For the Love of Cookies

As I promised, in this post I share cookie decorating styles inspired by tutorials online, or ideas I see in places like Pinterest and Instagram.

DESIGN #1
THE FLOWERY HEART

Amber (@sweetambs) showed how to make this flowery cookie during a live Facebook (click here to watch it), and I jumped on it right away. It is a basic wet-on-wet icing. After flooding with a background color (I used white), you pick one or two different colors for flowers and you choice of color for leaves. Those end up as spots without precise edges. The icing is allowed to fully set, and then a fine black pen brings the full design to life.

The bead border I made with white, and later painted it with luster gold + vodka. The steps to make this cookie are shown in the composite photo below.

DESIGN #2
THE COLORFUL HEART

This design was inspired by Marlyn’s recent Facebook live (available here), in which she made amazing “tassle-heart” cookies. I simplified the design quite a bit, and used two of my favorite colors: dusty rose and wedgewood. Then it is just a matter of playing with fine lines and dots, in any way you feel like. Making the hole in the center gives these cookies a totally different look which I like a lot. The process is simple, you flood with two colors, eye-balling the shape. That has to set for a few hours. Then piping consistency icing in wedgewood is used to make the details. The cookies look nice without the extra piping, if you prefer. They have a classic look that way. Or you can add a few dots using wet-on-wet.

DESIGN #3
FILIGREE HEART

I consider this a work in progress, as I did not hit the consistency of the royal icing correctly to do the design. I followed one of Amber’s tutorials, and used her own stencil to guide the piping, but that is one technique that still eludes me. So I intend to get back into this in the near future. The process starts by flooding the cookie and allowing that layer to fully set. Then, the stencil is used to air-brush with a color that will be light enough to get hidden under the piping. I chose gold.

Once I realized how difficult it was to pipe the design, I did a few extra cookies skipping that step, and just allowing the stencil to shine… So consider that if you run into the same issues I did!

DESIGN #4
THE LACE HEART

This was made following a Facebook live from Haniela (available here). I actually used a cookie that had a stencil image underneath, so you can see some golden bits that should not be there, but I wanted to practice this new (to me) method. I will make it again because I love the look.

After piping the design, the opening is painted with a very dilute Royal icing. If you hit the consistency of the piping correctly, this is actually not too difficult. I’d say it looks more complicated than it is, but of course, I still need practice, as my fine lines were just a tad thick.

DESIGN #5
SUGARPRISM PAINTED HEART

This one was made during a Facebook live tutorial by Michelle, and it is my third time joining her FREE classes. I still cannot quite believe I painted that without any projector or transfer of design to the surface of the cookie. She is truly like a magician guiding the hands of those watching. I made one during class and a second one the following day by myself, watching the video again. You can find Michelle on instagram and facebook.

DESIGN #6
MANDALA HEARTS

Not exactly a tutorial, but I’ve seen this type of design on Instagram and Pinterest, and improvised my own. Super simple, you start with a few lines and then use the needle to draw lines in both directions A few little dots close the deal. All wet-in-wet, which is the most forgiving type of sugar cookie decoration.

DESIGN #7
THE MENDED HEART

Another design inspired by many similar ones out in the IG-Pinterest universe. Divide the heart in sections, decorate each any way you want, let that set. Use piping consistency icing to add stitches, and a border. DONE!

I hope you could find some inspiration for your cookies, as Valentine’s Day approaches! I feel that there’s never enough time to cover all the styles that appeal to me, but in a way the heart motif is one that I don’t mind doing regularly throughout the year, so expect to see more…