Cookies Archives - Sugared Productions Blog

The colors I chose for this tutorial are a “vintage-ish” teal color scheme. The key is to start with an ivory base. Then I added Americolor Teal and Sky Blue. If you feel it’s getting too strong or bright, add a bit more ivory. *I tend to use ivory a lot with my colors. I love how it can change colors drastically. Muting the vibrate pinks etc. Love it!!

Choose your stencils. These are my faves from The Cookie Countess and Salsa Sweets/Salsa Stencils. They can be found here: https://thecookiecountess.com https://www.facebook.com/SalsaSweets

Base flood your cookie and allow to dry at least 24hrs. If it is not dry enough, your finger will indent the cookie during the stenciling process. (Note: see our Cookie 101 tutorial in our online school to learn about icing and flooding cookies).

Then lay your chosen stencil onto of the cookie and look at all areas to make sure the stencil “ends” off the cookie the way you like. Layer on a rather thick coat of icing with an offset spatula. I recommend using a metal spatula. They are more sturdy and give you a cleaner edge for stenciling.

Wipe the spatula on a wet paper towel. Using the edge of the spatula, in long swipes, remove as much excess icing as possible. This may take 3 or 4 passes. Don’t worry about the ends, we will fix them later.

Gently remove the stencil in one quick movement.

Afterwards, you will notice these little wiggles of excess icing that have fallen between the stencil and the cookie. Use either a toothpick to remove the excess or…

… the tip of the spatula to quickly scrape off the ends.

You may also want to use only a section of a stencil. Here, I wanted to just use one line of my damask stencil. Using scotch tape, mask off the top and bottom of the area you want to stencil. I have also heard of some using “Press and Seal” wrap to mask off areas.

Repeat the process above, trying to keep the icing in the center of the area we masked off.

Remove excess icing with spatula or toothpick.

Smaller stencils do tend to be easier to use at first. Mainly because a lot of them have a small “tab” on the side that allow you to hold it easier.

If you would like to practice, you could use either a paper plate upside down or the “Notta Cookie” The Notta Cookie can be found at Karenscookies.net. It is a dishwasher safe, reusable fake cookie. I love be able to test techniques on a similar shape to a cookie!
Place stencil on cookie.
Add icing to bottom of offset metal spatula.
Layer on your icing. Not too thick, but making sure it gets into all the groves.
After you have wiped your spatula on a damp paper towel, swipe off excess icing.
Remove stencil carefully.
Beautiful butterfly! This stencil, and others can be found at designerstencils.com These cookies made a HUGE splash at my kids school. The teachers where blown away and wondered where I bought them!

Stenciling can give you that big bang for little effort. Think about your colors and shapes ahead of time and the process goes super quick!

Happy stenciling!

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Merging her lifelong love of art and baking with a career in illustration and design has given birth to Krista’s immensely popular cookie business and blog. After working in illustration for 15 years, she married that skill with her affinity for baking, and Cookies with Character was created. Krista’s fun yet refined designs have helped put her stamp on the cookie world.
Krista’s pages: Facebook, Website, and Etsy shop

— Krista’s full bio here

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Iced Pumpkin Cookies

Sharon Z — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 01:31:11 +0000

I saw these cookies on a wonderful blog, The Repressed Pastry Chef, and knew I had to make them. So, in my quest to procrastinate from doing my cake prep last night, I figured that was the perfect time to make them. My son J and I both love pumpkin, and he likes to bake, so we made these together.

And since it is now September, we can officially commence the pumpkin recipes!

Iced Pumpkin Cookies
Ingredients
1 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons milk
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup packed brown sugar

Method
Preheat oven to 350°F, line cookie sheet with silicone mat.

Cream shortening, granulated sugar and pumpkin. Add egg and mix well. Add the baking soda, ground cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and flour and mix well. Using a small-to-medium sized disher (cookie scoop) or generous tablespoon, scoop batter onto cookie sheet. Using a wet finger, smooth points/peaks and gently press down tops. Bake 15-18 minutes then remove from oven and transfer to cooling rack and cool about 10-15 minutes before icing. To Make Icing: Cook butter, milk, and brown sugar until dissolved. Cool and add confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Place a sheet of waxed paper under the cooling rack, take the cooled cookies and holding one at a time dip upside down into the icing, invert and place on cooling rack. Decorate with sprinkles while icing is still wet.

I made some a little larger than others, and I liked those better, as they were more moist. I liked them even better the next day, as they softened up a little. These are seriously dangerous to have around. They are very soft, cake-like and almost melt in your mouth. Very quick and easy to make too. Hope you try them!

OK, back to work for me! Have a great week!
Sharon

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Book Giveaway!

Sharon Z — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 02:05:38 +0000

Hi sweet friends!

There is a new cookie decorating essential I can’t wait to tell you all about! Georganne Belle is an immensely talented cookie artist, and has contributed some amazing tutorials to our online school. (You can see those here).

Her blog, LilaLoa, is a true testament to her creativity and innovation. There are so many cool tips and tricks there, I would definitely add her blog to your weekly reads.
Georganne has written a book! The Cookie Companion is her newest contribution, and it is a must have. Whether you are a beginner, or a seasoned pro there is something in this book for you. The gorgeous cookies on the cover tell the story!

To celebrate her achievement, I’m giving away one copy of her book (hardcover too!)

Don’t worry, if you don’t win the giveaway you can still get a copy of Georganne’s book right here on Amazon. Good luck!

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WINNER IS LISA BELL! CONGRATS!

Thanks to all who entered.

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AND……..if that’s not enough….. she has a wonderful Craftsy class on using common cookie cutters you already have in new and innovative ways; I highly recommend it.

You can get it for 50% off at this link.

Georganne Bell is the sugar artist behind the popular cookie decorating blog LilaLoa. She began her journey into sugar through cakes, but quickly switched to cookies when she moved to South Korea and discovered that her oven was the size of a bread box. Georganne has been teaching the basics of sugar cookie art all over the world, including television, and her cookies have appeared in magazines such as Cake Masters and American Cake Decorating Magazine. She teaches online at SugarEd Productions, Craftsy, and Arty McGoo U.
Happy Cookies!
Sharon

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Gingerbread Cottage Tutorial

Sharon Z — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 05:11:17 +0000

Hi guys! Christmas is just around the corner! Today we have a guest post from Ella Sugar Boutique! Look at this utterly charming holiday gingerbread cottage. The best part? You can use a purchased kit and crank it up a big ole notch by using Ella’s decorating tutorial. My heart pitter patters……

Materials

any pre-made , pre-assembled ginger bread house or the one you baked. This year you can find great variety of houses in Costco, Target, Wilton.com
Fondant
Icing colors (blue, pink, red, yellow, green, brown)
sharp knife or x-acto
Stiff but still sticky royal icing
pipin gel
ruler
small round cutters
fine tip decorators brush
flat tip decorators brush
rule
pizza/fondant cutter
yellow sour drops
9 inch roller pin
small silicone molds (buttons, leafs, bows )
royal icing dots (multiple sizes)
Red Sugar Pearls
Scale cutter
christmas lights (optional)
Fine tip edible paint markers.

Instructions

If you bought a preassembled house cut out the frontal, and side windows. If you are making your own , before you bake it cut out all the windows. You can cut them all out or just some of them.

Make some patterns in paper with the same measurements of your house
Using the circle cutters and brown fondant, cut out one ring to decorate your round widows if you have them.

Roll out white fondant and cut out the 2 pentagons or squares to cover the front and back of the house. Place the pieces on separated powder sugar-cornstarch dusted paper

Tint fondant in soft blue, roll it out 1/16 ” thick and cut out diamonds, then attach them to the front and back pieces

Use the house patterns to cut out the spaces for the windows .

Apply piping gel to the house front and back, and attach the fondant pieces.

*If you didn’t cut out all the windows: Roll out the yellow sour drops very thin, and attach them to the window spaces.

Cover the sides with white fondant and cut out the windows spaces, procede to cover them with yellow sour drops if needed.

Roll out blue fondant as wide as your house sides and 1/16? thick. Cut strips 1/2 in tall.

Attach the strips to the house, starting from the bottom and trimming the excess.

Attach the house to a base using stiff royal icing. In my case I cut a hole in the cardboard base because I’m going to place a little light inside the house.
The house would look close to this at this point.

If your house has additional pieces like a door or porch, continue the process decorating those.
Cut out the shape of the door and trimmings in red fondant

Attach those pieces to the house.

Decorate the round windows

If you opened the front and side windows, add fondant to the lower part of the frame or to the 4 sides if you like.

Attach the chimney to the roof if you have one and cover it with soft blue fondant.
Roll out white fondant and cut out scales. Attach them to the roof starting from the bottom edge cover it completely.

Use multiple small molds and make small figures to decorate de roof.

Finish the roof edges with 1/2 scales.

Decorate the door adding a little roof in fondant.

Cut out white fondant strips to cover the exposed ginger bread on the sides .

Add trimmings to the windows and poke little holes on the corners to simulate nails.

Finish your roof attaching the little fondant shapes and royal icing dots. Finish yor chimney if you attached one.

Cut out red fondant strips, cut the edges and attach them to the windows lower trim as ribbons

Mold or cut out little leaves in green fondant and attach the leafs and red sugar peals to the window ribbons, roof, roof edges, and chimney. Add leaf to the edges of the roof in the front door too.

Add the final details like a bow in the top of the roof.

Insert the light (optional)
And add a bow to the door roof, use edible markers and pains the details in the windows and door.

Cover with stiff royal icing and a spatula the house base and use sour drops to shape a little walkway.

Add decors to the landscape and a ribbon to cover the base’s edge.

And your done!

Ella Buitrago MS is an Engineer, Cake Decorator and Sugarpreneur owner of the Ella Sugar Boutique. She is a software engineer from Colombia, has a Master in Information Technology form Harvard University. Her love for the sugar arts started when she was a teenager; she took culinary clases in high school, she self-taught the fondant preparation, royal icing piping and more, until she came to UU.EE and took independent clases in the arts. From 2010 to 2012 she worked as a freelance cake decorator at the Decorating Room for Wilton Inc before moving to the Boston area. Read more here…

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How seriously cute is this little house. All the similar gingerbread houses we make over the years; this is such a fun and new approach. I’d love to see yours!

Happy Holidays!
Sharon

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Halloween Treat Ideas and Tutorials

Sharon Z — Wed, 07 Oct 2015 03:18:30 +0000

Hi friends!

It’s almost that spooky fun time of year! Halloween is such a great holiday for making fun and creative sweets and treats. The possibilities are endless. It’s not to early to start planning, so here’s some ideas and tutorials you help get you kick started:

Mummy Cake by The Partiologist

Mummy Pumpkin Cookies by OMG Chocolate Desserts

Oreo Bat Truffles by One Sweet Appetite

Halloween Bundt Cake by Love Bakes Good Cakes

Reese’s Frankenstein Cupcakes by Your Cup of Cake

Haunted Cupcakes by Today’s Parent

Cake Ball Brains by Hungry Happenings

Vampire Cake Pops from Bakerella

Ghost Cupcakes from Better Homes and Gardens

Purple Candy Apples by The Kitchen McCabe

Aren’t these just the cutest? I can’t wait to see what you guys make; link me to your photos in the comments!

Happy Halloweening!

Sharon
Sugared Productions Online School

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Autumn Themed Treats

Sharon Zambito — Sun, 06 Sep 2015 23:26:55 +0000

Hi ya’ll!!

Have you had enough of summer? I know I have. It’s hot as heck down here in the deep south.

Let’s dream about the upcoming Fall season. Here’s a round up of Autumn themed treats and recipes to help get us ready!

Chocolate Caramel Cupcakes from Sweetopia

Indian Corn Cookies from Sweet SugarBelle

Pumpkin Cake Pops from The Pink Whisk

Autumn Basket Cake from SugarEd Productions

Kitty Cat Pumpkin Cake from The Cake Girls

Chocolate Painted Cake from The Cake Blog

Slice of Pie Cookies from Cookie Crazy

Pumpkin Patties from Mom On Timeout

I can almost smell the scent of pumpkin pie in the air. I hope these got you inspired for Fall baking.

Happy Caking!

Sharon

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Hey Batta Batta Batta Swing!

Sharon Z — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 17:22:49 +0000

Hi sweet friends!

Since we are in the throws of summer, today let’s talk about America’s favorite past time: baseball….but in all sugar! Here’s some sweet baseball projects that will hopefully inspire you to create your own.

How about a 3D baseball glove all made of cake! So realistic it will knock the (baseball) socks off your guests! With just some easy carving and simple airbrushing, it’s a home run.

Next we have a baseball cap cake so real looking it’s sure to fool people! Tip: Add your hometown colors and make it a game day treat

Finally, this array of baseball themed sugar cookies is sure to be a crowd pleaser! Sweet butter cookies decorated with royal icing details, even down to the tiny stitching!

Try these next time you need a baseball themed treat and you’ll hit a grand slam!

** Our school contributors did an amazing job putting together tutorials on these. Thanks to Charity Fent Cake Design, LilaLoa Cookies and Sandy Thompson.

Until next time, happy caking!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

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