Monday, February 25, 2013

Tea & Cookies

Continuing with my plan to improve my sugar cookie baking skills in 2013, I spent a few hours Saturday working with royal icing and my piping and flooding techniques. Once upon a time, I would have wanted to make perfect, elaborately-decorated cookies by lesson two, but these days I'm more realistic. If I just got the hang of piping and flooding, I would be happy. I still have much to learn, but for Month Two I am quite pleased! (Again I recommend the book "Cookie Craft," reviewed here.)

It helped immensely that I had already baked the cookies and had them in the freezer before the day's session began. Step one: mixing royal icing into piping consistency and outlining the cookies. That little glob at the bottom is the same thing I do when outlining crafts with Elmer's, so I will work on developing a steadier hand!

The next step was mixing the royal icing into flooding consistency. I flooded my cookie all right, and the first one breached the levee!

Realizing I had gone a little icing crazy on that first effort, I tried a gentler hand, and this little guy turned out much better.

Were they dry yet? I thought so, but those little indentations at right are where I stuck my finger in the wet paint.

I realized I needed to take a side view of the cookies. These were still wet-wet-wet.

But eventually they dried and I piped polka dots on them. Though I think maybe I put too many polka dots. Do these cookies look like they have chickenpox to you? I'm not sure, but I think I'll space out the dots a little more next time. The happy news is that the cookies (including the icing!) are delicious, I enjoyed my cookie decorating session, I learned a few things to improve upon for next time, and hopefully I'm well on my way to becoming a better cookie baker and decorator!

19 comments:

  1. Even with lots of dots, they're adorable!

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  2. Excellent tip to have cookies already made in the freezer. My problem is I don't have a steady hand to outline, yours turned out nicely.
    Icing sure makes a plain cookie into something more elaborate so I should practice too for my Easter cutters.
    Judith

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  3. FUn cookies...I agree that fewer dots might have made a bigger impact. But they are lovely.

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  4. Beautiful! They look good enough to eat... and I could/would eat more than one!

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  5. the part of the process we have excelled in is the last part - the eating part! This is where we hold a "gold metal"!!!

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  6. Fab Angela...perfect for a tea party or just for a pampering tea for two! Clever girl, you are!
    Ruth

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  7. Those are cute cookies and well worth the time and effort!
    Nancy

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  8. Angela! I´m glad that you´re making cookies! :D I love the teapot shape and the dots!

    I made some last easter and loved it!
    I use my dogs as models (I´ll put a link to you see the cookies)
    It was the first time - I know how difficult it is...

    http://bymarcelocarbone.blogspot.it/2012/04/making-easter-sweeties.html

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  9. What a fun project! I took a cookie decorating class in 2008. I think I burned myself out because I made 8 cookie bouquets as centerpieces for one of our church teas - and the bouquets had to be two sided because ladies were seated on both sides of the table. I forget now how many dozens of decorated cookies were required but it was A LOT! I haven't decorated a cookie since! ;-) But I am anxious to use my new teapot cookie cutter that I bought at Home Goods, so maybe I'll get back to it again soon. Hope I remember how! I think yours came out lovely.
    ~ Phyllis

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  10. Please send dozen to >>>
    They are so cute and I bet they taste yummy :)

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  11. Thank you for sharing the idea for cookies and the cookie book. I love the polka dots on the pretty cookies.

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  12. I am impressed! I could enjoy one of your beautiful cookies with a nice cup of tea!

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  13. What's the saying, patience is a virtue? :-) I think you did a great job.

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  14. I also have the "Cookie Craft" book, but I've yet to try my hand at piping & flooding. Your cookies turned out great!

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  15. I once hired a woman to give me a one on one cookie decoration class with the flooding and the dots included. I think you did great! I didn't keep it up, but it is so fun.

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  16. Your cookies look delicious! Love hearing about your process, you have so much patience. Joanie

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  17. These look delicious! Great job! I like all the polka dots!

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