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DECORATING HOLIDAY COOKIES




Source of Recipe


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Recipe Introduction


Decorating cookies can be as simple as
using icing dots to make a gingerbread
man’s face and buttons, or as challenging
as flooding and flocking with bright
royal icing and tinted sugar. Follow the
techniques below for beautifully iced cookies.



List of Ingredients




EQUIPMENT
Pastry bag with coupler
#2 tip for piping
#3 tip for flooding small cookies
#5 tip for flooding large cookies


Recipe



ICING TIPS

1. Royal Icing can be made several days ahead of time
and stored in pastry bags—at room temperature if made
with meringue powder or in the refrigerator if made
with egg whites.

2. The icing can be thickened or thinned by varying
the amount of egg whites and sugar. A thinner icing
(with more egg whites) is best for flooding, since
it spreads more smoothly; a thicker icing (with more
sugar) is best for piping.

3. If the colors start to separate, gently massage
the bag to remix the icing.

4. To fill a pastry bag: Place the bag tip side down
in a glass about 3 inches shorter than it; fold the
top of the bag down over the edge of the glass to
form a cuff. Using a large rubber spatula, scrape
the icing into the bag, filing it to one-half to
two-thirds full. Unfold cuff, and close bag with
a twist tie.

5. To prevent the tip from clogging, either place
a damp paper towel in the bottom of the drinking
glass, or insert a toothpick in the tip, and remove
it just before piping.

FLOODING COOKIES

This process coats the entire surface of a cookie
with royal icing.

1. Outline half a cookie with piping (thicker) icing,
using a #2 tip. Rotate cookie 180 degrees, and outline
the other half. Let the icing set, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. With the flooding (thinner) icing, using a #5 tip,
draw zigzags over the cookie’s surface.

3. Using a small offset spatula, spread the flooding
icing evenly within the piping outline. Let the cookie
dry overnight at room temperature.

4. When the flooding is dry, use the #2 tip to pipe
your chosen design.

FLOCKING COOKIES

This process creates an effect like flocked velvet:
Sparkly sanding sugar adds color and texture to the
cookies.

1. While the icing is still soft, hold the cookie
over a baking sheet, and sprinkle it liberally with
sanding sugar—a large-grain decorating sugar.

Let the cookie sit for 30 minutes before shaking off
excess sugar. Allow it to dry for several more hours
before gently removing stray crystals with a soft
pastry brush.