How to Apply Disco Dust...Works for Me Wednesday

Disco dust.  Have you tried it?

Disco dust will make your cookies sparkle like nobody's business.
{It also drives me slightly insane, which leads me to why I apply it the way that I do.}

About the size of fine glitter, disco dust tends to spread EVERYWHERE....just like glitter.  If you attempt to sprinkle it just on one area of your cookies, I promise, it will stick to every damp surface of that cookie.  I like to apply it to a DRY cookie.

Just like applying sanding sugar, let your cookies dry overnight.
Then, you'll need this:

• Mix equal parts meringue powder and water (for small batches, start with just 1/4 teaspoon of each).  
• Use one paintbrush to apply the mixture onto the cookie where you want the disco dust to stick.  
• Sprinkle on the disco dust over a basket-style coffee filter.  
• Shake off the excess and use the filter as a funnel pour back into the container.
• Use the 2nd (dry) paintbrush to brush off as much excess from the cookie as possible.

 

{Side note: unless you'd like to be WEARING disco dust all over your face and hair, I strongly discourage blowing on the cookie to remove the excess.  Not that I've ever done that or anything.}

Where to buy disco dust?

1. Amazon
2. Sweet Baking Supply
3. Layer Cake Shop 

Disco dust...works for me! 

 

Now, go get your DISCO on!

Cookie Decorators, Raise Your Work Surface...Works for Me Wednesday

Every now and then, husbands know best.


I'd been decorating cookies for a couple of years...I always decorated at night after putting kiddo to bed. It never failed, I'd crawl into bed after a few hours of decorating with an aching back and tense shoulders.

One night, Mr. E walked into the kitchen as I was decorating and said, "why don't you raise up your work surface?"

Ding, ding, ding!!!  Life. changed.

Now when I decorate, I *always* raise up my cookie sheet.

If you don't have a step stool, I *know* you have a stack of cookbooks. 

Raise 'em up.  No more hunching.  

Thank you notes from your back can be addressed to Mr. E. ;)

Help! My cookies have streaks!!! (Works for Me Wednesday)

Has this happened to you?

You've spent hours mixing colors, outlining and flooding.  Your cookies look perfectly perfect. You decide to let them dry overnight and go to bed. You wake up the next morning to STREAKS in your royal icing.

Nooooooooooooooo! 

Those white or light colored streaks are caused by.....water.  Yep.  Water.

Let me tell you how that water probably got there:

1. Squeeze bottles used for flooding weren't *completely* dry.  Even a small drop of water clinging to the side of the bottle can wreak havoc on a cookie.  Solution: check all bottles before filling.  If there is a drop of water, dry with a paper towel.
2. When thinning a bowl of icing, a drop of water goes unnoticed on the side of the bowl.  When the icing is poured into the squeeze bottle, the drop of water is poured in as well.  Solution: always add water with a measuring spoon into the bowl.  Never hold the bowl under running or dripping water.
3. The icing in the bottle is too thick for flooding, so a drop or two of water is added and not properly mixed.  Solution: to add water, pour the icing back into a bowl and stir. Do not under any circumstances SHAKE the bottle.  This will fill your icing with air bubbles (another issue for another day.)

 

If you happen to spot a drop of water when you're filling your cookies, use a paper towel to blot out the water and add more icing if needed. 

Have streaks ever happened to you?  Have you had other issues decorating cookies?  What are they?  Tell me, tell me!  I bet I've had them, too.

{In the meantime, check out this post from the archives on Troubleshooting.}





Preventing streaky cookies....works for me!

How to: Dry Luster Dust Application...Works for Me Wednesday

I love using luster dust to add a metallic shine and shimmer to my cookies.  Did you know you can apply it wet OR dry?

 

It's a little hard to see the effect of a dry luster dust application in photos sometimes. Think of it this way....dry luster dust is like a shimmery body powder.  Wet luster dust application is like a gold lame skirt.

The wet application is perfect for when you want an opaque finish that really transforms your cookie into silver or gold.  These First Communion Chalice cookies are a great example...and the tutorial for applying is there for you as well. 

Instead of using the wet application for the keys, I kept the cookies in the same color palette by adding the luster dust dry.

Adding the luster dust dry lets you see the original cookie color, but adds a sheer, metallic shimmer. 

It really couldn't be easier.  Let your cookies dry overnight, then use a clean and dry paintbrush to brush on the luster.

Can you see the difference? It's a little hard to pick up in a photo.  The cookie in front has luster; the one in the back doesn't.

How about now?

The same luster dust color I used here can be found at Sweet! 

Happy lustering! 

Decorating Cookies with Kids...Works for Me Wednesday

Blame it on the commercials, you know they ones...mom, grandma, and kidlets all in matching aprons, standing in a sparkling clean kitchen decorating cookies together.  They're smiling, hugging, and having an all-around wonderful, memory-making time.  Not to mention, the cookies look perfect.

Let's be honest here...decorating cookies with kids CAN be fun...but it can also be a hair-pulling, cry-inducing, mommy-needs-wine-please mess.  I've found that I have to remove this sentence from my vocabulary, "Here, let me help you with that."

Here are some tips to {stress-free} cookie decorating with kids:

1. Have everything ready BEFORE bringing the kids into the kitchen.  That means, the cookies are baked, icing is made and tinted, all supplies are out and available.  (If you really think your kids will like the color the icing themselves, tint most of it, then save a bowl or two for them to color.)

2. Hand Sanitizer.  Obviously, if you are doing this at home, you can have your kids wash their hands.  If you are with a large group (these pictures were taken at a community center), break out the hand sanitizer.

3. The icing.  Royal icing can be made in advance and refrigerated for a few days.  Before the decorating begins, bring to room temperature and thin with a bit of water.  You'll want it looser than a piped icing, but not so thin (like a flood icing) that it runs off the cookies.  Thin it enough so it can be easily squeezed out of a bottle.

4. Sprinkles and sanding sugar. Kids love 'em.  I think they're a must.  You might not want frosting-covered hands grabbing for the sprinkle containers, so small bowls and ramekins with spoons work great.

{PS...if you put out 7 kinds of sprinkles and sugars, kids will want to use ALL 7 on their cookies.}

5. Decorate ON something with an edge.  Here we used paper plates, but if you're decorating at home, a rimmed cookie sheet works perfectly.  Remember those sprinkles?  You'll want to catch them on that rimmed sheet before you're slipping & sliding all over your floor.

6. Let them eat COOKIES!  Even if you're saving your cookies for Santa or the neighbors, make sure each child has a cookie to eat.  (Otherwise, Santa is going to have a big ol' bite out of one of his cookies.) 

7. ENJOY the moment!!!  Kids are so fun to decorate with because they're not scared.  They dive right in and have the *best* ideas.  I'm in love with this striped tree:

{Be prepared to see it on the blog next year.} ;)

Do you have any tips for cookie decorating with kids?

Tips for Christmas Cookie Baking & Giving...Works for Me Wednesday

{Christmas Cottages}

Making cookies at Christmas used to overwhelm me a bit.  There are so many people I want to make cookies for....and so little time.  I still don't get them made for everyone on my list (the church choir has been on my list now for 2 years and still has not seen one cookie), BUT I've learned how to de-stress the whole process and just have fun with it.  Maybe the choir will get their cookies this year, after all.

{Dotty Winter Trees}

First...take a look at your supplies.  You're going to need:

• meringue powder
• food coloring
• cookie cutters
• ingredients 
• icing bags & squeeze bottles
• couplers & tips
• parchment paper
• individual treat bags
• ribbon
• boxes for packaging
• boxes for shipping
• shipping supplies

Order.Them.Now.

{ornaments}

Try Amazon, Sweet Baking Supply, King Arthur Flour, or even your local craft shop.  (Also, try clicking the links in this post.) ;)

 {gingerbread gals & dudes}

OK....next.  Start early.  Cookie decorating is really more fun if you break it up into chunks.   
Do one of the following to make life easier:

• make the dough ahead and freeze (thaw in the fridge overnight)
• bake the cookies and freeze (thaw at room temperature for a few hours)
• bake the cookies the day before decorating
• make the icing a day (or so) before decorating (if you are doing fine detail work, you'll want to make this the same day you are using)

{peppermint candy cookies}

If you are making hundreds of cookies, you might want to make and decorate a few dozen at a time, THEN freeze...yes, cookies decorated with royal icing can be frozen.  I individually bag the cookies, then place in freezer baggies, then place those in plastic containers to prevent crushing.  Thaw at room temperature in the packaging for several hours.

{baa humbug}

Shipping...after all of that hard work, you really want your cookies to arrive intact.  Check this post and this video for info on shipping.

{Christmas lights}

So, who's decorating cookies this season?

 

{Or are you waiting until New Year's?}

These few tips work for me; I hope they work for you, too!  

Permanent Templates for Custom Cookie Shapes . . . Works for Me Wednesday

So, here's the deal.  You guys are smarter than I am.

{But you already knew that.}

A while back, I wrote a post about making templates for cookie shapes when you don't have a cutter.  I was making them with clean cardstock or cutting up a new manila file folder.

Well, I got a sweet email from a reader who suggested I use plastic made for quilting templates.


Ding! Ding! Ding!

A. Using this method, the templates are reusable and WASHABLE!
B. My mom, who was a quilter, would have just loved this!

It's how I make all of my templates now.  All you do is...
 
go to the fabric store and buy the template plastic,


place the image to be traced underneath the plastic,


trace (I like a Sharpie),


cut out (I used my "good" scissors just for you guys).

Voila!  A cookie template you can use over and over again.  Works for me!

**Dear sweet reader who sent in the tip, please let me know who you are in the comments, so I can give you proper credit.**

Making Cookie Decorating Easier (with color) . . . Works for Me Wednesday

*Let me tell you a little cookie decorating secret*

Making 48 cookies in a similar color scheme is easier than making 18 cookies in all different colors.

I love cookie assortments.  And Eleni's in NYC has the some of the most creative and beautiful assortments around.  Like this gorgeous one...

{source: birds & butterflies assortment, Eleni's}

Now, I count...eleven colors in that assortment of 24 cookies.  If you are making these cookies at home, you'd better have tips and couplers and squeeze bottles out the wazoo, or be prepared to do some washing.

Making and planning a million different colors for one batch of cookies can rattle even a seasoned cookie decorator. (OK...I haven't actually asked anyone else, but it rattles ME.)  You'll also end up making lots of extra icing, just to ensure you have enough of every color.

Want to streamline the process?  Pick just a few coordinating colors.  So, from the Eleni's example, maybe just the purple birds, butterflies and flowers.  Just as pretty and and it will save you time and headaches. TRUST ME.


I actually LOVE how cookies that are all in the same color scheme look on a dessert table or in a basket.


This assortment?  Three different cookie designs, but using the same 3 colors.

Color coordinating cookies....they work for me!

How to Stop the Bleeding . . . Works for Me Wednesday

{that sounds kind of creepy, huh?}

The tips here are not a guarantee against bleeding icing colors, but hopefully they will help.

First, a little general advice:

1. Use a high quality gel paste food coloring (I like AmeriColor).  I LOVE their Super Red and Super Black food colorings.
2. Use as little food coloring as possible to achieve the right color. Remember that colors, dark colors especially, will deepen over time and as they dry. Over-saturated colors tend to bleed more than others.

 
For applications, like this one, where you are applying thinned icing on top of wet icing:

1. Work several cookies at a time, filling in the base color, then going back to the first cookie filled and applying the second color.  This will allow the base coat a few minutes to set before applying the second color.
2. Thin the icing colors out to as close to the same consistency as possible.

 
{Why did one cookie bleed and the other didn't?  I'm not sure.  It's a cookie mystery.}

For applications involving a dark outline:
 

1. If filling a cookie that has a dark outline, give the outline a little extra time to dry.  For a black outline, I let the outline dry 30-60 minutes before filling with a lighter color.  Another cookie maker I know (hi, Jen!) waits 3 hours.  And her cookies are perfection.
2. If adding detail piping in a dark color on top of a light color (like the beer mugs or the white hearts below), give the flood icing at least one hour to dry before adding the detail.

 

 Here's my most important tip for bleeding icing...

don't sweat it! 

It's just a cookie; it doesn't have to be perfect. 

YOU are probably the only person who notices. (I promise.)

{Plus...once it has been eaten, there will be no evidence!} ;)