Conversation Heart Cookies

These Conversation Heart Cookies are for my daughter and niece to hand out to their classmates and besides being cute, they are quick and easy to make.

All I did was outline and fill heart shaped cookies and then use an edible ink marker to add the writing. Really, the most difficult part of the whole process was mixing the colors.

So to help with that, here's the link to my previous post on coloring tips. The most important thing really is to remember to take your time and add just a touch of coloring at a time. Be patient. It's easy to add coloring but practically impossible to take it away.

Here are the colorings I used to get these classic Conversation Heart colors:

Lavender = AmeriColor Purple + AmeriColor Violet

 Yellow = AmeriColor Electric Yellow

Pink = Wilton Rose

And here's how I decorated the cookies:

Outline and immediately fill the cookies with flood consistency icing. Use a skewer or scribe tool to evenly distribute the icing and give the cookie a gentle shake to help the icing settle.

Keep working one cookie at a time and once they are all filled, set the cookies aside to dry completely. This took 10 hours for me but it depends on the humidity. The cookies must be completely dry before you add the writing or the pen will break through the icing. Patience is key!

Once the cookies are dry, use an edible ink marker to write on the cookies. I used AmeriColor pink for the yellow hearts and AmeriColor red for the lavender and pink hearts. After the ink dried, I brushed on some powdered sugar to help soften the color of the pen ink. This isn't a necessary step but I though it improved the look of the cookies.

Dogwood Cookies

I can think of a lot of occasions these pretty Dogwood cookies would be suited for....

Valentine's Day
A Tea Party
A Baby Shower
A Wedding Shower
A Spring Wedding
A Little Girl's Birthday Celebration
A Spring Festival

And, they are not too hard to make. The Dogwood is one of most basic flowers to create because it's just four petals and some tiny piped dots for the centers.

I'm going to wrap these cookies up and sell them this Sunday, February 10 in a Valentine's Treat Sale at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral. The sale is a fundraiser for the Wednesday Community Meal.

Also available for purchase will be hand-dipped Belgian chocolate truffles. All of the the treats will be beautifully wrapped and ready to give. The sale will be in Kempton Hall from 9 a.m. to noon.

Here's how to make the Dogwood Cookies:

Outline the cookies with piping consistency light pink icing.

Flood the cookies with a darker pink flood consistency icing. Use a skewer or toothpick to ease the icing to the edges.

Let the cookies dry completely before moving onto the next step.

With a dark brown icing that is piping consistency, pipe branches onto the cookies (see the cookies in the back of the photo). Let the branches dry before adding the flowers.

With a reddish pink icing that is the consistency of sour cream, pipe four petals on the ends of the branches. Use a brush to ease the icing towards the center. You don't want the petals to be completely filled. You still want to see the flood icing underneath in areas.

Pipe little lime green dots in the center of the flowers using a #1 tip and piping consistency icing.

Brushed Embroidery On Cookies

My latest attempt at brushed embroidery on sugar cookies.

For Valentine's Day this year, I experimented with brushed embroidery on sugar cookies. It was a technique I'd been wanting to try for some time but was hesitant because it seemed so complicated.
 

I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it actually was. And, I think the results of my first attempt are pretty good.

But there's always room for improvement and cooking decorating is a constant learning process. Sometimes you just need to bake a batch and practice.

My first attempt at brushed embroidery.

So taking my own advice, I thought today was a good time to give it another whirl.

What's most important when decorating with brushed embroidery is having the right consistency of icing.

You need a stiff icing for the outlining of your brushed embroidery so that when you pull the icing inward from the edges, you see the ridges and lines of your strokes.

And, the base coat of your cookie needs to be completely dry before even attempting brushed embroidery.

Don't skimp on the drying time or you'll be frustrated. Flood icing can take anywhere from 4 to 24 hours to dry completely.

It all depends on the humidity, the amount of coloring and the amount of water needed to thin your icing.

Wait for the base coat of flood icing to dry completely before attempting brushed embroidery.

Using a stiff icing and a #2 tip, squiggle the outline of flower petals onto the cookie. Using the side of a damp square-tip brush, pull the icing towards the edge of the cookie.

Experiment with different shaped flowers and leaves. I find that random placement looks best.

Different shapes and patterns look striking when placed together. And, a border around the edges finishes them nicely.