Making Magnificent Marzipan Fruits For Christmas

Marzipan fruits always draw admiring comments, and one is "they must be very hard to make" - on the contrary, they are quite easy.

They make an ideal present at any time, but especially at Christmas. We all know how difficult it is to find a present for an elderly person, or think of a suitable 'thank you' gift, well marzipan fruits are the ideal solution.

Most marzipan on the market is either white or yellow. The best quality is always white. Using homemade marzipan can be a problem, as it could become oily with the warmth of the hands.

Some stores sell coloured marzipan, and it is worth seeking out if you don't have any colouring. If possible, use paste colours. Liquid colours are easily knocked over and not as strong as paste. Use a cocktail stick to apply colouring. Blend it in by literally knocking the marzipan about, using the same technique as kneading bread. Alternatively, the fruits can be coloured by spraying with an airbrush. It is good idea to have the real fruit beside you to copy.

Quite a few of the fruits are yellow, so begin with this colour. Make all the same size by rolling the marzipan into a sausage, and then cut into equal portions.

Start each fruit by rolling into a ball to make the marzipan smooth. Fruits such as lemons, oranges and tangerines have pitted skins. Copy by rolling on a small brush with stiff bristles, or on a food grater.

Bananas are easy. Model the marzipan into a sausage shape, and copy the fruit by modelling each end with the forefinger and thumb, and then curving. Use brown colouring, if available (a good substitute is a small amount of coffee or cocoa diluted in a drop or two of hot water) paint a brown spot at each end of the fruit, then streak some across the length, and blend in with the finger.

Make a pineapple by creating an oval shape and marking the surface into diamonds with the back of a knife. With scissors make tiny snips in each diamond, and paint a spot of brown colour under each snip. Finish by cutting two green shapes with a calyx cutter. Indent the top of the fruit with the end of a paintbrush, and press one calyx on top of the other.

Round fruits, such as oranges and apples explain themselves. But to make the apple look lifelike, indent the top with your small finger and push in a 'stalk' of All bran. The stalk of grapes (make by sticking lots of tiny balls onto a cone shaped base) is also made from cereal.

Strawberries are popular. First place granulated sugar in a plastic bag with a small amount of red colouring, then rub together through the sides of the bag. Now model a pink strawberry shape, roll on the brush and then into the sugar. If the sugar does not stick, warm the marzipan to soften it. Place a green calyx on top. Once made,leave the fruits to firm up for a few days before packaging.

To show up the bright colour of the fruits, display them in brown petit four cases. Another idea is to include dark truffles - even if you have to buy them! Instead of dotting individual fruits here and there, place them in lines of the same variety, with contrasting colours next to each other - for instance a row of strawberries alongside apples.

Present the fruits in boxes with cellophane lids, or an alternative, and one which shows them off to full advantage, is a coloured cardboard, or foil plate. Cover the plate with a layer of cling film big enough to overlap underneath, then tighten the film by holding the plate a few inches over heat, and this will cause it to 'shrink wrap'.

Pat Lock is a cake decorating expert with over 25 years experience who runs the excellent Cake Decorating Tips website. She has won awards at the prestigious international competition at Hotel Olympia, London and is also an accomplished author.