With Spring on its way (or at least in my imagination), I began searching through my small collection of Spring/Easter items. My sudden excitement over the approaching Spring was some what fueled by the lovely Spring decorating blogs that I have been viewing. Unknowingly, I was influenced by all of the whimsical bunnies, tulips, daffodils and beautiful colors and patterns of delicate pinks, lush greens and tranquil blues. Oh my goodness, I can smell the scent of the first Spring rain!
Well, in my pursuit to find all things Spring around the house, I came across my tulip cookie cutter that I purchased last year and had not the chance to use. Then and there I realized this would be the year to create one of those decorated cookies that really should be art work on the wall.
I have often admired the millions of intricately decorated cookies and their recipes that are published by so many creative artists. I love the beautifully detailed designs and I am amazed by the kind of design that can be created on a single cookie. I can only guess that there must be the appropriate type of frosting and pastry bag nozzle that can make this all come to life.
My desire to replicate these glamorous cookies took me on a hunt for a way to achieve a stunning Spring cookie but also with less complications, especially for me who is a beginner at cookie decorating. (My previous cookie decorating attempts were dipping the front of a cookie in frosting followed by dipping it in colorful sprinkles.)
In my investigation of cookie decorating, I came across the Wilton Edible Markers. This was the perfect thing for me as a newcomer. I purchased the box of five different colors at Michaels (see pictures below). All I needed was a cookie, white frosting and these pens. No need for mixing up huge pastry bags of colorful frosting. Eager to get started, I made up a small batch of gingerbread cookie dough and my powdered sugar/corn syrup white frosting. After a day or letting the frosting dry on the baked cookie, I could hardly wait to become another Claude Monet impressionist.
Needless to say, my first attempt resulted in nothing close to art, but the cookies were gladly consumed by my husband. The frosting was the type of frosting which did not harden enough to draw on. So my quest continued. I was determined to make this a success the second time around by using a cream of tartar frosting for gluing together gingerbread houses. (It would be the Guerilla Glue of frostings, don't you think?) For that I brought out my mother's Wisconsin Electric Cookie Book for the frosting recipe. With much determination, I baked the sugar cookies, whipped up the frosting and covered those delightful little treats until the ambitious project was finished. Now the wait time. I gave those scrumptiously sweet delicacies two days for the frosting to dry and harden. It was after then I could put my artistry to work.
Since sketching landscapes and portraits of my favorite animals on the cookie were out of the question, I chose to keep it simple and draw a straightforward version of a tulip and rose. Here are some of the pictures of my workmanship. (Would you say my artistry is more in line with Pablo Picasso instead? You are correct, I think I will stick with designing tablescapes in place of cookie decorating. It was fun, nevertheless.)
Warmest wishes........Marsha
