Here Comes the Sun (flower)...

 

Sunflowers always make me smile.  I love that they are big and showy without being pretentious.  I love the contrast of dark and bright.  I love that they shout "SUMMER" but without making me think of putting on a bathing suit.

So, what better cookies to help ring in summer than sunflowers?!?  You might want to know where the cutter came from.  I don't know.  If I remember correctly, this is a cutter my neighbor gave me when we lived in Alabama. It was hers and she thought I might be able to put it to good use.
{She probably didn't think it would take 7 years.}

If you still have a few more days of school left, these make really sweet teacher gifts...at least, I hope they do because it's what kiddo's teachers are getting. ;)

First things first, sometimes it's hard to pipe a good circle.  (Actually, it's always hard for me.)

So, before these cookies baked, I lightly pressed a circle cutter into the dough to help with outlining.

Oh, and a deep brown color is sometimes hard to achieve without vast amounts of coloring.  I added just as *smidge* of black coloring to my brown...but just a smidge, though.  It can go from brown to black very quickly. 

To make the sunflower cookies, you'll need:

• chocolate sunflower sugar cookies (this recipe is good!)
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Chocolate Brown with a smidge of Super Black, Egg Yellow, and Leaf Green
• disposable piping bags
• couplers
• icing tips: #2 (2) and small star
• toothpicks
• squeeze bottles
• meringue powder
• small paintbrush
• chocolate sprinkles

Use a #2 tip to outline the center of the sunflowers with brown icing.

Use a #2 tip to outline the petals in yellow.  Don't worry about doing each on individually now, you'll pipe over them later.  Plus, small filled spaces can sometimes collapse and crack. (Reserve some of this piping consistency yellow icing.)

Thin the brown and yellow icings with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin.  Count of 2-3 is good.  Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed.  Pour into squeeze bottles as needed.

Flood the centers with brown icing.  Use a toothpick to guide to edges and pop large air bubbles.

Flood the rest with yellow icing.  Use a toothpick to guide to edges and pop large air bubbles.

Let the cookies dry for at least one hour.

Use a small star tip to pipe green detailing around the center of the cookie.  Use a pulsing motion going around the cookie to create the "ruffle."

Use a #2 tip to add details to the flower petals.

Let the cookies dry uncovered 6-8 hours or overnight.

The next day, mix together equal amounts meringue powder and water.  Brush on the center of the cookies and shake on the chocolate sprinkles.  Shake off the excess.

{My original thought was to use chocolate covered sunflower seeds for the centers.  Do you know how hard it is to find BROWN chocolate covered sunflower seeds?  Well, it's hard.  Therefore, Chocolate Vermicelli. I kind of love it, too.} 

{They're like thin, delicate jimmies...and they taste really good and chocolatey.}

I hope your summer is filled with sunflowers...the real AND the cookie versions!

Cookies for Cheryl

A few weeks ago, we had a little cookie giveaway here...and guess who won?!? Cheryl, my friend over at TidyMom!!!

Disclaimer: Cheryl & I have never actually met, but I do consider her a REAL friend.  I'm working on getting her to pack her bags and head to Texas.  She has that whole family thing going on in Missouri, but come on, Cheryl...they can come, too!

Before I made the cookies, a little birdie told me that it was almost Cheryl's birthday.

So, I tweeted Cheryl and very slyly asked her favorite colors.
{You had no idea what I was up to, right Cheryl? *wink, wink*}

I loved her answer....turquoise and red!  Oh, how I loved working with these colors!


And, I tried something new! I've been seeing off-center graphic flowers everywhere lately...stationery, fabric, dishes...even one of my shirts.  I wanted to try it on a cookie.  I present to you....the modern daisy.
{Because I'm all about modern these days!} ;)


{I got a little distracted by my photo editing software "effects" here...}


Scoot on over to TidyMom (a blog I read EVERY day) and wish Cheryl a "Happy Birthday!!!" 

Here is Cheryl's picture from when she got them today:
I am no longer happy with my point & shoot camera.

Happy Birthday, Cheryl!!!  

Related posts:

• A cookie full of posies
• Pearly Girly birthday cupcakes
• Birthday butterflies

Everything's Coming Up Roses

{Update: I'm guest posting (my first ever) over at the darling Muthering Heights today! Come on over!}

When my neighbor (yep, THAT one) asked me to come over for a girls' night out, I was really excited.

Kristen also ordered cookies (yay!). She mentioned that she was going to give the girls a little something from the adorable Pleated Poppy and I thought I knew just the cookies to go with them.


I used the template that I made for the Yellow Rose sugar cookies.

To make a template for a specific shape, draw it on a file folder or something sturdy and cut it out. After rolling the dough, go around the shape with a paring knife. It takes a little more time and the edges aren't quite as clean as a cutter, but that's ok.


To make the red & pink roses:

• Using a #2 tip, pipe the outline of the rose in a pinky-red (AmeriColor Super Red mixed with Deep Pink).
• Using a #2 tip, pipe the outline of the leaf in green (AmeriColor Leaf Green).
• Thin pink (AmeriColor Deep Pink) and green icing, with water until they reach the consistency of syrup, cover with a damp dishtowel and let sit several minutes.
• Stir the pink icing gently with a rubber spatula to break any bubbles on the surface and transfer to a squeeze bottle. Fill in the rose with the thinned, flood icing.
• Repeat with the green icing, filling in the leaf.
• Let dry at least one hour.
• Using the same #2 tips, pipe the details in red and green on the rose.
• Let dry completely before packaging

In case you're wondering, it was such fun! Lots of laughs, great conversation... Did I mention the chocolate fountain? Yeah...it was a good time!

Thank you, Kristen, for inviting me!

Related posts:

1. Yellow Rose cookies
2. Decorated daisy cookies
   

A cookie full of posies...

My girlfriend Terri is having a birthday today...and her sweet mom ordered cookies for her! :)

She ordered these:

But then emailed and told me to do whatever I wanted.

I still wanted to make the pink birthday cakes...they are some of my favorites, but I thought I'd play around with the design a little.

These on the right, with the big flowers, turned out to be my favorites. The flowers are pretty "high profile," so I'm a little worried about how they will ship.

Maybe Terri will let us know. (Don't worry, I sent extras in case of breakage!)

Here are a few of Terri's pink birthday cookie mix all together...



Terri.....I hope you have a wonderful birthday!!! I miss you! I'll be sure to drink a Bass Ale in your honor tonight! :)

Flowers for Mother's Day

I say ditch the bouquet this year and give mom some flowers that she can eat! ;)

Here are quick and sweet little tulip cookies for Mother's Day....I have a box in the mail to my mother-in-law and my grandmother. {Shhhh....don't tell!}

{PS...my camera hates pink; sorry if the colors look a little strange!}

I see this cookie cutter just about everywhere...the grocery store, Michaels, Target. It makes a great, basic cookie and a really good one for decorating with kids.

To make them:

• Outline the tulip shape using a #2 or #3 tip using royal icing. (I used AmeriColor Lemon Yellow and a mix of AmeriColor Deep Pink and Electric Pink.)
• Add water to the pink and yellow icings, reserving some of the piping icing, to the consistency of a thick syrup. Cover with a damp towel and let sit several minutes.
• Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop any air bubbles that have formed and transfer to squeeze bottles.
• Fill in the cookies with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to guide into the corners.
• Let dry at least 1 hour.
• Using a #3 tip, add a stem in green (AmeriColor Leaf Green).
• With the reserved piping icing, add the tulip detail on the flowers.

Oops! Has this ever happened to you? Flood icing leaking? Either it's flooded over the piped edge or there's a gap in the border and the piped edge isn't touching the cookie (this happened to me A LOT when I was first learning.) On the cookie above, it's flooded over the first piped edge. Not to worry, it breaks right off. :)

In the mood for more flowers? Check out these daisies and the yellow rose cookies I made for my mom. ♥