Golden Cookies

And now from black and white to gold... (Maybe I should have made them green and gold, but let's not talk about the rugby! Ugh!)
It's another batch of cookies with a simple colour scheme.
I'm getting too used to this - only having one or two colours of icing to prepare... Will I get away with just red and white for Christmas cookies, do you think...?!

I flooded all of these cookies with ivory coloured royal icing, then airbrushed on the gold sheen once the icing was dry.
All the details, and the bodies of the dragonflies and butterflies were piped on after airbrushing.
But while the bodies and those dots were left un-gilded; once they were dry, I  hand-painted gold sheen onto the swirls and dots on the insects wings, and the veins on the leaves.
Why not just airbrush those, too? Because, although you can't see it well in the picture, it's a richer gold than the background colour.

 The tiny dragonflies and flowers were created with moulds, using ivory coloured CMC/ tylose paste  and the gold accents painted onto those.

I also added some brown dusting to create shadows and antiquing.
Simple colours, but many steps as it turns out!

If you don't have an airbrush, you can still get a gold sheen on your cookies - use a nice soft blusher brush (purchased specifically for decorating cakes and cookies, not the one from your make-up drawer!) and gold lustre dust powder. Just dust it onto your cookies once the icing has dried completely: Gorgeously golden cookies!

Happy decorating!

xxM

Black and White Cookies

When I scheduled this theme - Black and White Cookies - I had a very clear idea of what I was going to do, but the months between the scheduling and the doing had clouded that inspiration, and when I was due to make the demo's, I found myself at a loss as to how to pull it all together. I'd promised stamping, stencilling, and brush embroidery techniques. In only two colours.
Yes, I know - looking at them now, it's clear that "Black and White Elegance" was the way to go, but I had a few stressful days there, all right?!

Here's a refresher on how to create a quilted effect on a cookie.
( I say refresher, because that was one of the earliest cookie tutorials I wrote on this blog, even before I had access to small, neat 00 icing tips. I cringe when I look at my amateur photography and early cookies; but if you insist on seeing it ... you'll find that post here!)


Quilted Cookie Tutorial:

Using an edible marker, or non-toxic graphite pencil, outline a grid of squares on the cookie. Pipe lines over the grid using an Ateco 00 or  PME 1.5 tip and soft-peak consistency royal icing 

Flood alternate square with flooding-consistency royal icing and allow to set (+/- 20min - depending on the ambient humidity). Once those squares have set, fill in the remaining squares.

Allow those squares to dry, then pipe dots of icing (soft-peak consistency) where the edges of the squares meet. Allow the cookie to dry completely overnight before packaging.

Happy decorating!

xxM 

Daisy Cake

One of my greatest pleasures (and often challenges!)  in decorating, comes from choosing which colours to use together. 

Working it out is like a little bit of science, a little bit of art, and a little bit of magic!

  

   At the moment I'm enjoying using simple colour combinations  - bold ones like the black and white that we're using in an upcoming cookie class; orange and black (guess what October theme that's for!); and fresh ones like this combination of yellow and white.     

A very skilled cake artist that I know, once suggested that the addition of a bit of green often made the other colours on a cake "pop".

So, while not wanting to take anything away from the simplicity of the yellow and white, I thought some hints of green was good idea for this cake, to bring it to life.  What do you think? 

Daisies: 

Cut out the daisy from white CMC paste, use a leaf veiner to add detail

Place in a flower former to dry the petals slightly cupped

Dust the centre of the flowers with green dusting powder [this colour is Avocado from the Rolkem Rainbow Spectrum range] 

Use a little CMC glue to place the flower centres [these were made from yellow CMC paste, and cut with  Jem Cutters daisy centre stamps] Allow to dry completely before placing on the cake. [Use royal icing or melted white chocolate to insure they are securely stuck on]  

Yellow and white daisy cake...with a touch of green!

Happy decorating!

xxM