Secrets of Mozart's Café Marzipan Pigs

Doris Saha likens marzipan to edible Play-Doh. It can be molded into just about anything, evident by Mozart's new marzipan display of brightly colored woodland creatures, fruit caricatures and good luck pigs. "In Europe, it's a tradition to give pigs as good luck for New Year's," Saha says. "Over here, it's a new thing." mozartscafe.com

The craft: Saha learned to make and mold marzipan in her native Austria. "If you're lucky, the place that you apprentice will let you [work with it]," she says.

No fridge: Whatever you do, don't stick these pigs in the refrigerator, Saha warns. The humid environment is too wet.

Time is money: Sculpting these little pigs out of marzipan takes time-and it's the driving reason why a collection of three costs $18.

The trickiest part? The eyes. "It's the smallest thing on the figure, but it really makes a big difference," she says. Place them wrong, and the creature will look strange.

Shine on: To keep the moisture in, Saha sprays a healthy coat of cocoa butter after airbrushing on color.