Heart cookies

MOLDED COOKIES

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A small collection of cookies from the past few weeks, all using molds, either made of wood or silicone. Most of them I’ve had for a very long time, but you can find a lot available at etsy.com. Just search for fondant or cookie molds, or springerle molds and grab what screams your name. The advantage of molded cookies is that they need no icing. Painting is also optional but how can I avoid so much fun?

FLORALS

Normally I use this type of molds for Springerle cookies, but this time I just made sugar cookies flavored with hazelnut and orange. They were painted with luster powder + vodka.

BEE IN LOVE

These were painted with Sugarprism and the details of the hive painted with gold. Some steps shown below…

ELEPHANT LOVE

I just adore this mold (from Gingerhaus), a bit hard to find, it is now unavailable again. I had been flirting with it for the longest time, checking the store at etsy, until one day I got lucky and there were a couple for sale. It works well with any type of cookie, in this case I used strawberry flavored cookie dough with a touch of red dye. Details with luster gold and a spray with PME pearl. But even plain they are quite adorable, in my opinion.

I HEART YOU


Chocolate Dough + luster powders &vodka. Mold available here.



Super simple, just a brush with gold over naked chocolate cookies.

Silicone molds sold for fondant, but also work well to mold cookies, if your recipe is firm enough ad has no leavening agent, as the mold haste many details.

SPRINGERLE STYLE

Molds are a lot of fun to play with, and make decorating so easy. Even plain the cookies will look great.
I hope you could find some inspiration in this post.

ONE YEAR AGO: Four Little Chicks

MY FIRST COOKIE DECORATING CLASS

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I was contacted a couple of months ago to offer a cookie decorating class at the Senior Center in town, on February 13th, the day before Valentine’s. After a lot of hyperventilation, monologues around the house, intense arguments with myself, I said yes… So here I am to share with you my plans for this adventure. Below, the designs I’ve settled on to demonstrate and have them do on their own.

Now let me go over the decision-making process… First thing that I had in mind was making it easier to get a polished look by adding a border with sprinkles. One of the tricky aspects of flooding a cookie when you are just starting is having a nice edge. By adding sprinkles this problem is for the most part solved. I tested sanding sugar as well as sprinkles, but to keep it simple in class, I might go with only one option. The sprinkles I used for my first test below are not the right colors, but it’s what I had at the time in my treasure chest. Later I ordered the mandatory white, pink and red.

Also with the idea of simplifying, every design will be made with only three icing colors: white, red and pink… They will be divided in groups, perhaps six different groups, so three bags per group is already quite a lot of work to prepare, especially considering I am a total rookie at this teaching thing… Well, teaching Biochemistry is a completely different adventure!

Finally, the designs will all be wet-on-wet because it is the simplest, most forgiving way to decorate. No need to master fine lines, no need for a dehydrator to speed up setting of a base layer. Even designs that seem complicated are in fact quite simple to do.


I hope they will enjoy what I planned, and of course, feel free to change the colors or placement of details.

One particular design will be finished with a fondant rose, I will make several in advance and take them with me…

That will teach them the marbling technique. All other designs rely on piping + pulling the color with a needle.

As this post gets published, I will have 42 heart-shaped cookies baked and ready for class. On the day of, early in the morning, I will make and bag all the colors, check my list of supplies to take (sprinkles, fondant roses, paper towels, paper plates, and other small things), and hope for the best!

Cross your fingers for me, will you?

ONE YEAR AGO: For the Love of Hearts

YODA ONE FOR ME

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You want to talk about cute? This breaks the Cuteness Scale by the longest shot… I remember when I first saw Marlyn demonstrate the making of this cookie, and it seemed totally out of my skill level. It makes me happy that I could do it now, although I will spare you of the list of self-criticism that it generated. It is hard to get all the details right, but at least I am happy with the outcome.

To watch Marlyn demonstrate all the basic steps for this cookie, click here. Make sure you use a very large heart-shaped cutter because the more space you have, the easier to decorate. I love everything about this cookie, starting with the sprinkle border, and ending with the written message. You cannot get any better! Of course, making a dozen of these would be quite time-consuming, but they would be perfect to include as a special item in a Valentine’s cookie box containing smaller, simpler cookies. Or to gift to that very special person in your life. Below, some of the steps…

You can make the arm, leg and face by piping on the cookie itself, once the base is fully set, but using Royal icing transfers is actually a lot easier and safer, as you can pipe several more and choose the best ones to use. Marlyn pipes the text and the facial features, but I was too terrified to do that, so I used food safe pens. Your kitchen, your rules, do whatever feels right to you.

I am totally smitten by my little Yoda!

ONE YEAR AGO: For the Love of Hearts

VALENTINE’S COOKIES BY TUNDE DUGANTSI

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For Tunde’s Cookie Club information, click here

If you are familiar with Tunde’s work, you know her cookies are the essence of elegance. They often rely on piping fine detail lines, so if you are beginning your cookie decorating adventures, they might be a bit tricky to get right. Still, the overall design will work without those details, in case you feel intimidated but still want to give them a try. It took me a long time to face the challenge of fine line piping, and there is still a lot of room for improvement, but at least I am a bit more confident now. This online tutorial had a set of six cookies, some large and some small. I honestly cannot pick a favorite, I love them all, but the three below could share the first prize…

To make the set of six cookies we needed Royal icing in red, two shades of pink and white. White icing was prepared in two consistencies, flood and piping for fine lines. I cannot share specific details as the tutorials are for members of her online club, but if you would like to join and have access to all past and future tutorials click here. Some of the steps are included in the composite picture below.

Tunde makes the whole process very efficient, as you work on the cookies sequentially, allowing a few areas to dry as you work on another cookie. The central details can be made as a Royal icing transfer or fondant. I opted for fondant, because I prefer the look of the rose when formed in a mold rather than piped. And it is such a small amount that even if someone does not care for the taste of fondant, it won’t ruin the cookie.

All cookies benefit from a beaded border. The more I decorate cookies, the more I enjoy the beaded border because they make the design quite a bit more polished. It does take a little practice to get not only the right consistency in the icing but also the size of the opening and the movement of the hand. A cookie turntable makes the process easier, and I recently bought a turntable I like a lot. Click here for details.

I had two extra cookies baked and decided to attempt my own design in two of them. First wet-on-wet… A yin-yang Valentine…

The second cookie I flooded in red and next day used a stencil and black air-brushing…

I still have a few Valentine’s designs waiting to be shared in this little blog of mine, so stay tuned!
Tunde, thank you for another great series, as usual I learn a ton from you!

ONE YEAR AGO: Following my Heart

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE

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This one is for all the Game of Thrones fans out there… I am channeling Amber from @sweetambs to bring you heart-shaped cookies that are total opposites, a kind of yin and yang design.

To join her site and have access to her huge collection of tutorials, click here

Starting with a frosty heart…

This is a fun wet-on-wet method, demonstrated by Amber in her recent tutorial. The frosty aspect is intensified by dabbing white luster paint around the edges. I did not have the exact product she used, so mine ended up a little too rough, but I don’t think it compromised the effect. Amber goes the extra mile by painting tiny snow flakes by hand once the icing is fully set, but I omitted that step. Below, some of the stages to bring this cookie to life…

This type of design is perfect to prove that with only TWO colors you can still do a lot… cannot beat the simplicity of wet-on-wet. Come to think of it, even if you did not pull the dots to make the snowflake, the cookie would look pretty cute with just dots, as modern flowers. I joined them with simple pink hearts decorated with a pearly white beaded border.

And now for something completely different, the Yin of my Yang…

Aren’t those super cool? Amber truly set the hearts on fire with them… The design is simple, but I have to say that getting the flames with a realistic shape is a little tricky. I failed at my first attempt and that cookie had to be sacrificed to the Cookie Gods. You will need black (or dark gray), orange, yellow and red. Some steps of the cookie decorating are shown below.

The cookie below was a little “happy accident” that happened because I ran out of black icing…

They formed a nice fiery team…

I hope you enjoyed this “opposites attract” series. Once again, my advice is to use a large cookie to play with wet-and-wet designs. It makes life easier, and especially for the Frosty Hearts, you’ll have more room to play.

ONE YEAR AGO: Of Gnomes and Unicorns

RUFFLED HEARTS

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To watch Marlyn’s tutorial on youtube, click here

This design is perfect to practice different skills using Royal icing, and that was Marlyn’s goal when she came up with it. I suggest that you use a large cookie because it will make the whole process a lot easier, more space, more freedom to move the icing tip around. I used the largest heart-shape cutter from the 101 Wilton Set. Come to think of it, you don’t even need to add all the bells and whistles. The design looks pretty nice even in the initial stages. I loved making them!

At first glance, you might think that this would be a two-day cookie adventure, but it is not. There is no need to wait for each layer to dry for more than 30 minutes, or even less if you own a dehydrator. So a few of these can be made in a little over one hour, start to finish.

I strongly advise that you watch Marlyn’s tutorial because she shows the whole process in detail. The diagonal lines are very effective, but if you prefer to avoid piping them, you can add white dots to the center (wet-on-wet), and that will look cute also, simplifying the piping. Adding the two final edges of ruffles hides any imperfection in the joining of the fine lines with the edge, so the cookie will look very polished. I added a little diamond dust in the end because I cannot skip the opportunity for bling. You know how I roll… 😉

ONE YEAR AGO: Diwali-Inspired Gingerbread Cookies

BLACK LACE HEART

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This design was imagined by Amber from @sweetambs a while ago and I changed just a few details when I made mine. The lace component is made with Sugar Veil and a special silicone mat (click here for details). I was very scared to use it because my previous experiences with sugarveil were very stressful and most did not have a happy ending at all. But Amber gave a few important pointers, like allowing the product to sit on the mat overnight instead of baking it in a low oven to dry. That’s what I did.

The other important thing is to roll the mat away from the veil, not pull the veil out of the mat, because it will tear, it is very delicate. You need to work slowly and gently guide the veil down the surface, as you pull the mat away from it. Pictures below show the process.


Once the lace is ready, pieces large enough to cover the cookie are cut, and placed over the fully set icing, using either a light brush with water or corn syrup (diluted with a bit of water for easier spreading with a brush). The edges won’t be very smooth, but after that step a little bead border will hide the imperfections. Rose details are fondant painted with luster powder and sprayed with PME pearl luster after drying.


After the lace is set, the fondant roses are glued to the cookie with a small amount of Royal icing. The bead border is important so that the edges of the lace do not show. I still need a lot of practice because my lace turned out super brittle, but compared to my previous attempts, this was much much better…

ONE YEAR AGO: Egg White Painted Cookies

FOR THE LOVE OF FALL

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Inspiration for these cookies came from a design I saw in the internet a while ago, captured a quick screenshot, but forgot to save the source. It coupled hearts with fall leaves, and I think it is a nice cookie tribute to one beautiful season in our beautiful planet.


Bringing this design to life is not difficult at all. You will need just white Royal icing in flooding consistency, but not too loose because you want to be able to get some volume in the different sections, and also you don’t want to risk them joining together. I sketched the leaves on the naked cookie, piped the leaf component first, allowed it to set for 10 minutes or so, then came back and did the rest.


Once that is fully set, at least 4 hours, you are ready to paint the details. You can use food gel diluted with vodka, or go for Sugarprism, which is my favorite option. Let your inner Monet fly!


Sugarprism dries quickly, wait about 20 minutes and you will be ready to add the details. I used Royal icing dyed with Americolor Gold, in piping consistency, and a piping tip #1. Later I painted the details with luster gold powder diluted with vodka, but that part is optional, the design will be ok without this step.


They are a little time-consuming but not too bad, and if you enjoy painting they give you a chance to get some Zen-time…

ONE YEAR AGO: Gobble Gobble!

TUNDE DUGANTSI’S FALL COOKIES

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If you follow cookie artists, I’m sure you are a fan of Tunde’s work. Her cookies are elegant, often leaning towards the romantic and whimsical. Recently she shared a tutorial to make designs that celebrate Fall. I could not wait to give them a try… To join her Facebook page and gain access to her tutorials, visit her site with a click here.


To make the cookies, you follow two different video tutorials. In the first one, Tunde provides all templates and guidance to make the Royal icing transfers: flowers, pumpkins, acorns, and leaves. In the same video you’ll learn how to make little ghosts, and candy corn. Those can be made days in advance. For the basic cookies, you’ll need flooding consistency and thicker consistency pink. In the hexagon and basket, air-brushing with copper provides a totally different look. Texture in the house and hexagons are made with a needle or toothpick, all super clearly explained in her second video tutorial. Some steps are shown below.


The heart cookies are stamped with a handwritten text, which I thought was a very nice touch…


I really enjoyed making these cookies… Once the transfers are made you are more than half the way there. For the house, after adding the details with piping consistency Royal icing, I did the painting with Sugarprism.


I hope you enjoyed this set of cookies. I think they demonstrate that a single tone of icing (in this case a pastel pink) can be used to get totally different looks by playing with texture and colors, both with an air-brush or simple painting techniques.

Tunde, thank you for yet another great tutorial!
Looking forward to the next adventure…

ONE YEAR AGO: And Now for Pumpkin Completely Different

PAINTED ROYAL ICING TRANSFERS

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When you decorate cookies, it’s pretty common to have leftover Royal icing. It does freeze well, but you can also make royal icing transfers in all sorts of shapes without worrying about color at this point. Let them set for a few hours or overnight, and then use any method of your choice to color them. Michelle, the inventor of Sugarprism, is a pro at this. The birds below were made following her lead.

I got so hooked into the process that right away I started making several different transfers. The advantage of making them all white, is that you can choose the colors later, to match any cookie you are working on. Here are my first two babies… The first one coupled with Royal icing in piping consistency, and the second with painting (luster powder) + food pen.

The main thing to consider when making the transfers is using a slightly thicker consistency and piping in stages so the design won’t be flat. This works when making flowers, butterflies, birds, pretty much any image. As to how to add color? Any method works: food pens, Sugarprism (both the acrylic and the watercolor types), food gel diluted with vodka, luster powder. I normally bring all my tools out to play and go with the flow.

A few more designs using the transfers… The one below is definitely one of my favorites ever! I brought back my days of studying Mandarin and incorporated a modern rose with the ideogram for love. I find that particular ideogram very beautiful. One of its components (the central motif) is the ideogram that represents the heart. The Chinese language has incredibly beautiful details that captivate the mind.

For the butterflies, I used a different method to paint flowers: dry dusting with luster powder using a sponge brush in a very loose pattern. Next, a food pen adds the real drawing, which does not need any precision.

That is a very easy method to add flowers, and it will give the impression that you spent a lot of time in each cookie, but that’s really not the case. Plus, it is very forgiving.

So here is my small collection of cookies using the transfers I made in the past couple of weeks. As you can see, a transfer can stand alone on its own, or you can add details around it. Your cookie, your choice. But whatever you decide to do, having a little treasure chest with transfers ready to be painted is a very efficient way to decorate cookies. I hope you give that a try!

ONE YEAR AGO: Not Always Black and White