Practice, Practice

So I haven't made roll-out sugar cookies in a while, and after using that pre-made stuff for my sugar cookie fries, I decided it was time. The icing that I grew up using is a mixture of just powdered sugar & water. Super easy & soo good! Only problem is, it doesn't pipe well. Since I'm into trying new things, I have been searching the internet for a good royal icing recipe that I can use to pipe.

I have tried one recipe from the blog Sweetopia twice, once with my Valentine's Day cookies and again at my friend Kristen's shower. Both times, the icing turned out okay, but not great. I can't seem to get the consistencies correct, especially for flooding. So after more blog searching, I decided to try a new recipe from Sweet Sugar Belle.

Hers used less powdered sugar & a spray bottle. Interesting, I know. I'm not sure if it's because I was a little more practiced or patient, but this time, it worked! I broke the icing down into two batches. One, I made thicker for piping & the other had a much thinner consistency for flooding. Since these were just for fun, I decided to use my favorite shapes that would be pretty to pipe. I went with hearts, three kinds of flowers, & an ice cream cone, just for summer! I used very bright & vibrant colors.

It was definitely a learning process. Do you pipe the border & then fill it immediately? Can you layer wet icing on wet icing or does it need to be completely dry? You can see in the ones I did, there was definitely a learning curve!

I really liked the tulips! Very pretty! :)

These little flowers on stems are by far my favorite. Love the yellow petal with a pink center!

These cookies are alot of work! I'm thinking next time, I might try a combination of my old icing & the new royal icing. Flat ice with mine in one color & then just use the royal icing for piping. That would make it a little easier. We'll see! And since today is the last day of school for Drew, they went to work with him. Enjoy!

Valentine's Day - Part 1, lingerie & heart cookies :)

 What to do with a sick husband in bed & a Saturday night all to myself? Try something new!! I've been making roll-out sugar cookies all my life & use a simple recipe of powdered sugar & water for icing. They are super yummy, everyone loves them. Problem is, it's not an icing you can pipe with. My friend Jennifer had sent me this link for hearts & lingerie sugar cookies from the blog How Does She that week, so I knew exactly what I was making that night! I decided to try a new kind of icing that is perfect for piping, royal icing. The recipe for royal icing that I tried is one the How Does She blog linked from the blog Sweetopia.  It took me a little while to get the consistency right (& I'm still not convinced it was right) but I got it where I could start piping. Yes, I'm impatient, but I really loved the way these heart cookie pops turned out!

To get the chasing hearts, you draw small dots around your heart, then drag a toothpick through them to connect the dots. The drag is what then becomes the heart. If you go the the link, she does a step by step tutorial for how to create your own! Way easier then they look! So pretty!

Next come the slightly scandalous but totally fabulous lingerie cookies!! I mean, it is fixing to be Valentine's Day!! These were done by first laying out the heart "lace" then piping & flooding the royal icing & lastly covering the icing in solid sprinkles. They were a little tedious but so worth it!! 

These two are my favorites!

 Surprisingly, I know!!

Here are 7 best pairs :)

Even Drew perked up long enough to admire my handy work!

& you see the top right hand pair in white that are not in the right order? I'm pretty sure that was Drew.

I'm not done with Valentine's yet, I love anything that is all pink & hearts!

Our first offical paid order!! - sunflower cupcakes & football cookies

I was contacted by a friend from work who needed some cupcakes made for some very special people, her grand kids! She needed 9 for a girl, age around 13, & 9 for a boy, age around 8. She requested sunflowers for her granddaughter. Sunflowers hold a special place in my heart because of my Grandfather so I absolutely loved making these & think they are pretty awesome!



Her grandson is an avid Texas (ugh I'm an Aggie!) football fan, and has been having some health issues so we wanted to do something really special for him. We decided that we would mix cupcakes with my super yummy sugar cookies & make him football cupcakes. I wasn't able to construct the cupcakes because they had a two hour drive so I made the pieces & she put them together when she got there. We did cookies in the shapes of footballs and helmets and then grass cupcakes. The idea was to stand the cookie upright in the cupcake. She said there amazing when they came together.

I am still waiting for the final product pictures of the cupcakes with the kids. I'll share them when I get them! I definitely had a VERY satisfied customer! YEA :)

and then I met a boy...

Throught college and the beginning of my job, I continued to bake. I usually stuck to my specialies, sugar cookies, chocolate chip cookies & blueberry pies. Then I met Drew. As soon as we started dating, I started seriously baking. I guess that's one of the reasons he stuck around! :) I have never thought of myself as creative but Drew definitely is & artistic. The first time I made my roll-out cookies for Drew with our flat powdered sugar/water icing, he suggested that we get more adventurous with our decorating. We started using icing pens & created some of the cutest cookies. We even made cookie bouquets for my best friend's wedding shower & my neice Jolie's first birthday party. People usually don't believe Drew when he says that he helps me decorate, but he really does! And as frusturating as it is for me, he is usually the more creative one with the best ideas! I have been known to copy his designs a time or two! So, I bake & we decorate together. We make a really great team! Here is a sample of our cookie art.