Halloween Marzipan Pumpkins

One of the most beloved and celebrated holidays as it lies between Fall and Winter as well as history and superstition. All Saints days which is November 1st was declared by Pope Boniface IV but Halloween is believe to find its' origins in the Celtic festival of Samhain on All Hollow's Eve. During this festival costumes were worn and bonfires set to ward off evil poltergeists and aberrations. In a way it makes sense when one considers how many costumed festivals exist even today in European culture. The balance or harmony of a saints day preceded by a haunted day in which everyone dresses as a ghost not to be affected also shows a balance of both good and evil all within a 48 hour period.

But we are wiser today as we know more than likely those saints were more than likely sinners and not just during the Celtic Festival of Samhain.

More interestingly is that the Celtics believed that during the Festival of Samhain the veil between the world of the dead and the world of the living was lifted and those with the gift could see between the world . Theoretically one could pass between them.

Today it is just a fun occasion to dress up and eat candy. So this year, as every year, we did something special. We learned how to make Marzipan candy pumpkins for holidays. We also made fruit but this hub is specifically about making the candy pumpkins although instructions on making marzipan fruit candies is included because...hey, candy is candy!!

I did not realize YouTube had a 13 minute time limit so the video cuts off. I will include more professionally done videos at the bottom of the article. Thank you for your patience.

I have to say it was a lot of fun making the pumpkins. They were pretty easy to figure out and it was only one color and shape so our biggest hurdle was the stems because we were not going to use cloves. Puke!! Tootsie Rolls worked for us. It was really fun and easy except making the faces. That was challenging but there is always next year! I have a ton of Marzipan in the cupboard and I am waiting on the edible glue. Once the edible glue is here the sky is the limit! We can do any thing with Marzipan!!

Odessa made a much better video I will feature the link below so you can reference it.

While we love our kids and we love their enthusiasm during the holidays. Someimes they are literally bouncing off the walls that leads them to getting into trouble with their siblings and their parents. If only all that wonderful energy and enthusiasm could be channeled in a productive manner. My suggestion is have them make Marzipan candies. Marzipan basically has the consistency of play dough. You can model it in to anything and make little candies out of it. It forces the child to sit down and focus. Plus it helps them strengthen their fine motor skills.

It is the perfect holiday activity to help calm a child down while still allowing them to celebrate. Marzipan is a nut honey sugar dough mixture. If your child is allergic to nuts then this project is not for you but my son loved it. He found it fascinating making marzipan candies but was super camera shy.

This is inevitable that every parent will hear that even from the die hard pumpkin fan. Variety is the spice of life. Therefore making some pumpkins is good but also making some fruits is great. That way your child will have to learn how to make multiple fruits and one vegetable and this activity can be stretched out for days.

They also have choices and multiple opportunities for success. The great thing about Marzipan candies is that they can stay out and they do not spoil.

So what kind of fruit? We started simple with green apples, oranges and pears however we did the green apples first which tainted all the other colors because the food coloring runs on the board so remember go from light colors to dark colors when creating fruit. Again, I am just learning to video so it may cut off but I will show you the Odessa Pro Video in it's entirety.

That is a really good question? Which fruits do your children eat an abundance of? If they eat a lot of apples then apples would be appropriate but if they like strawberries then strawberries would be appropriate. I will give you fair warning that if your child or grandchild loves a fruit like strawberries and you make Marzipan Strawberries they may not eat them. Nothing beats a good real strawberry.

In making these candies, the costs are finite in that you are out the cost of the Marzipan, food coloring, and other basic items like I used chocolate for stems. But it is a pretty inexpensive endeavor.

This tutorial is basic because clearly, by the horrific look on my face, I am still learning myself. However from my research I gather that these desserts can be quite sophisticated. I have done the fruit with Alex and I have to say the painting part was fun as well but I would still like to do the animals. Only then would I feel the least bit accomplished in this new world of Marzipan candy making.

Again I apologize as I am new to youtube and I am certain this cuts off. But it will give you a general idea. I will put a more professional one down below. I am just an ordinary person trying to make my son's life extraordinary.

While the calorie count is high as it would be with all nut desserts, they are made small and therefore there is not the inclination to over indulge as one might with most desserts. In addition, I have advertised the calorie count so when you read this you are well aware that one marzipan candy is enough and two is too many.

This candy making is fun with but also crosses over into being an art. It is almost a still life painting as these candies look like the real fruit. My suggestion is to get real fruit and paint your candied fruit exactly like your real fruit.

In addition, I add ingredients which no one else does in videos. I have found a great deal of other flavors at the market as well. It would be interesting to try those flavors. They have strawberry flavoring so it would be interesting to see how it would add up compared to the real thing. Coat it with a little chocolate and you could have created a new dessert for the holidays.

If you do try it please share your experience. We are having a great deal of fun with it here and would love to hear about your adventures making Marzipan Candies.