Makes about 22 carrots
Yellow and red gel-paste food coloring
7 ounce marzipan or almond paste
Several springs of dill
Very finely crushed Oreo cookie wafers or other chocolate wafers (optional)
· Sharp knife
· One tray or sheet pan
· Small bowl
· Paper towel
· Plastic or finished wood cutting board
· Teaspoon
· Pastry Brush
· Skewer or toothpick
1. Add 3 drops of red and about 4 drops of yellow gel paste to the marzipan. Knead to incorporate. Add more dye as needed to achieve carrot orange. Don’t over knead; you want some swirls of color to remain in the marzipan.
2. On the cutting board, shape marzipan into teaspoon-sized balls. With the balls sitting on the cutting board, gently roll each ball to make a two inch long log. Then, taper the end of the log with your index finger. With a sharp knife, cut random shallow indentions into the carrots, to add texture. With a skewer, make a 1/3 inch hole down the center of the thick end of the carrot. Take care, not to go too far into each carrot. Store carrots for up to one month in fridge.
3. When ready to serve, crush the Oreo cookie wafers into a fine dust. Gently roll carrots in small bowl filled with the dust. Using the pastry brush (if using), dust off excess crumbs. Cut dill into small stem-like pieces. Place dill stem into the hole of each carrot. Repeat.