Russian Pastry Tip: Frosting Flower

I confess that over the holidays I swiped some homemade buttercream off of a cake that I'd made and used it to frost a cookie I was about to eat. Gluttony? Sugar coma? It was a reckless move and one that may have changed my baking forever. 

Plus column: I now know that my grandmother's sugar cookies taste great with buttercream frosting.
Negative column: How am I ever going to go back to her original hot water frosting?

Part of the cute look of this cookie is because I used 2 different colors of frosting and a Russian Pastry Tube Tip. You can buy them at Fancy Flours, my favorite online baking supply store.

I dyed 1/3 of the frosting bright pink and smoothed it around the edges of the disposable pastry bag. I loaded the rest of the white frosting into the center of the bag. When I piped out the frosting, it created this fantastic and distinctly shaded design. I just love it. It reminds me of a lily pad and I think it would look darling in green with lilac, yes?

Nama's Old Fashioned Rolled Sugar Cookies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder


Cream butter in mixing bowl. Beat in sugar, egg, milk & vanilla. Add flour, salt & baking powder. Mix well. Divide dough in half and wrap each disc of dough in waxed paper. Chill in refrigerator at least one hour. Use plenty of flour on board, rolling pin & cookie cutters to prevent sticking. Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick and cut out shapes with cookie cutters. Bake at 375* on an ungreased cookie sheet for 5-8 minutes.

My New Favorite Buttercream

1/2 cup unsalted butter
3-4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup 2 % milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream softened butter. Slowly add milk. Add vanilla. Slowly add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until blended and delicious.

Mother's Day Worthy Cookies and Marie Antoinette

Too pretty to eat!

That was the consensus when I made this beautiful set of Marie Antoinette cookies with edible wafer paper from my favorite online source, Fancy Flours.

The funny thing about making something that is "too pretty to eat" is that the audience is just as happy with the cookies as if they had eaten them! The oohs and ahhs last just as long and everyone circles back to admire them all over again. Edible Art, indeed. It's just in this case, no one wanted to take me up on the edible part. I did, of course, and they were delicious! 

You can buy these edible wafer paper ladies at Fancy Flours.com

You'll remember my post about designing custom cookie cutters for this project. It was well worth the effort, wouldn't you say? Plus, now I have a "woman in a ball gown" cookie cutter in stock for future high profile depictions. 

Of all the stories that surround Marie Antoinette, my favorite was that she insisted that flocks of sheep were dyed to match her dresses. When word arrived in the field that she was wearing a blue gown that day, the shepherd would release the blue sheep into the field to graze. Can this possibly be true? What a sight that would be. 

My edible wafer paper selection included images of French pastries (you can see a few above) and I also made some cookies with wafer paper from the Mother's Day Vintage Stamps collection. All in all, I just love them. 

I baked and decorated these in Florida and my parents spent just as much time strategizing how I could transport these cookies home with me safely, as they did packing up their actual belongings. The cookies made it home in bubble wrap and a cardboard box and I am still trying to think of a way to display them for future enjoyment. 

The cookies are made from my grandmother's sugar cookie recipe and iced with her simple powdered sugar and hot water frosting. I wanted to see if the edible wafer paper images would transfer as beautifully on her frosting as it does on royal white icing.  It worked really well (you adhere the image with corn syrup and allow it to set) and I am happy that I can use this form of artwork on an easy frosting.

If you love baking, you should really experiment with edible wafer paper. I always say that I am driven by color and sugar - these cookies are a perfect 10.

Custom Cookie Cutters and Edible Art from Fancy Flours

So much of my happiness comes from completing projects from what I call my master plan. I make up something I want to do or try and then chip away at it until everything falls into place.  

In this case, I want to do more cookie decorating with edible wafer paper. Edible wafer paper is a potato starch paper printed with USDA-approved food coloring. It allows beautiful images to decorate cookies. Remember when I first tried it here?

And I wanted to amuse myself with these ridiculous (and I mean ridiculous in the best possible way) Marie Antoinette edible wafer paper images from my favorite baking source, Fancy Flours. 

When one wants to make Marie Antoinette-style cookies, one needs an Marie Antoinette-style cookie cutter. No small feat. A Marie Antoinette would be impossible to find but easy to make. Especially when you have a "Make Your Own Cookie Cutter" Kit and a husband with excellent handicraft skills. Look closely in the image above and you can see it. A cookie cutter that will accommodate a large head of hair and an enormous skirt.  Custom, indeed.

Fancy Flours sells the Make Your Own Cookie Cutter kit and the wafer paper, as well as a beautiful copper plaque cookie cutter that would also highlight the Marie Antoinette images if a custom cutter isn't in your near future. 

I have the cookie cutter, wafer paper and rolling pin packed! I'm taking it all to Florida and doing some condo-baking by the sea. 

What do you have in your luggage?

Shell Topped Toothpicks: One of my Entertaining Favorites

These toothpicks are almost too pretty to use!  I bought this beautiful set of (real!) seashell-topped toothpicks at a little shop in Florida and I can't wait to put them out at my next little party.  The WONDERFUL news is now I can direct you to a place online to buy shell-topped toothpicks for your house! One of my favorite places now offer similar shell-topped toothpicks - get some at Fancy Flours today. You can use them to serve so many different appetizers - fruit, shrimp, mushrooms.  Here is a recipe I love - use the shell-topped toothpicks AFTER they are cooked.

I am planning on serving bacon-wrapped dates as a hearty appetizer.  This appetizer is always a hit - each bite is sticky, sweet, salty and savory all at once! 

Bacon-wrapped Dates

You cut a slice of raw bacon into 3 equal pieces (2-3 inches long) and then wrap each piece around a whole pitted dried date.  Place the seam side down on a slotted broiler pan - be sure to have the broiler pan base on as well to catch the drippings.  The dents in the pan are perfect for resting each date in, seam side down, this will keep the bacon snug around the date.  (*If the bacon starts to unfurl, give in a use a standard toothpick to secure.)

Broil a few minutes and then, using tongs, turn each date over and broil on the other side until the bacon is completely cooked - approx 4 minutes on each side.

Arrange the bacon-wrapped dates on a small ceramic dish and serve with shell topped toothpicks for an appetizer that is beautiful, interesting and delicious!

Wafer Paper bedecked Cookies: One Giant Leap for Mankind

This is Day One in my experiment with edible wafer paper.  Have you heard of such a thing? It is individual images printed on potato starch sheets with food-coloring like dye.  FancyFlours.com has a wonderful selection of edible wafer papers (click their link in their website's sidebar to choose: there are seed packet images, butterflies, bunnies and more. Your head will spin with delight!) that you can buy and use to adorn your baked goods.  It is simple to cut out the images and adhere them to royal white icing-frosted cookies with light corn syrup.  When I am back in town, I will experiment even more.

This is my first attempt and I have a few improvements to make in my process, but boy-oh-boy am I happy with my first try! These images look like wallpaper!  I was so pleased with them, I wrapped 4 of the cookies in bubble wrap and flew them to Florida with me to show my parents.  They couldn't believe how professional they looked. "Too pretty to eat!" was the consensus.  I can't wait to make more and show you my progress. 

Gingerbread House Cookie Tin Proves that Cute is Forever

(*I am reposting this because my favorite cookie tin (above) is now available at www.fancyflours.com! Get yours before they are gone!)

I have had this Gingerbread House cookie tin for at least ten years, maybe more.  But last night it single-handedly proved my theory that "Cute is Forever."

I went to the Junior League of Birmingham's New Member cookie exchange with 3 dozen gingerbread men (yea!) and brought my gingerbread house tin as a means to carry the cookies I got at the exchange.  The girls like the gingerbread men alright, but it was this cute tin that got all of the attention.  When asked where I got it, I said that it had been at least 10 years and that I couldn't remember where I found it.  Then I added, "But cute is forever."

***Update: November 2013: Fancy Flours is NOW carrying this Gingerbread Cookie Tin!

Now we can't buy everything we see, and I know that we can barely store what we have, but sometimes a standout item like this is too cute to pass up.  And every time you pull it out, you'll love it all over again.  When you work this hard on cookies, you need a worthy container. 

Gold Sugar Makes the Cake

You've heard the expression that something "takes the cake?" Well today I'm talking about things that MAKE the cake!

Today, I'm putting the spotlight on gold sugar.  I know, such a simple thing, but what a difference it made to my humble box mix coffee cake.  I really like Pillsbury Cinnamon Swirl Quick Bread & Muffin Mix and I make delicious coffee cakes all the time using 2 boxes of the mix (follow the directions on the box, adding oil, water and eggs) and a bake in a standard Bundt cake pan.

I like using Baking Spray with Flour and the cake will unmold easily if you allow the cake to cool for 10 minutes before unmolding it onto a platter.

To make my glaze, whisk together powdered sugar and maple syrup, then drizzle generously over cake.  The crowning touch is tons of gold sugar. Doesn't it look beautiful? Presentation is everything. 

Gingerbread Cookie Tin: Cute is Forever

I have had this Gingerbread House cookie tin for at least ten years, maybe more.  But last night it single-handedly proved my theory that "Cute is Forever."

I went to the Junior League of Birmingham's New Member cookie exchange with 3 dozen gingerbread men (yea!) and brought my gingerbread house tin as a means to carry the cookies I got at the exchange.  The girls like the gingerbread men alright, but it was this cute tin that got all of the attention.  When asked where I got it, I said that it had been at least 10 years and that I couldn't remember where I found it.  Then I added, "But cute is forever."

***Update: November 2013: Fancy Flours is NOW carrying this Gingerbread Cookie Tin!

Now we can't buy everything we see, and I know that we can barely store what we have, but sometimes a standout item like this is too cute to pass up.  And every time you pull it out, you'll love it all over again.  When you work this hard on cookies, you need a worthy container. 

Shell Toothpicks and Bacon-wrapped Dates

These toothpicks are almost too pretty to use!  I bought this beautiful set of (real!) seashell-topped toothpicks at a little shop in Florida and I can't wait to put them out at my next little party.  The WONDERFUL news is now I can direct you to a place online to buy shell-topped toothpicks for your house! One of my favorite places now offer shell-topped toothpicks - get some at Fancy Flours today. 

I am planning on serving bacon-wrapped dates as a hearty appetizer.  This appetizer is always a hit - each bite is sticky, sweet, salty and savory all at once! 

Bacon-wrapped Dates

You cut a slice of raw bacon into 3 equal pieces (2-3 inches long) and then wrap each piece around a whole pitted dried date.  Place the seam side down on a slotted broiler pan - be sure to have the broiler pan base on as well to catch the drippings.  The dents in the pan are perfect for resting each date in, seam side down, this will keep the bacon snug around the date.  (*If the bacon starts to unfurl, give in a use a standard toothpick to secure.)

Broil a few minutes and then, using tongs, turn each date over and broil on the other side until the bacon is completely cooked - approx 4 minutes on each side.

Arrange the bacon-wrapped dates on a small ceramic dish and serve with shell topped toothpicks for an appetizer that is beautiful, interesting and delicious!

Sugar Secrets

Pssst...You don't have to get your cookie decorations at the grocery store or even at a giant craft superstore. 

Live a little and plan a field trip to a local cake decorating supply store (Google : cake decorating store your city). 

You will flip when you see the selection! I tagged along with a friend today and had so much fun. What did I buy? 

Red sugar, white snowflake sprinkles, tiny pastel circle sprinkles, white jimmies, a Santa mold, almond paste (for my next Stollen) and a button-shaped lollipop mold. Seriously, you will love it. 

Would you rather shop online? Check out Fancy Flours...and as you are clicking and happily baking in your mind, remember who sent you.