Oui! Oui! Let's go to Paris!

{Please tell me that you pronounced that PARE-EE.}



I've spent many of my cookie decorating years with a deep-seated fear.
The fear of the Eiffel Tower Cookie.


I mean, it's big, and detailed, and involves lots of diagonal lines. Piping diagonal lines well is not a gift that God bestowed upon me. It's ok...I'm still gifted at EATING cookies with diagonal lines, so there's that.


So, we "adopted" kiddo's French teacher for dinner one night recently. During one designated week at school, each faculty member's family gets adopted and a school family will drop dinner off for them one night.


I knew immediately that cookies would be part of the deal. Madame Bracht helped me with the French names for flowers in writing Decorating Cookies Party.

I also knew that it was time for me to face my fears...the tower of cookie decorating terror, er, the Eiffel Tower.


Things didn't go well when I started with pictures of the actual Eiffel Tower. Then, I found this drawing. I loved that it was still the Eiffel Tower, but it was a little whimsical. It had a few scallops and the x's weren't perfect. It was exactly what I needed for inspiration.

Here's what you'll need to make your own Paris Cookie set:

• the perfect cut-out cookie recipe
• cookie cutters: Eiffel Tower, heart (you can find these most anywhere), and poodle
• royal icing
• gel/paste food coloring:  I chose Ivory, then mixed a little ivory in with Soft Pink and Turquoise for soft, muted shades. I also used Super Black. 
• disposable icing bags
• squeeze bottles
• couplers and icing tips
• sanding sugar for the poodles

The cookies were outlined, then flooded with thinned icing. To thin icing for flooding, add water a bit at a time, until it is the consistency of maple syrup. Stir gently with a silicone spatula. Transfer to a squeeze bottle and fill in the outlines.

Once dried, the details were added...for the Eiffel Tower details, the details were piped with a #1 tip. 

For step-by-step instructions for decorating the poodle cookies, click here. (Old post, but decorated in the same manner.) 

Even without the other cookies, I love these hearts. A heart cookie with a black outline is one of my favorites. 

Is there a cookie design that is scaring you? I say, go ahead and try. Look for the whimsical, not-so-literal translation. Remember...it's just a cookie!

Bonjour, mon cherie!

---

Stone Cold Fox (cookies)

I couldn't just leave well enough alone with the skunk heart cookies.

Seriously, I can almost feel a heart-animal cookie obsession starting to take hold, but I'm trying to push it down...I have too many other Valentine cookies I want to get to first. Plus, heart animals are really appropriate at any time of year. Right?


These little foxes are super simple to make and will be the perfect valentine treat for your favorite stone cold fox or foxy lady.

To make fox face valentine cookies, you'll need:

• cut-out cookies, heart-shaped
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Orange mixed with Red Red, Bright White and Super Black
• coupler and icing tips: #1, 2, & 3
• squeeze bottles
• disposable icing bags
• toothpicks

Use a #2 tip to outline the hearts with black icing. (I used a #3 tip to outline the cookies with the "foxy" wording.")

Thin the orange icing 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 the icing gently with a spatula, then pour into a squeeze bottle. Flood the cookies with the thinned icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and pop any large air bubbles. Let the cookies sit for at least one hour.


Use a #2 tip to outline a white heart on top of the orange icing. Reserve a bit of the piping consistency white icing. Thin the remaining white icing as above. Flood the white outline.

Let the cookies sit for at least one hour.


With a #1 tip, add the ears in white. Use a #3 tip to add the nose in black, then switch the tip to a #1 and add the eyes.

Let the icing dry uncovered for 6-8 hours or overnight.


I like the skunks and foxes together, too. It's like a forest of love. Or, something like that.



If you have any heart animal cookies ideas, leave them in the comments!

Go forth and be FOXY! 

♥

Dessert for Dudes: Love Me Tender(loin)

If you're asking yourself, Where's the Beef...don't worry.  It's not in these cookies. 


These chocolate cut-out cookies are just decorated to look like a side of beef.  They'd make a sweet gift for your dude, the perfect ending to a steak dinner, or a festive dessert for a BBQ.  (In Texas, we have BEEF BBQ...you North Carolinians, check here.)

I bought the cookie cutter on etsy, but you could always use any cow-shaped cookie cutter and just freehand the lines.  Call it "abstract beef."


As for the cookie recipe, I wish I could give you the exact one I used for these today, but I'll have to wait until October 7th (eep!). 
In the meantime, use any chocolate cut-out cookie recipe, like this one.

 

To make Love Me Tenderloin Cookies, you'll need:

• chocolate cut-out cookies
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Bright White
• disposable icing bag
• coupler and #2 tip
• large heart sprinkles

Cut out and bake the cookies, taking care not to press the sectioned cutter so forcefully into the dough that it cuts it into separate pieces.


Use a #2 tip to outline the cookie and sections with white icing.


Place a dot of icing approximately where a tenderloin would be. (I studied more illustrations of cuts of beef that I ever thought I would and this is the best place I could come up with.)


Place a heart sprinkle onto the dot of icing.

Let set about 1 hour before packaging.

Mmm....beefy. 

Wanna Neck?

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Have you ever looked at vintage valentines?  Oh my gosh...they are THE best!  Of course, the illustrations are darling, but they have the best puns!


So, this is my version of a punny valentine: Wanna Neck?


My child assures me that "no one" knows what "necking" means.  Which just confirms my suspicion that kids these days don't watch nearly enough Happy Days reruns.

When Mr. E, king of the puns, came home from work, I had finished the giraffes, but the hearts didn't have wording on them, yet.  I was SURE he would be able to guess the pun.

Guess, I told him...guess the valentine pun!  Want to know what he said?

"Giraffe-ter my heart?"
Giraffe-ter my heart. Really.

We could not stop laughing.

Our family is weird.  But, you knew that from these cookies already.

To make these giraffe valentine cookies, you'll need:

• giraffe cut-out cookies 
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Super Red and Deep Pink
• couplers and tips (#2, #1)
• disposable icing bags
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks
• black food coloring pen

Use a #2 tip to outline the giraffe with pink icing.  Add a tail and horn.

Before thinning, reserve some piping consistency red icing for later.  Thin the pink and red icings with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup.  (Reserve some of the white icing for piping details later.) 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.


Working 6-8 cookies at a time, flood the outlines with the thinned pink icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and pop large air bubbles. 


Starting with the first cookie filled, drop dots of thinned red icing onto the pink.  Drag a toothpick down the center of each dot to make a heart.
(Wipe the toothpick after each drag for a "clean" heart.  If you look at the hearts, you can see where I forgot to wipe the toothpick on a dot...there's a line down the top.)

Let the cookies dry at least 30 minutes.


Use a #1 tip to add a mane, heart on the tail, hooves, detail on the face, and heart on the horn.

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

The next day, add the eye with a black food coloring pen.

Happy ♥ Day!  

Peanut Butter Cup Turkey Cookies

These are not your average, everyday turkey cookies. 

{Wait...are there everyday turkey cookies?  Let's think about this.}

 

So, what makes them special?

First...there's a big ol' peanut butter cookie as the base.  Then, the peanut butter cup "body" (secured with some melted chocolate).  Oh!  And the feathers?  That's peanut butter buttercream, my friends.

Peanut Butter Cup Turkey Cookies...

You'll scoop the cookies out and flatten them with the bottom of a glass.

When they bake, they get a little poufy, then flatten out as they cool.

Now, things are getting interesting....

I just couldn't resist adding the little mouths on their faces.  Smirk, full smile, heart lips?  I couldn't decide.  All of the above!!!

I'm sharing the recipe and assembly instructions over at Imperial Sugar.

{Gobble, gobble!}

Desserts for Dudes: That's Some Pig!

Cuts of meat: the only way to make a pink, decorated cookie look manly.

When I saw this cookie cutter on etsy, I knew I must have it.  (I bought the cow, too.)


I toyed with the idea of baking up a chocolate-bacon cut-out cookie, but I really wanted these to be pink.  For the pink, you can either tint your cookie dough pink with food coloring, or use a pink dough.  I used some leftover watermelon cookie dough, but I will say, it's a little disconcerting eating a watermelon-flavored pig.

The cookie cutter really does all of the decorating work for you.  The imprints are nice and deep and remain throughout baking.

When cutting, though, some of the smaller sections wanted to stick in the cookie cutter.  I nudged them out with a chopstick.  You can see a little of it here...

...I think it's ok, though.

To decorate, I used a #3 tip and white royal icing.

Bada-bing. Bada-boom. Done.

Sooie!  Here piggy, piggy!!!