MORE EASTER GOODNESS + PAINTED COOKIES

Hey there! Some more Easter cookies to share. I tried quite a few more techniques in this batch. Some went to share with my boyfriend's co-workers, some to Easter dinner with his lovely family and some for my own visual and palate pleasing enjoyment.

I was able to achieve a higher amount of detail since the last batch mostly due to an improved royal icing recipe (recipe to follow soon!). And also a new super tiny 00 piping tip. This icing made a lovely smooth piping consistency that dropped from the tip beautifully and made perfect little dots that rounded themselves. To reach this consistency you will need to thin out the royal icing until it has the consistency of toothpaste. It should still hold a small peak and a tall peak should fall just slightly. This perfected piping icing also created a refined version of brush embroidery as compared to my last attempt where I had used a flood consistency icing.

The multi-coloured floral cookies were made using the wet-on-wet technique. I loved how they turned out but I did get a little cratering on some colourways of the icing. You might not be able to tell from the photos but the darker pink petals and centers of the flower are a bit sunken. I believe this happened because I used a toothpick to drop these colours on the cookie and did not pipe them in. The amount of icing needed for these colours was too small for piping bags and even using ziplocs seemed wasteful. So what I really need to do is learn how to make parchment cones. They are less wasteful, biodegradable and pretty!

For Easter dinner treats I decided to make some name cookies because everyone enjoys a little cookie ownership.

I don't usually write in script but it seems to come quite easily when using a piping bag. I couldn't quite remember the composition of some script letters so used this free font site to type in each name to preview it in a hand written script that had lettering I liked. I used the 'Always in my heart' font and then went bananas piping other details. I think I need to learn to edit a titch for a more modern look but for now I'm loving the super detailed granny cookie.



The top left cookie is done in a quilt effect and a great tutorial can be seen here. With a little confidence behind my skills I tried a few free hand flowers. The bottom left green round was meant to represent a Bluebell and in the center of the pink round are Snowdrops. These are some of my favourite harbingers of Spring.



These perfectly smooth white canvases! Ah, so satisfying. In contrast to my last batch of royal icing which needed 48 hours to set these flooded beauties set up in only 2 hours and I was able to pipe and even paint away. 



I've wanted to try this technique for a while but have been a little chicken because painting does not come naturally to me. I tried once on a canvas and just don't have the techniques to manipulate the colours into what is in my head. I am pleased with how these cookies came out but, well, not ecstatic. I wish I could make the colours just a bit softer and incorporated in a way that doesn't mush all the colours together. What I would really love is to attain this level of impressionistic beauty on a cookie. Yes, I would like my hands to achieve Monet on a cookie. Is that asking too much?

I found it handy to have the dye pots beside the corresponding toothpick because the concentrated colours can look quite similar. I also had some copper and ivory on the palette to use to darken and muddle the bright pure colours that come straight from the pot.

For my set up I had a paper towel for drying off the brush, a small cup of water for cleaning brushes between colours and another small cup of vodka for thinning the paint. If you're like me you'll likely keep forgetting and almost use water to thin your paint but try to refrain. Water may dissolve your iced cookie so stick to the vodka.

To create the soft watercolour effect I painted flowers and leaves on the cookie with varying concentrations and let it dry for a minute or so. I then went back over the designs with just vodka on the brush. This spreads out the colour in a lovely graduated way. I then added back detail with some concentrated colour. From what little I know of painting I understand that the gradual layering of paint is what creates visual depth. So next time I might try even thinner layers of paint to build up colour.

The weather in Vancouver this weekend was record breaking-ly warm and gorgeous!

I hope your Easter was equally as beautiful.

xoxo Melissa

EASTER COOKIES AND SOME ISLAND TIME

Hoppy Easter everyone! These sweet things were actually made about a week ago. Since then these lucky cookies have traveled across the sea with my mom and sister to my loved and lovely relatives in Japan. Yoroshiku!

These were my first serious attempt at decorated sugar cookies. I wanted a vintage yet refined colour palette and looking back at the pics I am super happy with the results. The lavender was initially meant to be a deep peach but one drop too much black colouring and I ended up with this deep mauve. A happy mistake.

One issue I struggled with on these cookies was the royal icing. I new in my gut that I had it wrong but I had whipped up the batch and just had to go with it. The icing did not set very quickly or well and I was left with a crystallized surface on the tops of the heavily flooded cookies. I hemmed and hawed about their lack of perfection but in the end was left with... too bad, deal with it. I had used Sweet Amb's recipe which I purchased from her site. Her cookies are a huge inspiration. They are perfect! And I just had to have her secrets even if it cost me a whole $1.99. The recipe itself is simple and straightforward, like all royal icing recipes there are only 3-4 ingredients. But the directions with the recipe were not very in-depth and so the technique did not work for me. Since these cookies I have found a recipe that works fantiddlyastic and will be posting it soon.

The cookies with paint-effect flowers are made using a "brush embroidery" technique. Two great videos can be found here and here.

The little bunnies were made using a transfer technique. You can use this print out of wee rabbits under a piece of waxed paper and then trace over the bunnies with pipe consistency icing. I provided a few sizes of bunnies but I used the smallest. You will need to use a tooth pick to coax the icing into the tiny details of the feet and nose. Cute! I then painted them gold using Wilton luster dust mixed with a little vodka and let dry. Once I added a second flood layer of icing I set the transfers on top to dry in.

Some other inspirations were the lace technique, thanks to Sugarbelle! And the marble technique, thanks to Sweetopia!

Along with my serious decoration of cookies I need to have the seriously perfect sugar cookie base to go along. So I made two different batches. One was Sweet Amb's Orange Cardamom (purchased along with the royal icing recipe) and the other was Sweet Sugarbelle's basic sugar cookie recipe. The recipes were very different in ingredients and technique.

Sweet Amb's recipe you chilled thrice! Once after the dough was formed, again rolled on a cookie sheet and then again once cut out! Whew! Too much I say! The flavour was nice and paired well with the sweet icing but the texture I found a bit tough. They are however a very durable cookie with nice sharp edges and I'm sure they can take a knockin' if being shipped.

On the other side Sugarbelle's involved no freezing but they spread quite a bit during baking and had softened edges.The flavour however was delightful! And the melt in your mouth texture from the icing sugar was amazing and got a big thumbs up from the boyfriend. But the icing sugar also made the cookies delicate and a little disintegrate-y when given the slightest rub. Hmm. The cookie trials continue, along with the running, the yoga and the vigorous shopping trips.

And now onto some other springy things...

I visited my childhood home in beautiful Victoria on Vancouver Island the other weekend. I hopped out of the car when we arrived and tried to catch a pic of this wee deer as he was walking thru the yard.

This adorable deer was popping up all weekend. His name is Kenny. Although I think he may be a doe.

When I was there I kept exclaiming how green the grass was be it lawn or highway median and my mom thought 'Well, maybe you don't see much grass in Vancouver'. Hmm, a bit true, but I still swear the grass is greener on the island. Ha! Pun!

While I was over, my mom and I drove up to Point no Point. I struggle with telling people about this secret spot so I usually only tell people I love or think are cool enough to enjoy it. Currently only my boyfriend reads this blog so we're safe. 

Point no Point is located just past French beach on the windy and rugged west coast of the island. A beautiful drive all year round and one of my favourites. It is a small resort which I have not yet had the pleasure to stay at, it's a little pricey and well, my mom's house is an hour and a half away. The restaurant however is an absolute gem. The food is made from local ingredients and is delicious! The best parts of Point no Point are the quaint atmosphere and the view! I love seeing the grey, choppy waters and chilly windswept trees while warming up with some tea and hearty soup.

I highly recommend asking the front desk for the gate code and taking their meandering path down to the beach. Its just enough to get the blood pumping and oh, the views.

I should also mention the wonderfully exposed west coast of our island is cold, windy and wet about 90% of the year but it is a very special type of gorgeous.

I hope where ever you are your spring is sprunging too.

xoxo Melissa