Pop Art Cookies

As much as I try keep on top of everything, sometimes something has to give. Unfortunately it's often here... These pages.
While I prioritise making sure homework is done, children are fed, and wedding cakes are made (wait what?! I don't bake for orders! More on that next time...) keeping up with social media is a constant niggle in the back of my mind. And it shouldn't be, right? I mean I'm  generation-before-they-started-giving-them-cute-labels and I wouldn't be caught dead taking a selfie unless someone else was in it. Why this pressure, then? Because I am a keep-on-top-of things kind of person, and seeing as I have an IG account and a FB page, I feel I need to post pretty things, pretty regularly. So I hope you've spotted the things that I have posted there the last month, while I might not have managed to keep up on the blog.

Let's back track a little now, though ...

I can't remember when I first came across Romero Britto's art, I must have been searching for inspiration for something else. But it immediately caught my eye - how could it not?!

The bold bright, designs with their black outlines are visually so appealing.
For these cookies, though, I changed the colours to be more suitable for a Mothers Day theme. Pinks, purples, greens and blues.

Something to note is that, although the patterns are busy, if you limit the colours to a dark and light shade of each, its not visually overwhelming - light green with dark green spots; light purple with dark purple stripes. 

Here's a video of the apple being decorated. 

Adding the last details with an edible marker makes a huge difference. That really puts the pop in the pop art cookies!

Happy decorating!

xxM

Butterfly Cookie Cupcake Toppers

Tomorrow is Mothers Day!
Now, don't say anything out loud, just nod if... the best gift you could get would be your husband getting up at dawn with the kids, and quietly - without waking you - whisking them off for the morning, leaving you to sleep in and get up at your leisure?
No breakfast in bed, no burnt toast and cold tea - just a morning of peace and quiet?
Do you cringe when you think of that - of wanting a lie-in instead of a family morning? Yes, because you're a mother, and when that baby is passed into your arms in the delivery room, a lifetime's supply of guilt gets handed to you at the same time. So you are going to choose the burnt toast and cold tea every time instead of robbing your children of the opportunity to spoil you on Mothers Day, aren't you? And you'll cherish every moment of it!

But you can at least ask your family to clean up the kitchen after they've made that breakfast - and don't feel guilty about it!

While, I don't expect you to bake for yourself on Mothers Day,  you might be baking for your own mother. These would be a great option. 

Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese icing  topped with cinnamon cookie butterflies. 

Cinnamon Cookie Recipe 

Recipe by Tea, Cake and Create

125g butter, at room temp. 

150g light brown sugar 

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbs golden syrup

1 large egg

310g flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract 

Cream together the butter, sugar, cinnamon and golden syrup. 

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

Add the vanilla. 

Sift in the flour and salt. Mix until just clumping, then form into a ball by hand. Place in cling-wrap, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. 

Roll-out and cut out cookies on a surface dusted with cornflour. (See here for some tips).

Place them in V's of aluminium foil so that the wings fold upwards.  Make sure that they won't topple over while baking - rest them on the sides of the baking sheet. 

Bake at 180'C for 8-10 minutes, until the edges of the cookies start turning golden. 

Once cool, pipe a little melted chocolate onto the cookies to form the body of the butterfly. 

Keep left-over cookie dough in the freezer, and thaw it in the fridge the night before you plan to bake. You don't need much for mini cookies.  They're a great topper for cupcakes - it's a bonus little sweet treat, and unlike fondant toppers, don't get abandoned on the side plate!

Wishing you a very special Mothers Day - whichever way you choose to spend it!

xxM