Marzipan

When I first encountered marzipan, my tastes had not matured enough to the point that they could handle adult foods like cooked spinach, artichoke hearts, salmon, or any kind of candy that would be more properly termed a confection. My mom was taking a series of cake-decorating classes, and one week the weekly cake that we had come to love and expect was missing when she returned home. The class had instead spent the entire time making marzipan fruit for the fruit basket cake that was to be constructed the following week.* I was not a fan.

For the uninitiated, marzipan is a candy (er, confection) made mostly from ground almonds and sugar. It has the consistency of clay, and is often formed into cute and creative shapes like fruit or baby elephants. There is a greater market for marzipan among Europeans and the culturally elite, however, and many people I know have not actually tried it.

Since my first unpleasant marzipan encounter, I've had several, much more pleasant encounters with the confection:

**********

Marzipan Familiarity Quiz
How many of these marzipan references and associations can you identify?
A. "Marzipan is candy. You like candy." "Marzipan is not candy. It is a unique substance unto itself, like Velveeta or plutonium."

B.

C. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZB-7iiWHncs

D. "I like baby animals, and cats and dogs. But it makes me sad to see cats and dogs in the same room together."

E.

BONUS: Which of the above is an internet hoax?

**********

I am, of course, writing all this for a reason. Several weeks ago, Elizabeth and I began planning an elaborate Lost cake to celebrate the season premiere (and to garner the admiration of all of our friends). In the course of our planning, Elizabeth came across our competition - we are, unsurprisingly, not the first to come up with the idea of a Lost-themed cake. I thought we could do much better, however, and mocked their use of pre-purchased Lost action figures. Which prompted Elizabeth to quip that I should get started on our marzipan Lost action figures.

And always up for a challenge, that's precisely what I did.

The Oceanic Six,
in Marzipan and Fondant



For my first foray into confectionary sculpture, I was pretty pleased with the results. But I learned a little bit in the process - for instance, marzipan, while more expensive and/or harder to make, is also easier than fondant to mold into detailed shapes. And so, the night before we actually constructed the Lost cake, I decided to give it a second try and mold one more character, this time entirely out of marzipan. I popped in a movie, brought over a chunk of marzipan, toothpicks for my sculpting tools, and a palette of eleven different food colors, and produced Ben. You know, to push the frozen donkey wheel and make the island disappear. Notice the fur collar, the spiky hair, and the Dharma Initiative insignia on the coat - this was a major artistic endeavor.





Here's the finished product, with the Oceanic 6 on the mainland and everyone else (including the smoke monster) on the island. Ben was pushing the wheel off to the side because we couldn't figure out a good way to actually put him under the island. You may have to click on the picture to zoom in for the full effect. Non-Losties may not fully appreciate the artistry.



I brought it with me to the Lost Season Premiere party on Wednesday. Everyone acted properly impressed. And then we ate it.

* This is my version of the memory. My mom may have a different, more reliable version.