Super delicious birthday cookies

Now, my piping still isn't perfect, but here are a few tips I've learned along the way.

• Use the smallest round tip you feel comfortable with. (I know that ends in a preposition, but "with which you are comfortable" just seemed too fancy.) I like to use a #1 tip.  The larger tip you use, the more likely the letters are to spread.
• Fresh royal icing is important.  Royal icing can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, but it loses some of its stiffness.  For the most exact lettering, make your royal icing the day you'll be piping.

• Write down the name or word to be piped on paper.  Make sure you've spelled it correctly and look at it every so often.  Words tend to look strange when you've piped them 52 times in a row.
• Start from the middle.  Once you've written the word on paper, find the center letter.  Place that letter in the center of the cookie and work out from there.
• Practice.  Before plunking down icing on that first cookie....practice.  Practice on a paper towel or a plate or a cookie sheet.  It could be that you were thinking all CAPS, but lowercase looks better. Maybe you want to try cursive.  Try it out first.

Several months ago, I mentioned a great company called Blog2Print.  They actually print your blog in book form.

Whether you are a food blogger, or a craft blogger, or a mommy blogger, or a home blogger....or even if you aren't, but you know a blogger.....this is such a cool idea!

When my book came in the mail, I opened it and saw cookies and baking projects that I had already forgotten about.  And I LOVE that kiddo will be able to look back on it someday...and maybe even try some of the recipes!


 
Blog2Print and I are teaming up for the Blissdom blog conference.  I leave for the conference in Nashville tomorrow (and guess who is my roomie!), but while I'm there.....

To enter:

• go take a look at Blog2Print's site...and then leave a comment here telling why you would love to print your blog....or maybe you would print someone else's blog as a gift for them.

Extra entries (leave a separate comment for each):

• tweet it!Tweet
• follow Blog2Print on twitter

{If you will be at Blissdom, please come say "hi!"  I'd love to meet you and I'll have my B2P book with me if you'd like to see one up close! And if you're not going, be sure to follow the fun on twitter using the #blissdom hashtag.}


{Drawing will be held Sunday, January 30th at noon, CST. Good luck!} giveaway now closed.

After last week's WFMW post, I realized that I needed to let you in on a little cookie decorating secret.  A secret called....white food coloring.

White food coloring is one of those things I saw in the bakery supply store for years and thought, "Royal icing is white. Why would I ever need that?" 

Then, it happened.  My beautiful WHITE outlined cookies turned, well, off-white.  The cookies I spent 5 hours decorating.  The cookies I needed to mail to a friend THAT morning weren't white. *sob*

I have no idea why royal icing turns off-white sometimes and not others.  All I know is, I'm not risking it any longer. I use it EVERY time I need white icing.  Just use it like you would any other food color.

Another hint: I put in the amount of AmeriColor Bright White that I think is enough, and then I add a little more.  Trust me, more is more here.

It's not only for royal icing and cookies, either.  Cheryl used it on her Snowy cupcakes earlier this week....they are so cute!


Where to get it?

• your local bakery/cake supply shop
• Sweet!
• Amazon for big or small {affiliate link}

OK...new year, time to get back in the swing of things!  I'm going to try to be better about posting Works For Me Wednesday tips (to tell the truth, I ran out of ideas), so if there is anything you are wondering about, please leave it in the comments. :)

Food coloring: I use AmeriColor Gel Paste food coloring for ALL of my food coloring needs (that sounds funny).

I have a shelf full of, let me count....thirty-one bottles of color.  Hey, just like Baskin-Robbins.  Anyhoo....

These SEVEN are the ones I cannot live without:

 I have large bottles of Bright White, Super Red and Super Black....

 In the smaller bottles, Deep Pink, Chocolate Brown, Egg Yellow and Leaf Green....
So, if you are just starting decorating cookies, those 7 are the colors I would start with.

***update: In the comments, Megan pointed out that I don't have a blue listed.  Although I don't use blue all that often, you definitely need one in your arsenal. I use Sky Blue. Thanks, Megan!***

Where to buy AmeriColor Gel Paste Food Coloring?  Lots of places.

• Sweet!
• Bake It Pretty
• Layer Cake Shop
• Amazon (good source for the big sizes)
• local baking supply shops
• Bake at 350 Amazon shop
• and....I am so happy to say this: HOBBY LOBBY!!! (Now if only they would carry Ateco meringue powder!)

Oh! I'm guest posting over at Confessions of a Cookbook Queen today! Go meet Kristan!  She's a hoot! (And there's chocolate.....)

A year ago, I might not have written this post.  I had let my Sam's Club membership expire.  I'll be honest.....we went in 3 times a year and bought beer and giant boxes of potstickers.

Then, last month, I was offered a tour of our newly remodeled Sam's Club.  I was impressed.

First, the store is much more open.  They added a center aisle and there are no more trampolines hanging from the ceiling.  (Those things always scared me.)

Second, they started listening to shoppers like us.  Moms, bloggers....people coming in for personal shopping, not stocking a concession stand.

The result....the produce section has doubled in size.  You want apples?!?  They have seven kinds!  Including my beloved Honeycrisp.

And vanilla extract with NO ADDED CORN SYRUP!!!  Yay!

Pumpkin shortage? What pumpkin shortage?!?

Now, this was when I decided to renew my membership....
Ghiradelli Chocolate for dipping and candy making.  Hello, cake balls!  (Or cake truffles...whatever you prefer.)

I used it to make some Pink Velvet cake balls and really preferred it to candy melts.  It's super smooth and dries shiny!


And an idea for the leftover chocolate...

Oh. And then there is this.
Yeah. Sam's carries this Cheesecake Factory Red Velvet Cheesecake.  Let me break it down for you:

Red Velvet Cake,
Cheesecake,
White Chocolate.
Stick one in your freezer and always be prepared for company.  Or PMS.


Do you belong to a Membership Club?  What is your favorite item to buy there?

You know what works for me?  Not having to stop in the middle of a recipe to wash dishes.

That's why I LOVE having a kajillion measuring spoons.  I never have to worry about my set being in the dishwasher; there is always a set clean and waiting to be used.


{PS...if you want your own set of ♥-shaped spoons, I found some and put them in my Amazon shop!}

"So, just how long is it going to take me to make and decorate cookies?"   The short answer is...it depends.  It depends on how many you're making, of course, and how many colors of icing you are using, and how detailed the cookie design is, and how you are packaging them. Whew.

But, let me try to give you a rough idea. Let's go with 2 batches of cookies because if you're going to take the time to make them, you might as well make more than one.
First, the cookies.  Using this cookie dough recipe, plan on about 1 hour per batch.  With a 4.5" cookie cutter, you'll have around 12 cookies.  I bake mine 6 at a time, since I have a single oven.  I could do 2 sheets and rotate the them during baking, but I am usually too distracted by twitter getting in some housework (ha!) and forget to rotate.

Cookies (two batches)....2 hours
Cookies (cool completely)...1 hour

Next, the icing.  I use royal icing.  It's just as quick to make a double batch as it is to make a single.  I usually double my recipe just to ensure I have enough.  To make the icing and tint it, assuming you're making more than 2 colors, takes about 45 minutes.

Icing....45 minutes

Decorating the cookies. This is a little difficult to estimate and you'll have some down time here.  Assuming you have 24-30 cookies, you'll need to prep your icing bag and outline your cookies.  For a simple outline, allow 30 minutes.

Outlining....30 minutes

Next, you'll want to "flood" the cookies with thinned icing.  For me, thinning takes a while because I add water just a bit at a time.  You'll need to thin the icing, let it sit, stir, then flood.

Flood icing (thin)....15 minutes
Flood icing (fill)......45 minutes

Usually, you'll have some sort of detail to add to the cookies.  First, the filled cookies need to "rest" for an hour or so before the next step.


Rest....1 hour

Finally, the detail work.  You may be adding sanding sugar, sprinkles, luster dust, extra piping, or all of the above, so this really varies.  Assuming the detail is a bit of simple piping on each cookie, allow at least a minute per cookie.

Detail.....30 minutes

Then, let them dry overnight.

Dry.....overnight

***This does NOT include clean-up time!***

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So, for about 2 dozen, simply decorated cookies, I would allow 5 hours of baking/decorating with 2 hours and 10 minutes plus overnight of inactive/rest time. (Did I add that right?) But, remember, it depends! :) 


My advice....make the cookies a day ahead.  Even two days.  Even more than that and freeze them.  Yes, they freeze...even fully decorated.

Another hint, royal icing can be made ahead of time, too.  The icing will not be as stiff the next day, so if you have fine detail work to do, you may want to make it the same day.  Otherwise, it's fine.

I love this post from my friend Gail of One Tough Cookie...here's a little nugget of wisdom from her blog: "No matter how much time you allow for decorating the cookies, allow more."    See, she's smart and CRAZY TALENTED!

Here is my recently discovered trick for making perfect graham cracker crusts....use a measuring cup to press the crust mixture into the pie pan!

Using a measuring cup helps keep the crust even, makes the sides pretty and keeps your fingers from getting buttery.  (Not that buttery fingers were ever a BAD thing.)

{If you're so inclined, you can even lick the bottom of the measuring cup when you're finished. I'm not saying I did that.}

This is a great recipe for graham cracker crust...I used it again this week for Mr. E's birthday pie.  More on that later....

Graham Cracker Crust
{source: Betty Crocker Cookbook (Bridal Edition) }

1 and 1/2 cup finely crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. butter, melted (I used salted)
3 TBSP sugar

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine all of the ingredients.  Press into the bottom and sides of a 9" pie pan. 
Bake 10 minutes.  Let cool completely before filling.

So simple and utterly yummy!  Graham Cracker Crust works for me!  What's working for YOU this week?

My favorite food pictures are ones taken outside or near a window with good light.  But a lot of times, I make cookies at night.  I wanted to take pictures for tutorials, but didn't like posting pictures with terrible nighttime lighting on the blog.

Then I read a post over at Steamy Kitchen about the Lowel Ego Digital Imaging Light.  I bought one...and it works for me.  Let me show you the difference.

This picture was taken at night WITHOUT the light:

This picture was taken at night WITH the light:
Both pictures were edited...brightness and contrast adjusted...but can you see the difference?


What didn't work for me?  The price. $88!  I don't know about you, but if I have an extra $88, I'm getting a cheap pedicure, a cute new pair of shoes, a Starbucks and a cupcake. (Not necessarily in that order.)

I got this for FREE!  Yes, FREE!  Have you heard of Swagbucks?  I heard bloggers talking about it for months before I signed up.  All you do is use Swagbucks as your search engine. (The easiest thing to do is to download the toolbar.) Every so often when you search, you get "bucks."  These bucks can be redeemed for prizes like gift cards from Amazon, Starbucks, Sephora, etc.

THAT'S how I got my light...with "bucks" redeemed for an Amazon gift card. Rumor has it, several bloggers paid for all their Christmas gifts using Swagbucks last year!!!

Now, if someone refers you, that person gets some "bucks."  Please don't feel like you have to sign up referred by me.  If you'd like to, you can here.  OR, just go the home page and sign up on your own.

Here's what I'm saving up for now:


I'd love to hear your photography hints or what camera YOU use!

Half-birthdays.  Do you celebrate them?

I don't know where my mom got the idea, but we always celebrated half-birthdays growing up. There weren't presents, but there was always cake. Half of a cake. Half of a Bundt cake.

{Once we were older and had moved out of the house, my parents always sent us HALF a birthday card.  That's right....chopped right in half!}

My half birthday fell during the school year, so I always felt so special bringing in that half cake.  Even though my mom baked, our half-birthday cake was always from the grocery store. (Or at least *mine* was. Molly, yours, too?) Remember the grocery store used to sell half Bundt cakes?

Kiddo's half-birthday was last week and even though I don't usually make Bundt cakes for his, I decided to go traditional this year.

Almond-Crusted Butter Cake
{recipe adapted from Lou Seibert Pappas}

1/2 c. slivered almonds
3 sticks unsalted butter, room temp. (plus more for pan)
1 lb. powdered sugar
6 eggs, room temp.
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or extract)
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
2 and 3/4 c. cake flour
Preheat oven to 300.  Butter a Bundt pan and then evenly coat the sides with the almonds. 

In a large bowl, cream the butter until fluffy and light.  Gradually add the sugar, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.  Beat until fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides and bottom of bowl as needed.  Beat in the extracts and salt.

Add in the flour in 3 additions, beating until smooth. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let the cake cool in the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes.  Invert the pan and remove the cake, right side up, and continue to cool completely on the cooling rack.

Serving suggestions:

• with a scoop of chocolate ice cream
• with fresh strawberries
• alongside a cappuccino for breakfast! (my favorite)

Half-birthdays work for our family.  What's your "unique" family tradition?

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Oh, I almost forgot!  If you are reading this through a reader, you may want to click on over.  There is a snazzy updated header and in the naviagation bar, you'll now be able to link to a "cookie index."  {The cookie index is a work in progress, but the link is there.}

And, once you click over, look up in the address bar.  See that, to the left of the www? It's my very own FAVICON!  That little thing  makes me feel so cool! {And it's very rare that I feel cool!}  Thank you, Jessica, of The Frilly Coconut for your design help and expertise!  You are a doll!