Sugar Cookie Madness

And oh yes, they have driven me mad! I've recently decided to professionalize my sugar cookie decorating by switching to royal icing. The icing I was using before was just a simple icing made with confectioners sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. The stuff isn't very versitile though and it doesn't harden quite as much as royal icing (which is akin to rubber cement).

So- of course I jumped online for tips and I must tell you, the ultimate online teacher has got to be Sweetopia. Her tutorials and tips are incredibly helpful and she truly helped me get on my feet! Don't get me wrong, it was still hard to learn how to use royal icing, and I've nowhere near perfected the process, but her website got me started and I recommend you check it out if you have any interest in cookie decorating.

I've upgraded my cookie decorating tools, going from ziplock bags with varying sized cuts made in the corner, to Wilton's piping bags and tips. GOOD move. It is SO much easier to decorate with tips; I can't believe I did it any other way, but at the same time I'm pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish without them! I'm still learning how to control the flow and I don't have a Kopykake projector like the Sweetopia blogger so I need to perfect my free-hand skills or find a cheapie overhead projector somewhere- good luck.

I recently had an order for 45 baby-themed cookies for a shower and although they turned out really nice it was really stressful- one of those if-anything-can-go-wrong-it-will kind of orders, you know, I lose half a batch of cookies to the floor, underestimate the amount of confectioners sugar the order will take, realize I'm out of the correct sized cellophane bags and have to make an emergancy run to Target, and the cost to create them, not including the hours and hours they took, pretty much cancelled out how much I earned. Phew! It was tiring, but really good practice and I'm proud of the outcome. I'm not diving into any more cookie decorating anytime soon (I say that, yet I've got snowflake decorated gingerbread cookies on my Christmas cookie list, so, yeah...).

Freshly baked sugar cookies!

Icing! Icing! Icing!



Duckies and Elephants, Oh My!

Speaking of Christmas cookies- I've got about a week or so break and then it's back at it! I'm making 6 different types of cookies and shipping them all over the country to family and friends! Reports and photos to follow, I promise :)

Stay warm and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Kitchen Upgrades

As I've increased the volume of baking I'm doing each week, it's become apparent to me that it's time to upgrade some of my common kitchen tools. Oh darn. I'll have to go shopping.

My extremely generous aunt recently mailed me several Amazon.com gift certificates after cashing in her AMEX points and realizing she couldn't figure out how to use the darned things (we're still working on getting her into the 21st Century- stand by). As I'm sure you all know, Amazon is a catchall for, well, everything. I typed "Baking" into the search and found my own little Utopia.

My first big box o'baking bliss arrived several weeks ago, much to my excitement! Among my many goodies were three new paintbrushes from Wilton. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a huge Wilton fan. I think the majority of their products are well made, visually appealing, and really easy to use. But I am sorely disappointed by these puppies; I used them twice before they found their new home in the trash can.

The brushes were purchased to assist with decorating my hand painted sugar cookies. In my brushless days, I was using a Ziploc bag filled with icing as a pastry bag, but smaller details were really tough and I needed something with more control. The first brush use was great; I was able to fill in small details and add real character to my cookies. After using them, I of course, took them to the sink for a good washing. As soon as the pretty purple-painted wooden handles hit the hot water, there were little paint chips all over my sink. Not was I was expecting.

I used the brushes again to decorate sugar cookies for The Bully (photos are in a previous posting), but I again found the paint chipping off, this time in large chunks. I had to maneuver carefully to make sure none of it landed in the icing- no extra flavoring needed!

Needless to say, I do not recommend buying Wilton's set of three brushes, no matter how cute they look in their packaging. As for me, I've recently stumbled upon Sweetopia (thank you, Kelly) and I'm going to try her methods of sugar cookie decorating before I run out to get more brushes. And if I do get more brushes, I'm trying out acrylic brushes from the paint section at A.C. Moore. Hopefully a safer bet.

Keep yer chin up!

I was at the Portland Farmer's market a few weeks ago and noticed "keep yer chin up" carved into a bench. It was perfect; just what I needed to read- like when John Lennon attended Yoko's art exhibit for the first time and climbed a ladder to read "yes" written on the ceiling. A sparkle of positivity. A moment of encouragement.

Since then, I've had 5 orders come in for From Scratch and Sniff. Despite the fact that I can't seem to catch a break with these festivals and outdoor markets, I'm making some really great friends up here who are incredibly supportive and seem to really enjoy my baking. I also had my first out-of-state order which was pretty exciting (thanks Jane!) :)

Sometimes I'm down on myself for not having had the foresight to attend cooking school instead of going to college, but really I couldn't have known at that point that this is what I want to do. I think I've got enough raw talent and the smarts to figure out what I don't know to make it though. Only time will tell!

My most recent project was hand-painted sugar cookies. It was a tedious task, but, oh man did I love it! I created soccer themed cookies for one order and scuba themed cookies for another. I'm not as happy with the cookies done in color- perhaps it's the dye I used in the icing (Wilton Icing Colors) instead of plain old food coloring. I'll have to experiment. I just wasn't happy with how dull the colors came out. I was very happy with the ones done in black, however and I'm pretty sure I've got another order for soccer cookies coming up soon!



This weekend I have 2 orders to prepare: a lemony cheesecake with raspberry sauce and oreo truffles and a cookie plate. Sadly the festival I work for is starting this weekend and I'll be working 90 hour weeks for the next 6 weeks leaving little time for baking. I'm planning to have a cookie/dessert tasting party in late August, though. I'm going to bake samples of all of the products I currently offer and have people come (and encourage them to bring people!) and do taste testings and allow them to give me some feedback. I'm also going to have order forms available and discounts on orders placed right there. I'm hoping it will help to get my name out there a bit more. My biggest task at the moment is to create a damn logo so I can start cranking out some business cards!