HANIELA’S BIRTHDAY SET

You know that I only recommend things I love, I have never accepted products or books to review. Today I want to give the highest possible praise for Haniela’s online course through domestika.com (click here to join). In a series of detailed videos (plus all PDF files available to download and print) she covers all the aspects of cookie decorating, starting from planning the designs to baking the cookies, making Royal icing in all consistencies, and finally decorating a beautiful set to celebrate the Birthday of a special someone… Aren’t they amazing together? Make sure to read the end of my post for final thoughts on this great online class.

I used chocolate dough for all the shapes, and then went to work following her tutorial.

THE BIRTHDAY BALLOONS

First I made the balloons, which were the simplest of all, although they required several colors and a little Royal icing transfer painted gold (that was a lot of fun to make)

I cannot share all the details, since it is a paid class, but let me just show the prep stage of the cookies.

THE GIFT AND THE BIRTHDAY HAT

So many details in those! I used the same two basic pink colors to make a matchy-matchy set. A little bit of fine line piping is needed for the final gilding of the lily.

THE CUPCAKES

Perhaps the cupcake was my favorite of the set! I loved making the transfers for bows and hearts using the templates provided in the class. The sprinkles were simply piped one by one. I think the design is quite adorable!

To complete this set, I made two cookies with the Birthday dates of the two young girls who got them as a gift. I used a cauldron cookie cutter turned on its side. Flooded with white, then added details either using painted fondant pieces and piped Royal icing.

Now a few words about the online class. I believe this would be perfect for someone who has little experience with baking but would like to start. Haniela covers pretty much every aspect of the process, in a way that anyone can follow, even total beginners. How I wish I had access to such source when I embarked on my cookie decorating adventure. I had to go through a lot of stuff on my own and sometimes it was pretty frustrating. Is it also worth it if you are comfortable with cookie decorating? Definitely! The little details, watching exactly how she pipes every component, will fine tune your own skills. I particularly loved learning a bit more about how Haniela started, and evolved in her journey as a cookie decorator. She’s been a fantastic source of inspiration and technical knowledge to me. So, if you like to profit from her expertise or share that with others, follow this link and be ready for some cookie fun!