How to Decorate a Cake With Marzipan

Cakes can be topped off with anything from a simple layer to more extravagant decorations, all with marzipan. Marzipan, made from almond paste, is simply something similar to the consistency of play dough and sweet like candy. Cakes with marzipan decorations are often expensive in stores, so follow these steps and save some money by decorating cakes with marzipan at home.

Instructions

1. Decide if you would like to make the marzipan at home or purchase pre-made tubes. If making at home, you will need almond paste, powdered sugar, corn syrup, vanilla extract and rum. You can find a simple recipe for marzipan online. For those looking for the easier route, you can find pre-made marzipan in most grocery stores.

2. Choose how extensively you want to decorate the cake. If you are relatively new to cake decorating, start by using the marzipan to crate a layer, essentially like a frosting layer, over the cake. For those wanting to venture to the more creative side, molds can be used or decorations can be made from hand. But before starting out, write down the specifics about each decoration you want to use. A strawberry will take two colors, red for the berry and green for the stem, watermelons will need green, red, white and some black. The more decorations you want, the more marzipan will need to be colored.

3. Handle the marzipan similar to how you would handle pie crust. Knead to a smooth consistency. Roll out dusting the working area with powdered sugar or in between layers of plastic wrap to 1/8-inch thickness, wrap around the rolling pin until ready to lay on and decorate the cake.

4. Brush a layer of glaze or piping gel over the surface of the cake. This will protect the cake from moisture and become a glue-like substance to hold the marzipan in place.

5. Unroll the marzipan from the rolling pin and remove the bottom layer of plastic wrap. Hold the marzipan in the center of the cake and begin lying down, smoothing as you go along and trim any edges if needed. Finally remove the other layer of plastic wrap.

6. Work with the marzipan as you would play dough when using molds to decorate a cake. Shapes need to be laid out on a cookie sheet and dried for at least 24 hours. After they dry, they can be stored in airtight containers until needed to decorate the cake.

Resources

• Marzipan Cake Decoration Recipes