Monkey Cookies And Some "Face" Tips

I like how these Monkey Cookies turned out but I admit it, I'm not a skilled artist and by far, my biggest cookie decorating insecurity is making faces.

Eye placement, proportion, realism, these are all things that trip me up and stress me out. But I won't deny a cookie request because of this, and have learned a few tricks that help me face making faces.

The first trick is study your subject —  Look at pictures, drawings and sketches and find one that is simplified and showcases what you want your final product to look like.

The second trick is to sketch a design — Trace your cookie cutter onto a piece of paper and using just a pencil, decorate it. Take your time, erase if necessary, and get the design exactly how you want it.

The third trick is to cut a guide that you can trace onto your cookie with an edible marker — There's no shame in doing this and it helps keep all your cookies uniform.

The final trick is when it comes to adding the eyes, nose, mouth and other face features, add them onto a plate first — You don't want to ruin a perfectly good cookie with a failed test run,  so drop those eyes and other features onto a plate first and get them right before you add them onto your cookies.

Here's how I made these Monkey Cookies:

I baked my cookies and sketched my design.

I cut a guide for the face that I traced onto the cookies with an edible marker.

This guide will make the decorating so much easier and keep all my cookies uniform.

I outlined the guidelines with light brown icing using a #2 tip.

Using the same icing and tip, I immediately filled in the lines.

I also outlined and filled in a moon shape on all of the ears.

While the face icing was still wet, I dropped on the eyes, nose and mouth using thinned black icing and a #1 tip. Then, using my scribe tool, I added a tiny drop of blue icing to each eye. I also used my scribe tool to draw through the mouth and elongate it on both sides.

The final step was to outline the rest of the cookie with dark brown flood consistency icing using a #1 tip. I used the small tip because the areas around the ears and under the chin are narrow and I wanted to be sure to have good control.

Let the cookies dry completely before serving or packaging.

Red, White And Blue Cookies

These red, white and blue cookies are bold, bright and perfect for your upcoming Independence Day Celebrations. They are also simple to make and can be made days in advance. To serve, just arrange them on a platter and enjoy the party.

Here's how to make them:

Bake a batch of round sugar cookies. For my favorite tried and true recipe, click here.

The cookies after baking.

Make a batch of royal icing. Leave 3/4 of the icing white and divide the remaining 1/4 into small bowls and tint one red and one blue. Thin all of the icings by adding a teaspoon of water at a time, to 12 to 15-second flood consistency. This is icing that settles back into place in 12 to 15 seconds after you draw through it with the back of a spoon. Place the white icing in a pastry bag fitted with a #3 tip and place the red and blue icing in bags fitted with #2 pastry tips. You need to have all of your icings ready to go at once. Click here for my favorite royal icing recipe.

Work on one cookie at a time. Outline the cookie with the white icing.

Fill in the outline with more white icing and give the cookie a gentle shake to help the icing settle. You can also use a skewer or scribe tool to help evenly distribute the icing.

Now it's time to decorate. While the flood icing is still wet, add your red and blue embellishments. Here I added some simple red stripes.

To the red stripes you can add blue stripes going in the same direction.

Or, you can add blue stripes going in the opposite direction.

For this cookie I added more red stripes going in the opposite direction and some blue dots.

To make a chevron design, add red and blue stripes and then draw through them with a skewer, toothpick or scribe tool, going back and forth in opposite directions. Be sure to wipe your tool off after each swipe to keep the design clean.

This is one of my favorite designs because it looks impressive but is so easy to do.

You can also add dots.

You can add the dots in alternating rows for a Swiss dot effect.

Or you can just add the dots randomly.

Be creative, have fun and have a happy 4th of July!

A Macaron Assortment Tip And The Recipe For Raspberry Dark Chocolate Macarons

Raspberry Dark Chocolate, Salted Caramel and Lemon Macarons look great together and make a nice assortment for an event. Why? — Because the flavors aren't too similar and the colors compliment each other.

When I'm asked to make an assortment of macarons for an event, my motto is always "small selection but wide variety."

Too many flavors to choose from overwhelms guests because they can't try everything and they have difficulty deciding what to pick. Too many flavors is also hard on the host who needs to know and describe the choices. You don't want to have to keep note cards on what you are serving.

My preference is to limit macaron assortments to five flavors, but I think three is really ideal.

That said, I then aim for a "wide variety," meaning I want to choose three or five flavors that are completely different from one another, so there is something for everyone. For instance, I would never make raspberry, strawberry and cherry together or coconut, hazelnut and almond. These are way to similar flavor and color wise too. Contrasting colors make for a much better presentation.

When choosing what to make, I consider these categories: Berry, Citrus, Chocolate, Nut, Caramel, Coffee and Exotic, the latter is flavors like lavender, rose, green tea and  rosemary olive oil. It's also fun to also mix these categories up like Espresso Hazelnut Macarons or Raspberry Dark Chocolate Macarons, which I made for a recent event.

In addition to the Raspberry Dark Chocolate Macarons,  I made Lemon and Salted Caramel. The flavors are different and the colors are contrasting and look vibrant together.

I've already posted the recipes for Lemon and Salted Caramel Macarons, but the Raspberry Dark Chocolate ones are a completely new creation. I've made chocolate shells filled with raspberry buttercream before but these are raspberry colored shells filled with both a dollop of dark Belgian chocolate and a raspberry buttercream.

Here's the recipe:

Raspberry Dark Chocolate Macarons
180g ground almonds, sifted
270g powdered sugar, sifted
150g egg whites, aged 2 to 4 days in the fridge and then brought to room temperature
100g granulated sugar
Fuschia gel coloring
Red gel coloring

Line four heavy baking sheets with good quality parchment paper and set aside. Also, set aside two pastry bags for the piping of the macarons.

Sift together your ground almonds with the powdered sugar and set aside.

Whisk the egg whites (at room temperature) to glossy firm peaks adding the granulated sugar gradually in four parts. Add the coloring as desired. I added about 1 part fuschia to 2 parts red. Remember that the color lightens during baking so tint them a bit darker than you want them to turn out.

Incorporate the dry ingredients into the beaten egg whites using a large rubber scraper.  Mix well. 

Fold the mixture with the rubber scraper by pulling down the sides and flipping the mixture over. Do this until you have a smooth mixture that falls like a “ribbon” off the scraper.

Transfer the mixture into the two piping bags. Use rubber bands to close the piping bags. Clip the tip of the bags, one at a time, and pipe small quarter sized rounds, leaving 1-inch of space between each because they spread as they set.

Piped macarons.

Leave to set for about 30 minutes or until the top has formed a crust and is not sticky to the touch.

While they are setting, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. A convection oven is preferable.  Bake one sheet at a time in the center of the oven for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookie is firm, matte and doesn't wobble when touched.

Leave on the baking tray until cool then lift them all off the parchment carefully. You may need to use a thin knife or spatula to help lift them off.

Sort into pairs and fill with Melted Dark Chocolate and Raspberry Buttercream.

The macarons sorted into pairs and ready for filling. This is a single batch!

Raspberry Buttercream
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup Crofter's Raspberry Spread or another high-quality low-sugar raspberry preserve
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Just 3 drops of Raspberry Flavor (I used LorAnn brand)

Whip the butter until it is light and smooth. Add the jam, sea salt and raspberry flavor.

Whip this together until the filling is light and creamy. When you first start whipping the ingredients together, it will look like a curdled mess, but don't panic. The filling will eventually come together and be beautiful. Just whip it and whip it good!


Dark Chocolate Filling:
(note: make this only when your macarons are sorted, flipped over and ready for filling. Once you melt the chocolate there's no time to waste, you've got to be ready to go.)

1 1/4 cups dark chocolate chips 

Place 1 cup of the dark chocolate chips (I used Belgian dark chocolate) in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove from the microwave and stir. Keep microwaving for 10 to 20 second sessions and stirring until the chocolate is melted. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of chips and stir until they are completely melted. Let the chocolate cool for an extra minute or two before transferring to a piping bag.

To Assemble:
Sort your macarons into pairs and flip both over. Starting with the chocolate, pipe a dollop on the back of one macaron from each of the pairs. Don't go too close to the edge or it will spill over. Let the chocolate firm and cool for at least 15 minutes before proceeding.

Add a dollop of Raspberry Buttercream on top of the chocolate and sandwich the pairs carefully together. 

Adding the dollop of dark chocolate.

After you add the buttercream, the macarons are ready to be gently sandwiched together.

All done!

Stripe And Chevron Cookies

These stripe and chevron cookies look impressive but are so simple to make. The only real trick is to be sure that you have all your icing colors mixed and ready to go before you start decorating since these are made using the "wet on wet technique," meaning you add the base coat of icing and then immediately add other colors of icing on top of it.

This technique is great because you can get so many different looks depending on what colors you choose.

I obviously decided to go bright. Here's how I made them:

Mix your royal icing colors and thin them so that they are flood consistency. Put the icings into pastry bags fitted with #2 tips.

Flood a cookie and immediately add some stripes.

Add some more stripes.

And even more stripes. This cookie looks good as is, or you can create a chevron effect.

To create a chevron, draw through the stripes using a skewer or scribe tool, being sure to wipe the tool clean after each swipe.

Then draw through the stripes going in the opposite direction. That's all there is to it! Let the cookies dry completely before packaging and serving.

Orange Scented Shortbread

A new find, a bottle of Orange Peel from Penzys Spices, was the inspiration that led me to create this delicious shortbread that I think I made even better with a dip in dark Belgian chocolate.

I found the unusual product on a shopping trip with my dear friend Pam who was visiting from Seattle. We were heading towards Powell's Bookstore when we walked by the shop on NW 10th Avenue and I suggested we go inside. 

Penzys is a company I want to support not only because it sells the best tasting and freshest spices, but because it's been very generous to The Wednesday Community Meal. In the past they've given us cases of black pepper, chicken stock, ham stock and beef stock — staples we need and use regularly at our meal.

At the store, there was a sample of the Orange Peel that I smelled and was immediately blown away. The orange scent was so strong and so fresh that I knew it was a product I wanted to try and use and that's how this shortbread came about. 

Before I added the peel to my shortbread dough, I re-hydrated it by soaking it in a tablespoon of vanilla. The smell of this vanilla orange combination was intoxicating, reminding me of the scent of a Creamsicle or Orange Julius. Why can't anyone make perfume that smells this good?

Here's the recipe:

Orange Scented Shortbread
(makes about 6 dozen)
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 1/2 teaspoons Penzys Orange Peel (Note: If this product isn't available, you can use 5 teaspoons of finely grated orange zest.)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar, optional (for rolling the cookies in before baking)

In a small container, combine the orange peel with the vanilla and let this set for about 10 minutes.

Mix the orange peel in the vanilla and set it aside for a bit.

The peel will soak up the vanilla and it will look like this.

Cream together the butter, vanilla/orange mixture, sea salt and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add the flour and mix just until combined.

The mixed dough.

Divide the dough into thirds. Wrap each third in a piece of plastic wrap and roll into a log about 1.5 inches in diameter. If you are having trouble shaping the logs, just do your best and then let the dough chill for 30 minutes to firm up — then re-roll and re-shape the logs. Let the logs chill for at least 2 hours before slicing.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If desired, roll the logs in raw sugar (I do this extra step because I like the crunch and look that the sugar gives the cookies), and cut 1/4-inch thick rounds from the logs. Then cut the rounds in half.

Cutting the cookies.

Ready for the oven!

Place the cookies on parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving about 2-inches of space between them. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies are golden on the edges and set. Let the cookies cool completely before dipping.

Dipping the Cookies:
10 oz. dark chocolate, divided (I like Callebaut brand Belgian chocolate best)

First off, have your cookies at hand, ready to dip and a counter or sheetpans lined with parchement paper before you prepare the chocolate. You have to have a place to set your cookies after dipping.

Place 8 oz. of the chocolate in a small microwave safe bowl. You need to use a bowl that adequately holds the chocolate but is small enough so that the chocolate isn't too spread out. You need depth for the dipping.

Microwave the chocolate in intervals of 30 seconds, stirring after each until the chocolate is thoroughly melted. Immediately add the remaining 2 oz. of chocolate and stir until it's also thoroughly melted. This is called the seeding method and is a simple way to temper the chocolate.

Dip a cookie about 1/4 into the melted chocolate and give it a gentle shake to remove any excess. Place the cookie on parchment and keep working quickly until all the cookies have been dipped. Leave the cookies on the parchment until the chocolate is completely set.

Surprise Silver Macarons

The thing about macarons is that the color of the batter changes during baking. It always lightens, but by how much varies, depending on the color, brand and how much of it you've used.

It really is a gamble to get the color to turn out how you want and this can be frustrating, especially when you have a very specific color in mind.

To be honest, I've rarely gotten the exact color I've aimed for and sometimes I'm disappointed and sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised,  like today, when my blue macarons magically turned silver. I'd never thought of making silver macarons before but I like them a lot.

I used a new gel coloring, Wilton's Delphinium Blue, and they went into the oven fairly bright blue and came out silver, not grey, but gleaming silver. 

The color that will get you silver macarons.

Piped macarons ready for the oven. I had no idea these would change so much during baking.

A side by side comparison of the batter and the baked macarons.

I didn't know I wanted silver macarons but I do! These will look beautiful displayed with my Gardenia Cookies at this Saturday's Billie Holiday Alternative Liturgy.

Finished silver macarons for the Billie Holiday Alternative Liturgy on Saturday. I filled them with a lightly sweet mixed-berry buttercream.