Easter - Marshmallow Tulips

Posted on Feb 1st 2016

Marshmallow-Dough Tulips

3/4 cup (from a 7- to 7 1/2-oz jar) marshmallow cream (such as Marshmallow Fluff or Creme)
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting
Red, yellow, blue and green liquid food color
1 1/2-in. egg-shaped cookie cutter

1. Scrape marshmallow cream into a medium bowl. Stir in as much of the 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar as possible, kneading in remaining sugar until a smooth, stiff dough forms. Divide dough into 5 equal portions (1 portion will be used for leaves and stems; each of the other 4 portions makes 2 tulips). Wrap separately in plastic wrap until ready to use.

2. Working with 1 portion at a time, unwrap and place on work surface dusted with confectioners’ sugar. For pink tulips, knead in 2 or 3 drops red food color; for yellow tulips, 2 to 3 drops yellow; for apricot tulips, 3 drops yellow and 1/2 drop red; and for purple tulips, 6 drops red and 4 drops blue. Knead 12 drops green food color into remaining dough for stems and leaves. Wrap airtight.

3. Coat a rimmed baking sheet with confectioners’ sugar. Working with 1 color dough at a time (keep rest wrapped), lightly dust a square of waxed paper with confectioners’ sugar; center dough on top. With a rolling pin, roll dough into a 6-in. circle. Using egg-shaped cutter, cut 12 petals from circle (you’ll need 6 petals per tulip). Gather scraps, knead together and divide in half. Form each into an egg shape for center of tulip. Pinch top of petals to bring to a point.

4. Lightly moisten bottoms of 3 petals with water; press onto egg-shaped center for inner petals. Slightly widen and lengthen 3 more petals by gently pressing with rolling pin. Mark a vein on each by pressing a skewer or back of a knife on one side as shown. Moisten bottoms of petals; press onto inner petals, bending tops back slightly. For purple tulips, proceed as above with 3 inner petals. Snip upper edges of 3 outer petals with scissors or cut with pinking shears. Attach to inner petals as directed. Place tulips on coated baking sheet to dry overnight.

5. Leaves: Proceeding as for tulips, roll green dough into a 6-in. circle. Using a pizza wheel or a small sharp knife, cut 3- to 4-in. sword-shaped leaves. Bend leaves naturally and place on coated baking sheet to dry overnight. Gather scraps; knead together. Wrap; save until needed to make stems when decorating cake.

6. To decorate cake: Divide reserved green dough into 8 pieces. For stems, roll each into 4- to 5-in. ropes. With a dry pastry brush, whisk excess sugar off tulips. Place heads of tulips on cake. Moisten an end of each stem with water; press to base of a tulip. Add leaves, moistening with water to adhere.