Marzipan Pumpkins Recipes

Steps:

• Make the cakes: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat nonstick mini-muffin tins with cooking spray.
• Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Whisk the sugars and eggs in a medium bowl. Whisk in pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in butter until combined completely. Fold flour mixture into pumpkin mixture until no trace of flour remains (batter may be lumpy).
• Scoop batter into tins, filling cups 1/2 full. Bake until testers inserted in the centers come out clean, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer to wire racks, and let cool. (Cupcakes can be covered and refrigerated up to 2 days.)
• Make the frosting: Beat cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, spices, and vanilla with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
• Assemble the pumpkins: Cut tops from 2 cupcakes, and reserve bottoms for another use. Using a small offset spatula, spread 1 teaspoon frosting on the cut side of 1 cupcake top. Sandwich with other cupcake top, creating a round pumpkin shape. Spread 2 teaspoons frosting smoothly on sides of cupcake sandwich, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cupcakes and frosting. Refrigerate until very firm, at least 3 hours (or overnight).
• Knead together equal amounts fondant and marzipan, adding orange or brown food coloring until desired color is reached. (Reserve some fondant and marzipan to make white pumpkins if desired.) Dust a surface lightly with confectioners' sugar, and roll fondant mixture to 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 4 1/2-inch round cutter, cut out circles.
• Place 1 pumpkin cake in center of 1 fondant circle. Bring sides of circle over cake, smoothing out folds, and press to enclose. Flip pumpkin over, and using a toothpick, make vertical grooves along sides. Poke a hole on top for a stem, and insert a chocolate stick. Repeat with remaining cakes and fondant. Using a clean, dry pastry brush or paintbrush, brush pumpkins with luster and pearl dusts if desired. These pumpkins will keep at room temperature up to 1 day.

Steps:

• Place marzipan on a clean work surface. Cut in half. Add a few drops of orange food coloring to one half; knead with your hands until uniform in color. Add more food coloring as needed to achieve desired color. Shape into 3/4-inch balls. Use a toothpick to make indents in tops of balls for stems and press creases along outer edges from top to bottom for pumpkin ribs.
• Divide remaining marzipan half into two pieces. Add a few drops of brown food coloring to one piece; knead with your hands until uniform in color. Add more food coloring as needed. Roll into small ropes to use as stems.
• Add a few drops of green food coloring to remaining piece of marzipan; knead with your hands until uniform in color. Add more food coloring as needed. Roll out to a 1/8-inch-thick round. Cut out leaves using a small leaf-shaped cutter. Attach stems and leaves to tops of balls, pressing with a toothpick to adhere.

Steps:

• Place almond paste and fondant in a mixing bowl with the dough hook attachment, set on first speed, beat until soft. Gradually add the syrups, then the powdered sugar to form a nice clay-like dough. Add food coloring by kneading it into the paste, by hand, on a board with a little powdered sugar. Shape into a 1-inch diameter log. Cut into 1-inch pieces and roll into a ball. Take a paring knife and gently make the indentations of the pumpkin.

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the almond paste and beat just to break up the almond paste some. Add about 1 cup of the sugar and mix until it is incorporated. Add the remaining sugar and beat until incorporated. The mixture will look like coarse bread crumbs at this point. Add the corn syrup and mix to combine well. The mixture will still be very crumbly.
• Turn the mixture out onto a clean work surface and knead until it makes a smooth dough. If the dough seems too sticky, knead in a little more confectioners' sugar. The dough can be tightly wrapped and refrigerated at this point. If you want to color the marzipan, break off the amount of dough you want colored. Add a drop and knead in. For more intense color, add more food coloring. Shape into desired shapes.

Steps:

• For each penguin, form four balls of marzipan: two the size of golf balls, one half that size, and one one-quarter that size. Using blue, white, and black food coloring, tint one large ball blue. Tint the other large ball white. Using red and yellow food coloring, tint medium ball rust-orange. Tint small ball black.
• Break off a piece of blue marzipan, and roll into a 1/2-inch ball for the head; pinch to form a beak. Use black marzipan to make eyes; attach to head. Shape white marzipan ball into a body (about 1 by 1 1/4 inches). Use orange marzipan to make 1/2-inch-long feet. Roll out remaining blue marzipan to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out shape for wings.
• Gently press head onto body, and attach feet. Wrap wings around back; smooth seam at neck.