Magic Monkey using Marzipan Tutoroial

Hi there...It's me again and this time I am bringing one of my advanced sculpting techniques used with marzipan to create a magic monkey. To be honest same techniques can be used with sugarpaste and polymer clay as well. Since this is an advanced tutorial I am breaking into 2 parts.

Working with marzipan is a bit challenging but yes worth the pain as it tastes so good and the sugar content is lesser than it would be in sugar paste,it has tiny bits of almonds in it giving a good texture to it.
There are few varieties in marzipan with regards to colour,texture and taste.
The most common one is the almond marzipan, it has 3 variations in it, the cream one that has its colour from the almonds, white marzipan is made with peeled almonds and yellow marzipan with a smooth texture.
Cashew marzipan gives a light cream to white colour and makes a smoother paste,I personally like this one as its kind of nostalgic for me since my granny made few treats and fruits using the cashew marzipan, they had various fillings in them including dry fruits and coconut.
Marzipan recipes include both cooked and uncooked recipes, it can be very crumbly at times and might take longer to dry but adding tylose powder to it can help and improve elasticity and comparatively becomes less brittle, while adding CMC powder helps it dry quicker.White and cream marzipan dries out just like sugar paste but yellow marzipan takes a lot longer to dry, depending on the oil content that is released from the nuts, the smoother the paste more the oil content and thus takes longer to dry but on the other hand the yellow paste blends so well that makes it a lot easier to model, plus due to longer drying hours it can be easier to make faces especially for beginners.
Hazelnut marzipan and chocolate marzipan are great options too.
Adding flavours and extracts can give a lovely taste and awesome smell.
While adding colours make sure what colour you are using as it originally has a cream to yellow shade and colours like blue may change to green or red into orange, in this case airbrushing is a lot easier than blending the colours in.
List of things:
  • Marzipan
  • Airbrush color (Black & Brown)
  • Gold Dust

Tools you need:

  • Rolling pin
  • Cutting wheel
  • Dresden tool
  • Scallop tool
  • Shell tool
  • Mat

Step 1: Blend some tylose powder into the marzipan with a pinch of CMC powder, the proportions will vary depending on what you are making and how firm or elastic you want it, then roll it into a ball to form head.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial

Step 2: Using your thumb press in the middle and make an elongated head shape.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial

Step 3: Slightly pinch from sides to make the mouth.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 3

Step 4: Mark the position of the eyes with the ball tool.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 4

Step 5: Roll a small piece and place on forehead, then blend using a leaf tool.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 5

Step 6: Pinch a small piece out to form the nose and blend well

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 6

Step 7: Make small eyeballs in black

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 7

Step 8: Make small eyelids and place over and under eyes and smooth the edges

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 8

Step 9: Mark some lines on forehead

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 9

Step 10: Using a sharp knife tool make his mouth.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 10

Step 11: Add a tiny triangular piece to form his nose and using a small ball tool make his nostrils.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 11

Step 12: With the help of any blending tool or leaf tool make his lips.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 12

Step 13: From the sharp side of the leaf tool mark some lines over his mouth.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 13

Step 14: Roll an oval piece to form his ears

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 14

Step 15: Using a ball tool fit the ears in position.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 15

Step 16: Again with soft modelling tools or sugar shapers form the lines in the ears.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 16

Step 17: For the legs I have used the white/cream marzipan, and rolled into sausage shape flattening on one end.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 17

Step 18: Cut the fingers starting with the thumb, remember that the monkey fingers are a little longer than the human fingers.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 18

Step 19: Smooth the sides of each finger and mark the nails and some finger lines.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 19

Step 20: Using the sharp side of the leaf tool or any knife do the fur texture on the legs.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 20

Step 21: Do the same on the other leg.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 21

Step 22: For the trousers roll the marzipan into a thin sheet,I have added slightly more tylose powder than I would to improve its elasticity, it would usually be 1 tsp for 100 gms marzipan.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 22

Step 23: Cut a rectangular piece the same length as the leg, use a thread to measure what width or length is required

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 23

Step 24: Cover around the legs and then blend the joint

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 24

Step 25: Now make some creases on the trousers for a realistic look

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 26

Step 26: For the body roll an oval shape and place on top of the legs, use internal support if required,draw a line in the center to show the button line of his shirt.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 26

Step 27: Make few more creases near the crotch line too

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 27

Step 28: Once again roll a thin sheet of marzipan and cut a small strip, press from one side, this is going to be his tie

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 28

Step 29: Pleat one more thin sheet and cut a triangular shape that will fit on top of the tie.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 29

Step 30: Place on the part of the tie that was pressed and push the ends at the back, now glue it on the button line starting from the neck.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 30

Step 31: For his suit, roll a sheet of marzipan and cut a rectangular shape,slightly cut a curved shape on the top

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 31

Step 32: Slit in the center of the bottom of your rectangular piece.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 32

Step 33: Glue it on the back side.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 33

Step 34: For the front of the suit cut two pieces as shown in the picture.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 34

Step 35: Similarly cut two pieces for the waist coat

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 35

Step 36: Cut out one curved part to form a ‘V’ shape

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 36

Step 37: Cut a tiny piece from one side at the base

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 37

Step 38: Make another one for the opposite side. Glue both the pieces on the front as shown in the picture.

Marzipan Monkey Tutorial - Step 38

Step 40: Make tiny buttons and pierce a small hole in each using a small ball tool

Step 41: Now for the front of the suit, glue a small triangular piece on the curved side

Step 42: For the arms, roll a sausage shape.

Step 43: Press from one end.

Step 44: Cut a ‘L’ shape to form the thumb and rest of the hand.

Step 45: Give equidistant cuts for the fingers

Step 46: Smooth from sides of each finger and mark some finger lines.

Step 47: Using the shell tool make the furry/hairy texture on the hands.

Step 48: Cut a rectangular piece for the sleeves, again use a thread to measure the size required

Step 49: Place around the arms and blend the joints.

Step 50: Glue the arms on,use a wire to insert the arms in position and mark some folds and creases.

Step 51: For the magicians hat,roll an elongated piece about 2 inches long

Step 52: Cut all the edges to form a long strip.

Step 53: Roll into a cylinder and glue on the end.

Step 54: Cut a thin long strip to form the rim and glue on the edge of the hat.

Click here to continue to Part 2