What Exactly Is Pastillage? Marzipan?

Pastillage is a sugar-based dough that is molded to make edible decorations. The result looks like a cross between frosting and marble. Wedding cake designers add powdered dye to achieve their ideal coloring and use it to shape flowers and leaves.

Marzipan (also known as almond paste) is a sweet, pliable mixture of ground almonds, sugar, and unbeaten egg whites. It can be tinted with food coloring and molded into a variety of forms. Marzipan is useful for molding edible flowers and fruit and can also be made into frosting.

Both pastillage and marzipan can be rolled out into sheets and cut into different shapes.

> See photos of wedding cakes.