Plum Perfect Cookies

A box of pretty plums at the grocery store inspired me to incorporate the shade into my cookie decorating. 

Color mixing is really one of the most important parts of cookie decorating and what I often find most challenging. The trick really is to have a visual of the color you want before you start mixing so with some purchased plums as my guide, I mixed up a wonderful shade using electric purple, royal blue, teal and fuchsia gel colors. Getting the shade I wanted took a while, since I added just the smallest touch of coloring at a time, but it was time well spent. I love the how the shade turned out. For more coloring mixing tips,  click here.

For the ombre plum cookies, I iced some with the original plum color using flood icing and a #2 tip. Then,  I added a bit of white for a lighter shade, and then even more white for an even lighter shade. If I am going for multiple shades of a color, I always find it easiest to start with the darkest shade and simply work off of that by adding white icing.

For the plum brushed embroidery, I first base coated some plaque shaped cookies with delphinium blue royal icing. After the base coat dried completely, I added the brushed embroidery. It's essential that the base coat be completely dry (this takes 8 or more hours) or the icing will crumble and crack as you add the brushed embroidery.

It's important that your icing be piping consistency, this is icing that's stiff enough to hold it's shape but doesn't hold a peak. Pipe the outline of a flower and then use a small square tip brush to pull the icing inward, without breaking the top edge of the original outline. Use water to clean your brush off periodically between strokes and be sure to pat it dry with a paper towel. After you've finished one row of petals, add another.

This cookie is almost done. Notice that the center petal looks a little too wet, that's because I didn't dry my brush off enough. The second row of petals will help hide it but it's something that you want to avoid.

Two down, more to go. This kind of decorating isn't hard but it does take time, so turn on some music and try to enjoy the process. The results will be worth it.

Cookie Borders

My recent batch of barn owl cookies. The cookies with a border look better to me and more complete.

A piped border whether it be dots, a line or a combination of the two, is a really nice way to finish off decorated cookies.

I just think a border makes a cookie feel really complete, it's a frame for your art — And that's why I added a variety of them to my recent batch of barn owl cookies.

When adding a border you want to use icing that is piping consistency and holds its shape yet isn't so stiff that it holds a peak and you can see your stop and start points.  You want icing that holds yet settles to a smooth surface. This might sound complicated but it really isn't and just takes patience and practice.

Having the correct consistency of royal icing when piping borders is the key to success so it's important to take your time to get the consistency right. Always test icing first by piping onto a plate before adding it to your cookies.

Once you have your icing right, it's time to add the borders. Here are a few ideas:

A line following the shape of the cookie is the simplest design.

A dot border. Practice making even-sized dots before adding them to the cookie.

Closeup.

Alternating dots and lines for a border is another option.

Adding dots all over the cookie creates a wide border and also helps "frame" the owl.

Polar Bear Sugar Cookies

These polar bear sugar cookies are just the thing to make if you have never decorated sugar cookies before. The shape of the bear is easy to outline and there are only two colors of royal icing needed — flood consistency white and a tiny bit of a stiffer icing in black for the eyes, nose and paws.


Flood consistency royal icing is just icing that has been thinned with a bit of water, a few drops at a time, until the icing is loose enough to spread and smooth out over the cookie. To test your icing to see if it is the correct consistency, draw a line though it with a table knife. It should take between 10 and 20 seconds for the line in the icing to disappear.

I always use a #2 pastry tip for the outline and filling of my cookies.

Here are the steps in making the bears and my favorite recipe for royal icing:

Make and bake a batch of bear sugar cookies.

With flood consistency white royal icing, outline and fill the cookies. Let the icing dry for at least 15 minutes before adding stiffer black royal icing for the details — two dots for the eyes, a larger dot for the nose and a thick line on each foot for the paws.

Royal Icing
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Food coloring, optional

In a large bowl combine meringue powder, water and lemon juice and stir until meringue powder is dissolved. Add powdered sugar and with an electric mixer on low speed, beat until evenly moistened. Then beat on high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Divide and tint as desired and add water a few drops at a time to get desired consistency.

Drying Royal Icing

My recent batch of cookies with slow drying royal icing.

I added a base coat of royal icing to a batch of sugar cookies yesterday morning at 10:30 a.m. and now, nearly 24 hours later, it's still not dry.

The time it takes for royal icing to dry is one of those elusive things - you can't rush it so you just have to wait.

Humidity and temperature play a big role and are things we have little or no control over. It's been raining a lot in Portland lately and it's getting cold and I'm cheap and am waiting as long as possible to turn on the heat — so that's what I attribute to my slow going sugar cookies.

From my experience drying time can take anywhere from two hours to nearly two days.

So the moral of the story is to be aware that drying time varies and make your cookies at least two days in advance.