Marzipan Wheels Food

MARZIPAN

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.

MARZIPAN WHEELS

Steps:

• Divide the marzipan into 3 equal pieces. Work with 1 piece at a time, keeping the other 2 pieces covered with plastic wrap. Dust a work surface with some of the confectioners' sugar and knead the Grand Marnier into 1 piece of the marzipan (see page 31) until thoroughly blended (about 2 minutes). Add more confectioners' sugar as needed to keep the marzipan from sticking. Cover this piece of marzipan with plastic wrap while working with the other pieces. Knead 3 drops of the red food coloring paste into another piece of marzipan until thoroughly blended (about 2 minutes), adding more confectioners' sugar as needed to keep the marzipan from sticking. Cover this piece of marzipan while working with the remaining piece. Knead the remaining 3 drops red food coloring paste into the remaining piece of marzipan until thoroughly blended (about 2 minutes), adding more confectioners' sugar as needed to keep the marzipan from sticking.
• Dust a work surface with some of the confectioners' sugar and roll out the piece of Grand Marnier marzipan to a large rectangle (4 by 10 by 1/4 inch thick). Roll out a piece of the red marzipan to a slightly larger and thinner rectangle than the Grand Marnier marzipan. Roll the remaining piece of red marzipan into a rope shape 1/2 inch thick and 10 inches long. Place this rope alongside one long edge of the Grand Marnier marzipan. Brush the side of the rope and the long edge of the Grand Marnier marzipan with some of the beaten egg white. Roll the Grand Marnier marzipan around the red marzipan rope as tight as possible, sealing the edge with beaten egg white. Roll the remaining piece of red marzipan around the Grand Marnier marzipan as tight as possible, sealing the edge with beaten egg white.
• With a sharp knife, trim the ends, then cut the marzipan log into 1/2-inch-thick circles. Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper. Place the marzipan wheels on the paper and let them air-dry at room temperature (about 1 hour).
• Place each wheel in a paper candy cup. In a tightly covered container wrapped in several layers of aluminum foil, the wheels will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer. They are best eaten at room temperature.
• Substitute other food coloring pastes for the red color. Substitute other flavors for the Grand Marnier.