Gold-Adorned Christmas Wreath Cookies: Color Challenge

Hey guys!  Remember the first color challenge...the color was bright pink?  Well, this time, the color is GOLD!!!

Gold screams "fancy;" it does (!), but I wanted to incorporate gold into cookies in a super simple way.  I know I say this all the time, but I love a simple cookie.  It leaves more time for eating.

These gold-adorned wreath cookies incorporate gold in two ways: 1. edible gold star glitter (!!!), and 2. a gold luster dust bow.

To make them, you'll need:

• wreath cookies, using this recipe
• royal icing tinted with AmeriColor Forest Green & Gold
  
• disposable icing bags
• squeeze bottles
• decorating tips (#2) and couplers
• gold star edible glitter
• gold luster dust
• vodka (yep.)
• small paintbrush

With a #2 tip, outline the wreath bow in gold icing.


With another #2 tip, outline the wreath in green icing.

Thin the green & gold icings (reserve a bit of gold for later) 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 rubber spatula to pop any large air bubbles that have formed. Transfer to squeeze bottles.

Fill in the wreath with the thinned green icing.  Use a toothpick to guide into corners and pop large air bubbles.

Add the star sprinkles.

Fill in the bow with the thinned gold icing.  Let dry at least one hour.

Let dry at least one hour.

With a #2 tip add a center to the bows.

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

Get out your luster dust supplies:  Luster dust, small ramekin, small paintbrush and vodka (a good excuse to always have vodka in the house).

Mix up your luster dust with a few drops of the vodka and brush it on. (The alcohol will evaporate, leaving just the gold sheen.)  Add a few drops of vodka to the ramekin as you're working if it starts to get clumpy on you.  A little goes a long way, so don't worry about using all of the container in one shot.


You can see here the difference between the plain iced bow (right) and the luster dust bow (left).

I hope you'll add some gold to your holiday cookies this year!

Now, go check out the other GOLD color challenge blogs.  These ladies are SO talented!!!