Royal Icing on Cookies

Royal icing is so much fun to work with! I like how smooth and shiny it looks. Here are some autumn-colored cookies I decorated recently with royal icing.

For the hearts, I piped short orange and horizontal lines onto the red icing while the red icing was still wet. Then I dragged a toothpick through those lines, creating the hearts.



The polkadots are really fun to do! You have to work quickly so the first layer of icing doesn't dry before you finish piping your dots. Use a thinned royal icing to add the orange dots while the red icing is still wet. The dots will settle and spread, creating a smooth, flat surface. For the sort of houndstooth looking one, you pipe orange lines onto the wet red icing, then drag a toothpick through the lines (first from left to right, then right to left).



The great thing about royal icing is that it looks so smooth, and after you let it dry for a few hours, you can stack your cookies without ruining the icing.

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

I decided to try using fondant to ice some sugar cookies again. These were for a Halloween party we went to over the weekend. I used the recipe for Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant again. I also used a recipe I found a few years ago for the sugar cookies. I'll post that later.

As soon as the cookies came out of the oven, I transferred them to a cooling rack. While they were still warm, I placed the circles of orange fondant on top. The fondant warmed up just enough to adhere to the cookies. Then, I used a fork to create the curved indentations on the fondant and the back of a knife to make the straight line in the middle.

Lots of cookies!

A close-up

Chocolate Apple Cake Pops

1 baked and cooled chocolate cake (can use cake mix or any favorite recipe)
2/3 can of your favorite pre-made frosting (or your favorite homemade recipe)
14 oz. bag red candy melts
pretzel sticks
green royal icing

lollipop sticks

Crumble entire cake into very large bowl using fingers.

Add about 2/3 of can of frosting to crumbled cake, using fingers to incorporate well. Use slightly more or less frosting, depending on the consistency of your mixture. It shouldn't be dry and crumbly, but it shouldn't be sticky either. It needs to be able to hold together when you start shaping it.

Shape into quarter-size balls. (You'll end up with about 45 or 50.) Pinch one end in a little to give it the tapered shape of an apple. Create an indentation in the top of the "apple" with your finger. Place apple-shaped cake balls into the refrigerator to help them become firm.

While they are cooling, start melting your candy melts. Heat for 30 seconds at a time on 50% power in your microwave. Stir every 30 seconds, and repeat until the candy has completely melted and looks smooth. Boil a cup or two of water in a tiny pot. Remove from heat. Place bowl of melted candy on top of the pot of hot water. This will keep the melted candy warm and smooth, without burning it.

Retrieve cake balls from refrigerator and place a lollipop stick 1/2 way up through the bottom of each ball. Dip in candy melts and use spoon to coat evenly. Place sticks in styrofoam blocks to allow candy to harden.

While the candy is still soft, place 1/4" piece of pretzel stick on top of each apple cake pop. Allow to completely dry and harden (15-20 minutes). Pipe leaves onto apples using royal icing. Allow to dry completely before wrapping.

And...a close up of the cute little apple!

All dressed up and ready to go!


Thanks to www.mylittlecupcakepop.com and http://bakerella.blogspot.com/ for the inspiration!