Summer

SUMMER COOKIE CUTTER FLIP

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Cookie decorators love “the flip”: using a cookie cutter for a design unrelated to its original purpose. In this case, Marlyn used a three-tier cake cutter to make an adorable sea scene with a Mermaid’s Tail. I followed her steps and then made my own version modifying it slightly to incorporate a dolphin. This cookie composition is not at all complicated, but you do need to do it in stages.

Her tutorial is available on Facebook with a click here.

I simplified a few things, like the mermaid’s tail, so that I could make that in one single sitting. But I advise you to watch the way she did it, because it results in a more delicate design.

Below some of the steps to make the dolphin. I just found an image in the internet and drew it on a piece of paper, then used that to draw the design on the surface with the cookie with a black food pen. Black in piping consistency for the outline, then gray to flood. Details added with a pen once the gray layer was fully set. I finished the body with some touches of silver luster powder just for a little extra bling. And did the same for the mermaid’s tail, using gold and pink luster.

I love the concept of flipping a cookie cutter, and this one is a nice way to extend Summer a little further… I am all for that!

ONE YEAR AGO: Royal Icing Etching

THE MANY FACES OF WHITE

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Every weekend I like to work on a special cookie decorating project, either to learn a new technique or to practice something I still feel insecure about. But I also like to have a set of cookies waiting without any specific design in mind. My favorite approach is to just pick some simple shapes (squares, ovals, circles) and flood them with white or a very light pastel tone Royal Icing. Next day they are ready to be decorated. The possibilities are pretty much endless. Today I share a series of cookies in which the starting point was a simple white background.

DESIGN #1
STRIPES & DETAILS

Maybe my favorite of this series… I used food safe pens to paint a series of bands of color, then used piping consistency icing to add little details. Super basic. Inspiration came from painted rocks, if you go on Instagram or Pinterest you can find a ton of designs to inspire you.

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DESIGN #2
STRIPES & FONDANT ACCENTS

A lot simpler to do because the stripes don’t need to be precisely separated, I just used luster powder in 4 different colors to paint the background. Fondant shells in gold complete the look.

Even simpler, stripes can be added with a fan type brush, just touches of gold coupled with a modern fondant flower (made with this mold)

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DESIGN #3
MINI-PROJECTOR

So many images available in the internet or in coloring books, just google something, grab your projector and go to work… Lately, I’ve been a little focused on a certain breed of dog… The one below was painted with food safe pens and the bubbles added with piping consistency Royal icing.

The two images below were “borrowed” from one of my favorite pages in Instagram, Jillfcsrocks. And no worries, she is aware that I get her images on my cookies… She is also a cookie-maker! They were painted with Sugarprism.

Another cookie painted with Sugarprism, this one demanded a little more time, but I had fun letting my inner Van Gogh coming out (cough, cough).

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DESIGN #4
STENCILS

Probably the easiest, most efficient way to decorate a cookie, coupling stencils with the air-brush. My main advice is to invest on a screen (like this one) to get really sharp edges on the design. That is not too important in busy patterns such as the black random spots, but it will help other types of drawings like the paw prints and the dragon. Are you watching House of Dragons? Fun show…

Stencils can also be joined with piping in white and then painted. Probably the most involved decorating method of all the examples in this post. When you couple it with painting (in this case, Sugarprism), it is a very nice way to get a more realistic image. Big thank you for Marlyn from @montrealconfections for helping me with the design of this stencil.

ONE YEAR AGO: Heart of Honey Pizza Box Cookie

SUMMER GIRLS

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Sometimes I decide to throw caution to the wind and try something way out of my comfort zone. Remember the gnomes I made recently? This set of cookies were also designed by Shirlyn, and they pushed me to the limit of my abilities. For sure. Character cookies are not easy, and the only way I could attempt those was following the very detailed instructions in her tutorial. If you compare my cookies to hers, you will realize I have a long ways to go, but every marathon starts with the first mile. So here I am to share my first attempt at these cute cookies, perfect to celebrate all things Summer.

I am thrilled with my girls, because I never imagined being able to even attempt this type of cookie a year or so ago. It was not that easy, I have to admit. My Royal icing was a little too thick, the colors a tad too strong. But I’ve learned quite a few things, and at some point intend to repeat them, trying to keep in mind the level of finesse that Shirlyn achieves.

A mini-projector is a huge help to transfer the image onto the cookie, but there are ways to do it without it, using paper, as demonstrated by my tent-baker friend Tanya (click here)

Below, a few of the steps in this cookie decorating marathon that involved 10 colors of icing…

You might notice (bottom right picture) that my icing consistency was not perfect. I think the lesson to learn is that even if it seems pretty painful to stop and adjust it, in the end it will be worth it. Shirlyn suggested opening the bag, spraying a little water, and massaging it to distribute. That makes it possible to thin it without having to go through the trouble of un-bagging, and wasting a lot of icing in the process. I intend to try it next time.

By the end of the first day, the cookies will be all fully piped with the design, and next day you will have a great painting adventure waiting for you!

I kept thinking that selling cookies like these would be pretty much impossible because they are very labor-intensive and unless you are a famous cookie-artist with a million followers in Instagram, no one would be willing to pay for the amount of work that goes into each one. But since I make them and give them away, this is not an issue. I am just happy thinking that maybe a little girl got the cookies and that they made her smile…

If you are interested in online tutorials by Shirlyn, jump to her Instagram page and stay tuned for her upcoming lessons. And you can still sign up for any lesson she has available right now, including the Flamingo-Gnome and the Summer Girls. I love her style of teaching, and also appreciate that she tells you how to get better, what to focus on next time.

ONE YEAR AGO: Jurassic Park Pizza Cookie Box

MARLYN’S INSPIRATION FOR AUGUST

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If you follow this little virtual spot of mine, you’ve heard that Marlyn proposes little homework challenges each month. For August, her suggestion was to use Royal icing to generate texture on a cookie. I had just made her 3D underwater scene (my previous post) and loved so much the method to make fish scales using a petal piping tip, that I wanted to practice a bit more. So here are two versions of a pretty colorful fish, using a cookie cutter I love, as its shape is unusual, I’d say funky and modern. Available here.

This is really a very simple cookie to decorate, but might give the impression it is labor-intensive. The steps are shown in the composite picture below…

Do a little sketch to help you separate head from body as you pipe the scales. Add them with Royal icing and a 102 tip, it will crust quickly since it is a thicker consistency. Use flooding consistency of the same color to add the head and tail – or if you prefer to do the purple style of the tail, just continue piping with the petal tip. Add a PME black pearl for the eye. Let that crust and add a little fine line defining the division between head and body. That step is optional but it makes for a more polished cookie. Now let it all set, and have fun painting. I used several colors of luster powder with vodka. A little smile with a food pen, and you are SET! Let them swim freely…

ONE YEAR AGO: Mr. Seahorse and his friends

MARLYN’S UNDER THE SEA 3D COMPOSITION

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I am totally smitten by this set designed by Marlyn, using several different techniques in cookie decorating. A very detailed tutorial is available for her supporters through Patreon (click here). I cut the background cookie and the fish tail by hand (templates provided by Marlyn) so that they would fit perfectly together, but you can definitely search your cookie cutters and come up with slightly different variations. On a side note, I usually have no idea who gets my cookies, but this set was an exception (read on).

I opted for my default chocolate cookie recipe (you can find it on my food blog clicking here), and used mini cookie cutters from this set from Sugarbelle. The rock at the bottom was made with a flower cutter cut in half. Marlyn used a cloud-shaped cutter.

Here are all the pieces baked and iced, waiting for assembling… Some pieces I made extra just in case something bad happened, and also for practice.

So many techniques: the rock texture made with parchment paper, the fish tail with a small petal tip, and a lot of painting with the air-brush. For the first time I thought I managed to direct the air-brush gun with more precision. For instance the little fish’s mouth, tail and fin were air-brushed in orange without messing up the rest of the body. Yes, there was some hyperventilation associated with the process…

This was really fun to put together, and the icing on the cake is that these cookies were donated for a homeless family of four that has been struggling quite a bit. It made me happy to learn that maybe this little 3D scene could give them a reason to smile.

ONE YEAR AGO: Mr. Seahorse and his friends

DON’T CALL THE GNOME POLICE!

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Is there such a thing? Could I be in serious blogging trouble for publishing two gnome posts in a row? Let’s hope not, because today I want you to meet Pippin, The Gnome. Design and tutorial by Amy from Seriously Sweet on Davis St (click here for her IG page).

This was part of a “simple” online class taught by Amy… I say “simple” because there were only two cookies, and not much preparation required for class. We only had to make a few fondant pieces and paint them, nothing else. In fact, Amy told us we could do them early in the morning as the class was around 4pm. A few colors of Royal icing – not that many – and some in very small amounts. A real “no big deal” event, right? Right? Well, let me tell you, I went into a few cycles of hyperventilation during the adventure. Have you noticed Pippin is showing his feet and hands? It turns out that we were asked to pipe his fingers and toes. Please be kind and don’t go carefully checking how many fingers in each hand. Pippin has a genetic condition, but it is a minor thing and he lives a happy and fulfilled life.

So here is our countertop right before class started, all pieces of fondant painted, cookies baked, and Royal icing colors ready in bags.

It all starts by drawing the overall placement of all the cookie’s features. Then the hat is made with pieces of fondant (I used modeling chocolate instead), rolled into small ribbons and then sculpted with a clay tool. Amy had a pretty clever way to make the very top, but I could not quite do it like she demonstrated…

By far the trickiest part was piping the fingers and toes, all made in stages so they would not all glue together. Pippin is not a frog, so please, no webbed feet. I loved the detail of Pippin’s nose, which is made with a tiny shell painted gold.

The second cookie of the set was a sandcastle, quite a bit simpler. We did the whole thing during class, speeding things up with a dehydrator. That cookie would probably go well in a beginner’s class, whereas I consider the gnome as advanced. Too many things can go wrong.

Painting the hat was left for the following day so that the fondant(or modeling chocolate) was fully set. We used dry dusting with many shades of luster powder, super fun!

The level of detail in this project was something! I don’t know now Amy can think of so many little bells and whistles to add to her productions, but I am glad she does, and also explains so well how we can do the same. The shading done to turn the feet a little dirty was brilliant!

I close this post with all the cookies I made that afternoon, which had a beach-summer feel…

Amy, thank you one more time for yet another great adventure,
you always push my limits, and I LOVE IT!

ONE YEAR AGO: Hungarian Folk Art Cookies

SHIRLYN’S FLAMINGO GNOME FUN

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A couple of weeks ago I took a very deep breath and joined an online cookie decorating class that seemed way WAY out of my skill level. Let me just show you the kind of cookies this amazing artist does, by sharing her Instagram page. Still, I decided that if I don’t push my limits, I might be missing something. I won’t lie to you, this was hard on many levels, but once I saw these cookies staring at me, I could not stop smiling…

The class involved two videos, each one 3 hours long. Yes, big investment of time but you get to see Shirlyn making every single step (except of course baking the cookies), in a super detailed way. On day one you’ll make all the Royal icing transfers, and the basic icing of the cookies. Day two is devoted to painting and assembling everything. So many different techniques! She is big on shading, which is a method of painting using diluted gel colors and an almost dry brush to spread it. Sugarprism will also work, but this time I stuck with the gels. By joining the class you get a ton of materials, including all recipes for dough and icing, plus all the templates for Royal icing transfers. Also access to basic videos demonstrating specific techniques of general interest for cookie decorating. You can of course use your own recipes if you prefer, which is what I did. Below, some of the steps involved in making the cookies. I watched the videos and made the cookies a couple of days later, it would be too hard for me to try to decorate in real time with Shirlyn.

On the end of the first day, I had the four cookies iced, and the Royal icing transfers made and painted (I made them early in the morning and could paint them in the evening). Once that was all done, the following day was devoted to adding all bells and whistles. It is truly amazing how shading will bring life to any design…

The coconut cookie was actually one of the trickiest for me. It is a simple design but the details are not easy to do. A lot of room for improvement in that one… But for a first time, I am happy with it. I intend to re-visit all these cookies in the future.

If you would like to learn of future online classes by Shirlyn, visit her website and subscribe to her feed. I will definitely be joining her again, she is super sweet and incredibly talented. And has the patience of a saint to answer questions…

ONE YEAR AGO: For the Love of Flamingos

EMBROIDERY SUNFLOWER COOKIES

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I am beyond excited about these cookies! Huge thank you to Haniela for her very detailed tutorial on Patreon – this one available only for her supporters. If you are serious about cookie decorating, consider joining that crowd. Totally worth it. Many techniques were involved, and you need to be able to work with fine lines, the finer the better to get the best effect of embroidery. They are a bit labor intensive, but the whole process is a lot of fun.

Haniela put a lot of thought into the design. The base is made to mimic an embroidery frame, and you do that by etching lines on a fully set flooded cookie. I am not going to share all the details, as this is part of a paid tutorial, so below I show some steps of the process. Her video is very helpful and explains every single step.

She also provides a template for the flower design, to make it even easier to bring this cookie to life.

I should have made the fine lines a little more delicate, but my piping consistency was just a little off. Still, they ended with a slightly more “rustic” appearance. No major harm done.

The same technique will work for many different shapes and colors, so keep that in mind if you want to give it a try.

ONE YEAR AGO: Amy’s Pineapple Cookies

SUMMERTIME, DECORATING IS EASY…

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Today I share a series of cookies inspired by my favorite season… I suggest you invest in two great colors: Americolor Watermelon, and ProGel Strawberry. You can approximate those tones making some magic with reds, pinks, corals, but I love those shades straight from the bottle. I used them to make all the cookies in this set. Greens were all from Americolor. Without further ado, here is my trio of Summer cookie fun.

DESIGN #1 – WATERMELON LOVE

I used one of my favorite shapes, the candy corn, to make 8 little watermelon slices, and a round cookie for the watermelon face. Super simple, wet-on-wet, and after setting, black icing in piping consistency was used to make the little seeds, as well as the smile and eyes.

Below some of the steps to make what I call the “Watermelon Flower”

The popsicles are even simpler to make… I started by painting the wooden handle with copper luster powder (Bakell Metallic Maroon). Then a very simple three-color piping to bring the design to life. And the mandatory seeds. Of course.

DESIGN #2 – ICE CREAM CONE

Some components of this design were inspired by Marlyn, from Montreal Confections, but I added some of my own little twists, particularly in the cone. I used my favorite little fondant baller tool to generate some texture. The vibrant color is ProGel Strawberry.

The final decorations were thick consistency white-strawberry icing for the swirl, plus sprinkles and a tiny M&M.

DESIGN #3 – STRAWBERRY LOVE

There was a little saga behind these cookies. I’ve done pineapples with a “quilt” look before, but for the strawberry, there were quite a few more little sections. They must be piped in stages, so that only regions that do not touch are piped at the same time. That meant a looong time to finish the six cookies…

Full disclosure: I had 10 strawberry-shaped cookies baked. After six were piped, I was fit to be tied, so simpler designs materialized instead… Like a solid flooding, and a Sugarprism painted alternative, perfect for those who prefer a more austere cookie, as far as icing is concerned.


You could even skip the painting for a pretty modern, unusual look…

But if you have the time and patience, consider going the extra mile and making the quilt look. Adding tiny sprinkles is also time-consuming, so in some I piped tiny dots of black Royal icing instead. For bling, you can also paint the surface with some pink luster powder.

I hope you liked these ideas to celebrate Summer with a cookie platter... A little piping with green on the tops is optional, but I liked the way it made the whole design more vibrant.

ONE YEAR AGO: Puppy Love

SUNNY SUMMER DAYS

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Here I am to share the outcome of yet another super fun online class taught by Amy, from Seriously Sweet on Davis St. If you like color, if you like all things Summer, this set will have your name written all over it…

To join Amy’s Facebook group and be on top of future online classes, click here.

I have to confess that joining the class was a bit of a stretch for me. We had a ton of commitments that weekend and the days leading up to it, so my prep work was rushed and I miscalculated the amount of icing needed. That led to running out of it during class, then to make everything even more exciting a very messy bag explosion! Still, I am calling this set the Miracle Cookies, because somehow I was able to make them all, with some adaptations due to the universe conspiring against me.

Here are some steps of the prep work and class…

Let me now go over each of the cookies and what was involved…

Perhaps my favorite, definitely Phil’s favorite, the Bashful Happy Sun! I did not do a good job piping the edges, but I still love it… We used two different consistencies for the Royal icing, and the hibiscus details was made as a Royal icing transfer using templates provided by Amy. I love the eye detail and the delicate blushing face…

The pineapple was Phil’s second favorite, and maybe mine also. This cookie took a tragic turn when I made a mistake and added a huge blob of green dye to its left side. I thought it was the end of its life, but I squirted vodka all over it, rubbed it with a paper towel and somehow managed to save it. It almost felt as if I was in a tent trying to avoid elimination (which, trust me, is not always possible).

The flower… Thick Royal icing in two colors were used to make it. I used a 104 piping tip for the petals and a medium-size leaf tip for the greenery. Some gold luster powder with vodka gave the cookie the necessary bling.

I adore the little flamingo with the flowers on the head… and the sleepy eye… I colored the Royal icing with a powder from The Sugar Art called Sassy Pink. It is super powerful and maybe I used a bit of a heavy hand with it. So my flamingo is not a shy bird. She is out there, super confident, fearless like a Jack Russell!

I loved this class, even though I had to quit part way into it, and finish the cookies later that night. I love the sun cookie so much, I had to do a few more next day, because I wanted to get the margins better.

Techniques learned in this class: textured icing using wrinkled parchment paper, dry dusting and painting on Royal icing, piping sections for the pineapple, making flowers for decorations, piping petals with a custom-modified 104 tip, piping greenery.

Amy, thank you for another great cookie adventure! I am ready for more, whenever you are….

ONE YEAR AGO: For the Love of Audrey