Once Upon A Time…

If you live in the world of cookies as I do, then you may know that in three weeks CookieCon 2014 is a coming!  It’s a conference for cookie decorators where we all get together in Salt Lake City and talk cookies.  Ladies and a couple of men come from all over the world for the four days and have a ton of fun, learn a little something and yes, eat cookies.  This will be the second edition of CookieCon and it’ll be bigger and better than the first.

Now just like every conference there is a trade show, key note speakers and goodie bags, however, unlike a regular conference there is also a sugar show.  It’s where those who come to the conference can show off their mad skills.  Two years ago I was only a year or so into my cookie adventure and even though I knew I wouldn’t even come close to winning, I brought a few cookies.  These actually:

Now fast forward a year and half and it’s time to create an entry for this year’s show.  The categories are:

• Spring: It’s that time of year - flowers are blooming!
• Once Upon a Time: Let fairy tales, fables, and stories inspire.
• Home Sweet Home: Where are you from? Represent your hometown, state, or country. What makes your home special?
• Anything Goes: Let your imagination run wild! (Must be G or PG rated!)
• Mystery Shape: The shape will be unveiled and decorated at CookieCon!

I had no idea which one I was going to do until I was watching Beauty and The Beast with my girls last week.  As the movie concluded the final stained glass window appeared and I knew then and there that that was my entry.  Now to figure out how to do it.

I turned to my guru of detailed cookies, Mallory of Butterwinks.  It was time to try something out of my comfort range. I posted my idea and Mallory’s encouragement gave me strength to do it.

I rolled and cut my 10” x 6” cookie, then baked it off.  I printed off the window and then sketched it out using my Kopycake overhead projector.  I got some details but left most of the blocks blank.  This took about 40 minutes.

Time to mix the colours. CRAP, so so so so many. UGH, I hate mixing colours, who’s with me???? Maybe if I painted it I’d get better colours and I wouldn’t have to spend hours mixing and mixing and mixing.  Sold!  I used white royal icing and filled it the sections.  I wanted the cookie to have dimension and also thought it would be easier to paint if I sectioned it off.  I was right by the way :)  This took a little over an hour to do. I then let it dry overnight.

Next morning I started to paint.  I used Americolor gels with vodka.  I picked a colour, put a drop on a plate and then used a little vodka to thin for paint and painted.  By mixing the colours this way I could control the intensity and the shades.  This is where I had the most fun.  It took about an hour and a half to do. I’m sure you can do it faster but since painting doesn’t come naturally, I took my time.

Last up was to mix up black piping icing. You want it thick so it holds up but not so thick your hand falls off when piping.  I used a PME 1.0 tip and almost immediately it clogged and I even ran the icing through a sieve prior to putting into the piping bag.  You all know what I mean.  Now I had heard of putting the icing into a pair of nylons and squishing it through but since it was already in the bag it was an extra step this lazy girl didn’t want to take.  I had one pair and yes they were used but they were clean.  DON’T FREAK OUT, THIS COOKIE WAS NEVER GOING TO BE EATEN.  Always use new/unused nylons for this please.  I cut out a square and placed it over the coupler and then secured the tip.  It was brilliant, never clogged again! The beer in the corner was for when I finished :)

Then with the original window blown up on my iPhone next to me,  I piped out the black lines.  This felt like it took all day but probably took an hour and a half.  My back was an unhappy camper after all this bending.  I spent the rest of the day on the floor :(

But it was so worth it because after it dried it looked like this:

Now next to the original window:

And then the best thing happened.  I posted it to my FB page and my world blew up.  In the next 24 hours it was viewed over 25,000 times, reposted 60 times and the comments made me smile from ear to ear so hard my cheeks hurt.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!  I made this cookie to see if I could and all this amazing love towards it proved to me that I should continue doing what I do.

Now to get it to CookieCon to show it off in person.  I don’t care if it wins anything at this point because due to all of your love, I already won!

So if you are wondering if you should bring a cookie to the show, do it do it do it.  We all have to start somewhere and it’s not everyday that you’ll be in a room with such amazing people who will support everything you do in the world of cookies! I love my family but they don’t get it, especially when you tell them they can’t eat it before it’s had it’s picture taken.  (you know what I mean, hehehe)

Thanks for looking!

Royal Icing–My Do’s & Do Not’s

I get asked a lot what recipe I use for my royal icing.  Well, it’s not a secret.  I use Bridget’s from Bake at 350’s recipe.  At least that’s where I start.  I love it, it works for me. But I do have issues; my Kitchenaid mixer is over 15 years old.  It’s an original professional series that they made for home use and the bowl isn’t completely round at the bottom.  There’s a bump at the bottom and sometimes not all things get incorporated which is bad for royal icing.

So here’s what I do! Just in case there are other’s out there with the “older” mixer in their lives.

Recipe First: all thanks to Bridget!

• 4 tbsp meringue powder
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 lb of icing/powdered sugar
• 2 tsp lemon juice (This is for flavour but the juice will also keep the icing from becoming so hard you break your teeth.  Don’t worry, the icing will stand up to packaging to shipping)
• 2 tsp clear corn syrup

1. In the bowl of your mixer, add the meringue powder and water.  I use Wilton.  I know you either love or hate it, but I’ve never had any issues so that’s what I use.  But feel free to use what ever brand you want.
   
   
2. Take a whisk and completely mix together.  My issue is that the little hump in the middle of my bowl doesn’t allow the mixer whisk to completely mix together.
   
   
3. Then put the bowl on a scale and add 1lb of the powdered sugar.  Whisk again by hand and once incorporated, put onto the mixer with whisk attachment on number two.
   
   
4. Add lemon juice and syrup and whisk for up to 10 minutes.  You can always turn the mixer up but by keeping it on the lower speed, any of the sugar that’s too big will have time to dissolve and you shouldn’t get any clogging issues (Thanks Arty McGoo for that tip!)
   
   
   
   Don’t over whip your icing, it will also ruin your icing.  It will seem fine while piping but will dry looking cratered and grainy.
   
   
5. When the icing can stand up it’s done!
6. It can be stored in an airtight container on the counter for 3-4 days or in the fridge up to two weeks.  It will separate, just stir it up and add a teaspoon of icing/powdered sugar to reactivate before colouring.

Now when it comes to decorating cookies, I tend to use one consistency for outlining and filling and then another for detailing.  I can’t tell you if it’s 10 second icing or 20 second icing.  I just know that as I add water one drop at a time to thin down the icing to fill a cookie and then the icing comes off my spoon in a ribbon and soon loses all it’s shape, then it’s done.  For piping, I just use the stuff right out of the bowl.  With colour it loosens up a bit but not too much.  Just experiment and see what works for you.

It’s not much, but that’s it!!!  Royal Icing doesn’t have to be daunting.  Your first batch may not be perfect  but then neither was mine!  Mum was right, practice makes perfect!

Thanks for looking!

Recent Cookies!!!!

Here are the most recent cookies since my last post.

Little People Farm  - cookie cupcake toppers

For a friend of the girls who broke her arm.

Avenger Minions for my friend’s son who loves the Minions and the Avengers.

Threadcakes at cookies.

Happy birthday for a friend who turned 60 and loves pigs and flowers!

Expecting cookies!

The beginning of the Christmas cookies!

Lots of cookies that are always so much to do.  If interested send me an email!

Thanks for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday–Fun cookies!

Now you would think that my girls get decorated cookies all the time.  Yeah, no :(  Most of the time the cookies I’m making are for someone else and so as much as they beg and beg and beg, they don’t get to have one.

I decided that back to school was a good enough reason to make some decorated cookies for my girls. It’s also Rowan’s first time taking a school bus.  This kid couldn’t be any more excited.

So, I was very excited when my good friend Callye from The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle designed some school type cookie cutters for Karen’s Cookies.  I had to have them and when the little box with the yellow tissue paper arrived I was super excited. 

So I rolled out my dough, mixed up some colours and away I went!  I totally used Callye’s designs :)

When I showed the girls their treats for today, I got some high pitched squeals!  BEST COMPLIMENT EVER!!!

So where to find it all:

Callye’s cookie cutters can be found here: School Bus and Fat Pencil cutters

My sugar cookie recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 2 cups white sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 5 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• teaspoon salt

1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight). 
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4  inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment lined baking pans.
3. Bake for 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

As for my icing, I use Bridget’s at Bake at 350.  Find it here.

So enjoy a cookie every now and again.  They don’t have to be fancy or detailed.  Honestly just bake up some cookies, fill some icing bags with various colours and let your kids decorate their own way.  It truly is a lot of fun!

Thanks for looking!

Treat Day Wednesday - The Easy Peasy Cupcake

Sometimes you want an easy peasy cupcake right?????  My kids and I have gotten on the icing free cupcake kick.  You get a nice treat without OD’ing on icing. But sometimes you want a little extra something something.  So I thought, “how about dipping them in chocolate ganache?” 

BRILLIANT, that’s what I say!  My kids would concur.

So make your favourite cupcake,  make ganache and then if you are feeling crazy you can decorate with royal icing.  I did, but only because I had some already bagged after teaching a friend how to decorate cookies.

I also got a new cake plate, isn’t it pretty???? Love Homegoods!!!

Ganache:

• 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Bring cream to a boil. Careful, this happens a lot faster than you would think.  Keep an eye on it.
2. Drop in chocolate and melt completely.  If too thick add a little cream at a time.
3. It’ll be pretty runny but that’s what you want to dip the cupcakes into.  Just dip the tops, place on rack and let dry.
4. Use royal icing to create designs.  I just made flowers.
5. For the leftover ganache, place in fridge and when it’s completely set up.  Spoon into little balls and roll in powdered sugar.  Voila…chocolate truffles! The added bonus

So simple and so tasty.  A true treat day treat!

Thanks for looking!