Easy Steps for Making an Adorable Marzipan Ducky With Kids
“Rubber ducky, you’re the one…”
This song, from the Muppets, made the rubber ducky famous. Today, the rubber duck adorns nearly every child’s household.
These small, squeaky toys reach a multitude of countries around the world. For kids, it may be what they remember most about childhood bath times. As adults, when we see a rubber duck, we think of childhood memories, and our own children having fun splashing around in the bath.
The sound of a rubber duck cannot be mistaken. Many people do not know the true origin of the rubber duck, but some think that it was invented along with discovery of rubber.
As a symbol of youth and childhood, ducks make fun and easy cake decorations for kids to make. Made with marzipan, these little ducks make great candy gifts as well as adorable cake and cupcake toppings. Welcome the birth of a new child to the family, or simply enjoy these delicious ducks as a weekend treat.
To make a marzipan ducky:
Step 1: Cover your work surface with waxed paper.
Step 2: With yellow marzipan, form a 3-D teardrop shape with your dough. Turn the point upward as the duck’s tail, toward the sky.
Step 3: With yellow marzipan, form a ball. Place the ball on top of the duck’s body to form the duck’s head.
Step 4: Use orange marzipan. Create a rectangle with the dough that is thicker on one side than the other to form the beak. Attach the beak to the face of the duck, at the side that is thick.
Step 5: For the eyes you have two options. The first is to use black marzipan, roll into balls, flatten, and place above the beak as eyes.
The second is to use gum paste as the white portion of the eyes. To do this, roll out a ball of gum paste, flatten, and place above the beak. Then, use black marzipan to form the pupils by rolling out small black marzipan balls, flattening them, and placing them over the gum paste.
Bear in mind that gum paste-although non-toxic-is not recommended for eating. The flavor is not favorable, and if you ate too much of it, you would likely not feel very well.
If you plan on eating your marzipan duck, or if you plan on giving little ducks as gifts, I highly recommend going with the 100% marzipan approach.
Kids can make this duck easily, and they look great on cakes or cupcakes. Have a blast making them!
