is easy to have work stations set up with toothpicks, paint brushes and food colors, which are all water soluble for easy clean up. It is then very quick to paint these for a take home treat. - Sagegreen —Sagegreen
Food52 Review: Such fun! I had a great time making these delightful marzipan pumpkins. Attempts at sculpted, painted realism gave way to a more stylized version suitable for my skill level. I rolled marble-sized pieces of marzipan dough into balls in my hands, dipped the balls into a saucer of food coloring and then rolled them around in my hands again until they were sufficiently orange. Pushing a clove into the top for the stem shaped the ball into more of a pumpkin form. To mix orange from the India Tree natural food colors, I needed mostly yellow with one drop of red and a micro drop of blue. For Jack-o-lanterns I painted faces with melted chocolate, and alternately, pressed in tiny triangles of dried pear or candy corn. This recipe is terrific for all ages. - Apple Annie —The Editors
Serves 8-10
- 7 ounces marzipan paste
- 7 ounces sifted powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon honey (linden used here)
- 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin jam (or use honey, if you do not have)
- 10-20 cloves for stems, as per AppleAnnie's innovation
- natural food coloring, red, yellow, blue and brown
- tooth picks and small brushes
- Work the honey with jam (if you have that flavor) into the marzipan paste. Otherwise you can use all honey. Roll this in a bowl of the powdered sugar to incorporate the sugar into the dough. When the dough is no longer sticky, it is ready to begin molding. You may still have powdered sugar left, which you can use in another batch or in frosting.
- With your very clean hands mold the dough into pumpkin shapes. Look at real pumpkins when you do this, so you capture some actual realistic irregularities. I create the stem from a small piece of dough that I then add to the body.
- Next using toothpicks score some lines into the pumpkin and stem to simulate details.
- Set up some saucers to work with a palette of colors from your natural food coloring. Have some plain water ready to modulate the hues. Using small brushes ( I have a set reserved just for food) paint the surface of your pumpkins with your colors. Mix in some shades for added realism: There are some greens in the stem. Notice there are browns and olives alive in the pumpkin orange. I sometimes use a little honey diluted in water to also dip my brushes in mixing color for tiny bite size candies. This is a crude kind of flavored varnish, in a way.
- Serve these to your guests when dry. You can package these as party favors in small boxes with some broken shredded wheat underneath, top chocolate frosted pumpkin cupcakes with them, or just serve them upon fresh grape (or mint) leaves on their own. You can use cloves for the stems if you like.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Non-Pie Thanksgiving Dessert
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Halloween Treat
More Great Recipes:
Candy|Dessert|Vegetarian|Halloween|Thanksgiving
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over 7 years ago Threemealsaday
A lot of beautiful effort went into this very sweet food art. If not for dessert, then why not use as individual place setting decorations.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
What a lovely idea! I hope to make a set to bring along to an opening of a group show in NYC this weekend with all different fruits and vegetables.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
I just uploaded some photos of the marzipan pears I made; these would work really well with placecard idea for dinner. You could sit them upon pear leaves with the names written on the leaves themselves.
over 7 years ago TheWimpyVegetarian
I love these pears!!! I'm having a holiday party in another month and love the idea of having one of these at each place setting. Maybe of pomegranates to represent abundance.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Pomegranates would be lovely. I did use dried cloves for the stems with the pears.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
My latest renditions include a pomegranate and a golden apple. I find if I do not look at actual fruit, I can't get the shapes and details right.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
And when you do invert cloves head first into the marzipan, it infuses a burst of spice!
over 7 years ago edamame2003
Wow. Really beautiful...and yummy, I bet!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks!
over 7 years ago Sally
I used to make a lot of marzipan "fruits" and had forgotten about them until now. I love your use of natural dyes and honey. A plate of these would be lovely at the Thanksgiving table and if you had time to spare, I guess you could make pears and apples and other Thanksgiving-y fruits and veggies. Thanks for this.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks. What is so nice about these, is that you can make them ahead. I love making them very tiny, so they are the perfect little bite.
over 7 years ago Amelia EME
This was such a unique way to cook with pumpkins. I recently experimented with left over pumpkins from my family's Halloween and came up with some fun, if not adventurous, recipes. Hope you check them out and we can continue to exchange ideas with this beautiful vegetable.
-Amelia
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, Amelia. Especially love your pumpkin fondue and mousse! Great site you have.
over 7 years ago AppleAnnie
I LOVED making these also! I posted a photo of my little pumpkin patch (photo 7), using whole cloves as the stems. I have given most of them away by now, everyone says they are delicious, but I don't have the heart to eat these darling little creations.
over 7 years ago AppleAnnie
oops, mine is photo 5, it didn't go to the end as I assumed it would.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, AppleAnnie. What a brilliant innovation you offer with the cloves! I still have many of my little darlings, too. I love making them small, because I think they are more delicious that way...but I, too, develop a sort of reverence in admiring them....which makes eating them all the harder! I eat one occasionally, though. Love your photo.
over 7 years ago JoanG
AppleAnnie, your mini pumpkins are just darling. It sounds like you had a great time tsting this recipe! What fun.
over 7 years ago Bevi
We love marzipan in our household; in fact, my son gives his dad a box of marzipan every Xmas. This inspires me to include a marzipan session as part of our holiday festivities.
Thanks, Sagegreen!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, Bevi. It is so much fun to make and eat!
over 7 years ago JoanG
Absolutely adorable! Great confection and winning taste as well!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, JoanG!
over 7 years ago SallyCan
These are charming! What kind of natural food coloring do you use?
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
For these I used some I bought at Whole Foods. But I also experiment with my own coloring from sugar beets and berries. Then the foods have a shorter shelf life though.
over 7 years ago Constrained Cook
Having grown up in Belgium, the mention of potato marzipan reminds me of my childhood. I hope you will also share that recipe one day! I love your little pumpkins. They are so gorgeous and look so fun to make!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks. I wish this weren't such a busy week at work!
over 7 years ago mrslarkin
Sconegirl made these this afternoon and they are so cute! They came out great. She made four big ones - I do hope she shares!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Wonderful. I am so glad this worked out! I love your pears: Mine would not have compared to yours.
over 7 years ago wanderash
wow! these are so impressive! i love the jack-o-lantern carving idea!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks. The jack-o-lantern idea is perfect for Halloween. But I also love the idea of miniaturizing the giant pumpkin in the patch!
over 7 years ago nannydeb
These are so cute and you are so talented!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, nannydeb!
over 7 years ago drbabs
Barbara is a trusted source on General Cooking.
Lovely. Where is your art being shown? I live on Long Island and would love to se it.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks. It is in Jackson Heights. I will send you the info. Later in November-Dec I have more work opening at the Viridian Gallery in Chelsea in a group show!
over 7 years ago Constrained Cook
Having lived in Belgium when I was younger, your mention of potato marzipan brought me back to my childhood. I hope you'll share that recipe one day! Your pumpkin marzipan are so beautiful! I love that this is an artistic, yet tasty treat. Thanks for sharing!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks! Maybe I will get to the potato recipe this week, but we shall see.
over 7 years ago ellenl
I am astounded at how very talented you are! I wish I had even a little bit of it.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thank you. You should try these. They are easier than they may look!
over 7 years ago adamnsvetcooking
Wow! great job sculpting those pumpkins! these look great!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, adamsvetcooking. These are really both quick and easy to make, too! This is my favorite marzipan recipe for taste.
over 7 years ago luvcookbooks
Meg is a trusted home cook.
gorgeous, i didn't realize you were an artist
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, luvcookbooks. Yes, I have been showing my work the last few years and now have one public art sculpture installed!
over 7 years ago gingerroot
Sagegreen, these are fabulous. What beautiful little creations. I love them!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, gingerroot! I still eat them though even when I get attached to these little guys.
over 7 years ago lapadia
Excellent and Fun!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, lapadia. I have to get on to work now. These may be my only entry this week!
over 7 years ago TheWimpyVegetarian
These are absolutely amazing!!! YOU are amazing!!! I just love these little guys! GREAT ENTRY for both photos and recipe!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, ChezSuzanne. You can see how much I love to play with these!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
I can't resist adding a few more photos. The technique of painting these on the surface lends itself really well to making jack-o-lanterns, leaving the white inside unpainted. For fun I carved one of my molded pumpkins to demonstrate. You can use toothpicks to carve out the facial features; no knives needed. You could even add a birthday candle inside the jack-o-lantern for special effect illumination at a Halloween party table.
over 7 years ago mrslarkin
oh my gosh! you are sooo creative! I love it! My daughter will go crazy when she sees these! (she loves marzipan too.)
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Let me know if your daughter makes these. I would love to see her results. How old is she?
over 7 years ago mrslarkin
she's 14. This would be a great project for her!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Great, 14 is just right! This project can work from grade school through adult. Anyone who loves miniatures and marzipan can really enjoy making these!!! I get anywhere from 15-20 little pumpkins from this recipe.
over 7 years ago TiggyBee
Are you kidding me?
These have got to be the most gorgeous things ever!! I'm wowed!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks! These are remarkably quick and easy to make, too. I have made these with my college students and with grade school kids.
over 7 years ago dymnyno
Gorgeous!! So creative!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, dymnyno. So is your apple!
over 7 years ago mrslarkin
Wow! I'd gobble these up - love marzipan.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thanks, mrslarkin. That is one of the reasons why I make them really tiny sometimes. They are pretty tasty. This is the first time I made them with a little pumpkin jam....of course I had to sample along the way.
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
You can make these any size you like. Mine range sometimes from a tiny half an inch up to an inch and a half tall.
over 7 years ago Sadassa_Ulna
Beautiful!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thank you. I photographed these while the food coloring is still wet, but they are gorgeous dry, too. I do not like adding food coloring into the dough, but rather painting just on the surface in a water color style.
over 7 years ago Lizthechef
Beautiful - this recipe is so "you" - and I love marzipan!
over 7 years ago Sagegreen
Thank you. I LOVE making these!
Showing 63 out of 63 comments