Molly admits that her love of marzipan is "never-ending." You can use the sweetened almond paste both as an ingredient in baked goods and as a decorating tool, she explains. "Since I don't have great [decorating] technique, I like using marzipan cutouts," she says. "They're so easy." The paste can get sticky, so Molly suggests dusting it and your work surface with powdered sugar. And if you're new to it, she advises approaching it like it's Play-Doh: "You can use gel or liquid food coloring with it, and just knead it into the marzipan." Look for it on the baking aisle in large supermarkets or in specialty baking stores.
How to Make It
To prepare the donuts, preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 2 (12-cavity) donut pans with cooking spray, and set pans aside.
Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Combine buttermilk, oil, 1/4 cup water, vanilla, 1 teaspoon almond extract, and egg in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture; stir to combine. Fill a piping bag or ziplock bag with batter; if using a ziplock bag, snip a hole in bottom corner. Pipe batter into pans, filling each cavity halfway. (This could get a little messy.)
Bake at 375°F for 12 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted into a donut comes out clean. Cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove donuts from pan; cool completely on a wire rack.
To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, cream, and 1/4 teaspoon almond extract, stirring with a whisk until smooth (add a little water if glaze is too thick). Dip donuts halfway into glaze to coat tops; turn over, and dry on wire rack.
To prepare decorations, knead a few drops of food coloring into marzipan; cut into shapes with small cookie cutters, and place on donuts.