Go easy on yourself in Visual Studio .NET

Creator Code 128 Code Set A in Visual Studio .NET Go easy on yourself

Don t add to your cake decorating work by using nuts that have to be cracked, skinned, shelled, or otherwise prepared Find ones that are ready to place on your cake or that need only to be chopped When you have to spend time roasting and rubbing skins off hazelnuts, for example, your prep time increases, taking away from the time you have to decorate

Marzipan is an almond paste that you can use to cover entire cakes, but generally, it s more commonly formed into embellishments and decorations I love working with marzipan: I find it fun, rewarding, and even therapeutic to mold it into all sorts of fascinating shapes and decorations Made from ground almonds, marzipan also has a great taste It s an embellishment cake eaters enjoy diving into You can make your own marzipan, but it s readily available at most grocery stores on the baking aisle (It s usually sold in 7-ounce tubes)

This recipe for homemade marzipan requires you to get your hands dirty, so roll up your sleeves Plus, if you like, you can get kids to join in on the marzipan merriment Preparation time: 15 minutes Yield: 2 pounds

1 In a large bowl, use your fingers to break up the almond paste into small chunks 2 In a separate bowl, sift the confectioners sugar; set aside 3 4 cup for use when kneading

3 Stir the almond paste into the sugar, and make a well in the center of the mixture 4 In a small bowl, combine the egg white and almond extract; pour into the well in the

out the almond mixture Knead the mixture, adding more sugar as needed to prevent sticking, until the marzipan is smooth and pliable

With just a few drops of a coloring gel or paste, it s easy to tint the neutral color of marzipan The best way to color marzipan s neutral shade is to break off a chunk of marzipan to work with, dip a clean toothpick into your coloring gel or paste, and poke the toothpick into the marzipan Roll the marzipan between your fingertips and against your palm, kneading it to evenly distribute the color When kneading color into marzipan, spread a little vegetable shortening on your fingertips if you find that the marzipan is sticking to your fingers too much Easy ways to decorate with colored marzipan (or uncolored, for that matter), are rolling it into balls (all the same size, or different sizes for interest) or flattening it out and cutting out different shapes To cut shapes from marzipan, use a nonstick rolling pin on a clean work surface and roll the marzipan out to a thickness of 1 8 inch Press cookie cutters into the marzipan just as you would into cookie dough If the cookie cutters stick to the marzipan, rub their insides with a little vegetable oil In a sense,

marzipan is much like cookie dough in that you can make the most out of it by gathering the scraps and rolling them out over and over

After you play around with marzipan a bit and become comfortable with its texture, working with it becomes increasingly easier Marzipan is particularly easy to sculpt because it s soft enough to shape and pieces of it stick together very easily You can sculpt many shapes and figures simply with your fingers My favorite and probably the most common are marzipan fruits and vegetables But once you have the hang of it, no shape is off-limits! I ve seen marzipan Easter eggs, Halloween ghosts, Christmas stockings, and even golf balls and gift-wrapped boxes One of my favorite marzipan creations is an avocado! When you start modeling marzipan, have the actual object you re trying to recreate in front of you (or a picture of it, if you can t get your hands on the real thing) For example, if you want to make a marzipan strawberry, have a real strawberry in front of you to refer to and examine as you work Your effort will be so much better for it! Although you undoubtedly know what an orange or pumpkin or rose looks like, you ll look at it differently when you have to recreate it through food sculpting Several tools can help you in your marzipan modeling What you use really depends on how fancy, intricate, or detailed you want your creations to be, but here are some of the most basic tools: Coloring pastes or gels Deviled egg plate: Use it as your palette if you re working with several different colors Nonstick rolling pin Metal (preferably) or plastic cutters in round or leaf shapes Veining tool: Has curved, sharp ends that allow you to both sculpt and craft detail work on an object s surface Umbrella tool: Has a rocket tail shaped point to make lifelike impressions at the top of certain fruits and vegetables, like where leaves would come out of an apple, for example Craft knife: Scores the surface of vegetable shapes Small grater: Leaves fine imprints on the surface of a shape