4th of July Marzipan Candy Dessert

Here's a sweet, almond paste treat that's perfect for your 4^th of July celebration. Looks impressive, tastes divine, and it won't melt in the summer heat.

For as long as I can remember, my mother has told us stories of her favorite times visiting her uncle on the holidays when she was a child. The stories revolve around their trips to buy selections of cleverly designed marzipan candies. She was only allowed to pick out a small number, so she had to choose carefully, something her uncle got a big kick out of. Among her favorite shapes were the strawberries and, for some strange reason, the fried eggs!

You can buy marzipan ready to color and shape into your own favorite designs, or you can make it for a lot less money yourself using the following ingredients:

• 1/2 cup almond paste
• 1 egg white
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, start by kneading the almond paste to soften it. Mix in the egg white really well. Knead in the confectioners' sugar 1 cup at a time. When the consistency is right, it will feel like heavy pie crust dough.

Note: If you want to make the marzipan ahead of time and wait until later to make the individual pieces, wrap the mixture tightly in plastic, and store in a sealed container in the fridge. When you're ready to use it, let it stand at room temperature until soft, then knead briefly.

Divide dough into 3 portions. Add red food coloring to one portion and blue to the second portion until the desired shade is reached. Knead until the coloring is evenly blended into the marzipan.

TIP: wear disposable plastic gloves when kneading in food coloring to avoid staining your skin. Unless you like purple hands.

Now for the creative part!

These are just a couple ideas to get you started, but there are many different shapes you can use for your marzipan candy pieces.

Candy design #1: Red, white & blue striped pieces (Easy, but no left over bits to pop in your mouth)

Form equal portions of each color into 3 separate balls. On a work area dusted with powdered sugar, roll the ball back and forth in the same direction until it starts to take the shape of a tube. (Remember making playdough *worms*? Use the same principle here!) Continue forming an evenly shaped tube until it's about ½ - 1 inch in diameter, depending on how thick you'd like the finished pieces to be. Set aside and do the same with the remaining two colors. When the rolls are the same length, they will make even stripes and look more professional.

Place the 3 long pieces of marzipan together on a work surface sprinkled with powdered sugar. With a powder sugar dusted rolling pin or a flat utensil, press the three pieces down until the surface is flat, being careful not to make the marzipan too thin. This will bind the 3 rolls together. Using a sharp, thin bladed knife, start at one end and cut bite size portions. You can either leave the edges of each piece the way they are, or gently round the pieces with your fingertips and place on a stick-proof surface or lightly oiled baking sheets. Let the pieces sit for one hour (not in the fridge), and if there's any left when you come back, they will be ready to glaze.

Glaze:

• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup light corn syrup

Combine the water and corn syrup in a small saucepan. Heat to a boil, remove from heat, and brush the glaze over each piece with a clean pastry brush. Let set for 30 minutes before arranging on a serving plate.

Candy design #2: Red, white and blue star shapes (A bit trickier, but with little bits from the cut-outs to eat as your reward)

Follow directions for Candy design #1, but stop where it says to cut bite size portions. Using a small star shaped cookie cutter that has been dipped in powdered sugar, press star shapes along the length of the marzipan strip, placing as close together as possible. The stripes don't need to be horizontal for each star. Slanting them in different directions will look great and you'll get more stars from your strip of marzipan.

Don't try to cut clear through or you will soon be frustrated enough to either eat the whole batch or put unrecognizable shapes on the plate and call it a day. Use a small, sharp knife to finish cutting through the marzipan, using the star indentations as your guide. If necessary, press the knife against the star edges to make them squared off and sharper looking. Carefully lift each red, white, and blue star off the work surface and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet or other non-stick surface.

You can either use the extra pieces from the cut outs to make a new roll with a marbled red, white and blue pattern and make more stars or bite size pieces, or you can do what all the good chefs do... taste test your recipe.

If the marzipan becomes too hard or dry, add a few drops at a time of water or corn syrup. When you've finished using all the marzipan, let the pieces sit out for an hour, then follow the directions above for glazing.

Makes 1.5lbs candy