Real Estate Function Cookie

I donated one of my cookies to a fund raising auction at my nephews'

school a couple of months back. The winning bidder decided to use the cookie for a real estate event that she was putting on today. 

The theme of the event was setting goals and in terms of the design she said "surprise me" so I tried another ambitious scene design for this cookie.

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To showcase a lofty goal, I wanted to show a street with all the homes on the street boasting sold signs.  I chose to use a one point perspective leading off into the sunrise to give the idea that these sold homes continue down the street. That's quite a goal for any real estate agent I think!

This wasn't the deign for all the flashy sparkly details, so instead I chose to focus on the homes and make them as realistic as possible. I used a specific tip with the icing to create horizontal lines of the siding which was very important to the look of the cookie. I did use sparkles in the cookie, but mostly to add texture to the roof. I think the technique and the roofs looked great in the end. A little more texture added in the landscaping and the whole scene comes together as it fades back to the focal point and highlights the whole street.

The cookie was meant to be inspirational and set the mood for the event that was being hosted. The theme of the event was well represented in the cookie and hopefully eating the cookie was the perfect end to the meal and to the event.

Omelets and Experiments

New idea.

Sugar Cookies!!

Although the chocolate chip cookie recipe I have is fantastic I thought it would be good if I added a sugar cookie recipe into the mix as well for a couple of reasons. First, it's always good to give people options when it's truly supposed to be something custom and second, the light color of a sugar cookie would give me a completely different canvas to work on. I wouldn't need to outline things in white icing any more to make sure they stand out against the cookie. 

10:30 pm Saturday

 Time for some experimentation...

I started my first and easiest experiment so late tonight due to an (on the house) extra shot in my cappuccino, which I had too late anyway, but I digress.  For this first attempt, I just used a couple of store bought sugar cookie dough rolls because I haven't looked around for a good recipe yet. It would be an understatement to say that I wasn't very optimistic when I started. I was so sure that the cooking time would be difficult to manage and what would come out would be burned and dark around the edge while being undercooked in the center, but...

I couldn't have been more happy to be wrong!!

All it took was a watchful eye and the cookie pretty much told me when it was done. Except for a raised lip around the edge from where to cookie raised up while cooking and then fell in the pan, what came out looked to be the perfect sugar cookie to decorate...but only time would tell. I simply cut the lip off with a knife and created a flat edge and that was that.

After it cooled and set I could tell it was the right density for decorating and then to make things better it pulled out of the pan with no problems. I removed the foil around the edge flipped it back over and voila!!! A perfectly even baked sugar cookie ready for decorating!!! Now all I need is my own recipe that reacts the same way and I'm in business...hopefully its as simple as I'm making it seem :) 

11:30 pm Saurday

Sugar Cookie Experiment #1...Success!

Fast forward (through a 1am trip to the ER with my brother) to the next morning.

 9:30 am Sunday 

Breakfast time

I had invited another of my brothers and sister-in-law over to the house for some homemade omelets and it was time to showcase and more importantly test my new cookie. (In addition to attempting to create the perfect cookie I am also working on the perfect omelet recipe as well and I'm getting pretty good at it in my humble opinion)

'popeye' omelet: 
spinach, broccoli, red pepper, pepper jack

 

Back to the Cookie...
I used the leftover icing from the Mardi Gras Cookie (see below) that I had made the day before and in between cooking the sausage and the other omelet ingredients and making made-to-order omelets for the fam I threw some 'decorations' on the cookie to hopefully brighten everyone's morning. 

The 'decoration' served another purpose as well. I needed to test the flavor of the decorator's icing with the sugar cookie and also see if the fact that I had to cut around the edge would distract from the integrity of the cookie and the design. That part is still up for debate, but thanks to my brother's suggestions I have some options to remedy that. There is however a very noticeable difference between the surface textures of the two different types of cookies. Although packed with chocolate chips and nuts the original cookie has a fairly even surface with a lot of little unobtrusive bumps whereas this first sugar cookie has larger crevasse that are more difficult to control the icing around. It's not a deal breaker, and I'm still waiting to see what my next experiment turns up, but for now I'm pretty happy it turned out this well and I'm excited for what I can do with the sugar cookie in terms of design now.

10:30 am Sunday

Time to dig in...

Why make a cookie if not to enjoy with family and friends? and did we ever enjoy it! It even made it around to a couple other family members that day so everyone could have a taste.

The cookie itself was evenly cooked from one end to the other with no discoloration around the edge. It has a very nice dense and chewy consistency that I adore in a good sugar cookie. The icing was perfect with the vanilla in the sugar cookie and the colors stand out so well against the light cookie color. Overall I am sooo excited to find the perfect recipe and start decorating these sugar cookies. I think people are going to love them and love the options that I can offer for a custom cookie.

Gerbera Daisy Bridal Shower Cookie

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My newest sister-in-law chose beautiful coral gerbera daisies for her wedding flowers and I thought they would be the perfect design for the surprise cookie I made for her bridal shower.

I wanted to focus on the flowers yet still make it elegant and whimsical (another part of her design theme) so I chose to do multiple half flowers all around the edge to surround the solid white center and make it pop even more. The middle is just a smooth layer of white icing to display the names, date, and small daisy with a textured detail around the edge including iridescent sugar pearls.

I enjoy the way the green and white vines create a whimsical feel between the different rigid edges of the circle and the flowers. When I started, I was not confident in my decision to do the green vines, but in the end I think it turned out very nicely and I was especially happy with the way that part and brought all the element together.

The daisies themselves were made petal by petal to create a more textured and realistic feel and then brushed with a pink iridescent powder to create the depth I was hoping to achieve. the centers are made with a simple star tip that helped create even more realism and texture. A simple border between the centers of the flowers helps bring the whole cookie together and separates it from the decorative base. 

Congratulation Kevin and Kori!

Updated

5/17/2011

 

I was asked to do another cookie in this design this time as a farewell cookie for Susan working at Harrison College from her co-workers. And here is the final product. 

Favorite Things Birthday Cookie

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Most of the cookies I make are well planned ahead of time and drawn out with the knowledge of an upcoming event. This cookie was the opposite of that, but still turned out to be one of my favorite cookies. 

It always helps to know something about the cookie recipient and in this case I simply chose some of my uncle's favorite things and put them together for a great cookie! (Even though my mom and I decided to make the cookie at 10:00pm the night before driving down to their lake house for his impromptu party!!) Luckily, we had everything we needed and we knew what he liked so it was only a matter of putting it all down on a cookie. 

The Red Stripe drinking, Mickey Mantle loving, wishes he could be fishing daily, Yankees fan absolutely loved the cookie, especially since we surprised him by even coming up to the lake to celebrate his 60th birthday. It was a pretty great day, but then again every day spent at the lake is always a little bit better than the average day.

Girl's Birthday Cookie

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It's an ALL PINK party!! 

That's all my Aunt told me when she called to ask me to make a cookie for her to take to her Granddaughter's 2nd birthday party. I don't actually know the birthday girl and only met her parents once or twice so Pink was the only thing I had to work with, but that was OK because I love a challenge and I LOVE designing for little kids especially for a little girl. 

I decided to do a large centrally focused number 2 mostly because I didn't have much to go off of except her age, but with this design I think I found a great template for future birthday orders that are not looking for something very specific or are looking to keep the cost of the cookie down because now that I have made it once I can easily replicate it with different colors and different secondary designs!!! I was pretty excited about that discovery, but the birthday girl's parents and family were just as excited about the cookie itself and I even received a very nice 'thank you' email from them telling me how much they enjoyed my work. 

I think what they and most others who receive a cookie appreciate about them are the level of detail that I put into my work. On this design specifically the 2 is something that is very fun to look at closely and see all the little additions, different colors, and different techniques. There are multiple layers just in the number with the base color, the spirals, the flowers, and the flower center and then I added pink sprinkles on top of the flowers for a little extra touch of pink. The butterflies came to be because I thought they fit in nicely with the flowers that were all around and they add some more depth and texture as they are rather raised in the actual cookie. I also added another layer of pink to the butterflies by accenting them with an edible pink powder that I can paint with. To tie all the elements together I made little action lines for the butterflies that I added white sugar pearls to which I think turned out to look pretty nice. 

I decided not to do a regular border for this one, but to continue the spiral design around the edge and keep it a bit cleaner. For this cookie I think that decision worked out well and I liked the effect.

(Same cookie design different little girl's 5th Birthday party)

 

I added a border this time using all the different pinks from the cookie plus a good sprinkling of pink sparkles all around the edge which added texture and very cute effect for the overall cookie. Who doesn't love sprinkles?

Office Farewell Cookie

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When my sister-in-law asked me to make a farewell cookie for her office administrator's move to San Francisco, I knew exactly what I wanted to do! As a former architecture student and lover of all things design and engineering the Golden Gate Bridge was a great choice for a focus on this cookie. Like I said, I love a challenge, especially one that I impose on myself since I was only asked to make a cookie for the office workers to enjoy at her party. 

It's the detail again that makes this cookie so special and one of my favorites. The giant bridge supports, the span, and the cables all work together and yet still stand out to make it instantly recognizable. The idea that the bridge spans across the entire cookie and seems to be trailing off into the background is one of the stronger elements of the cookie. The colors all work together as well helping the design and the detail used around the name add a nice element to the cookie that I enjoy.

My sister-in-law was blown away and so happy to be able to give this cookie  to her office manager and friend to thank her for all her hard work. I was glad to be able to surprise my sister-in-law and make her happy as well

Christine's Bridal Shower Cookie

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 A bridal shower is such a great occasion for a cookie. It goes well with multiple other smaller desserts usually served at a shower such as cupcakes and it allows a better display of the bride's wedding theme for all to see. I personally enjoy making bridal shower cookies because the importance and elegance of a wedding allows me to pull out all the stops in terms of my designing skills. There is always a theme and specific colors or a specific design that the bride has for the big day and I get to add my spin on it to make the bride happy as we celebrate her on that day. 

For this cookie, a long time friend of mine from grade school through high school and now was getting married in St. Louis where she lives now with her husband. She came back home for a beautiful shower for all of our hometown friends and their mothers. It was a perfect shower and luncheon, but it was also an opportunity to showcase my cookies to my friends who all live in different cities now. 

For all these reasons I tried to make this cookie extra special and I spent hours trying to achieve my design objective which doesn't show well in photos, but which was really special in person. The white band across the cookie was where I put a lot of my focus using just icing to create an angled stair step appearance around the center icon that they used as the theme of their wedding. The white texture radiates  up and out from the center putting the focus on the center icon and is delicately detailed to emphasize the raised texture with iridescent sugar pearls and contrasting dark blue scrolls. A light blue folded ribbon finishes the detailed band nicely bringing it all together. 

Because of the amount of detail I put into the center portion I decided that a simple swirl pattern incorporating mostly the darker colors and smaller versions of their wedding theme icon would be appropriate and compliment the stark white of the band. Usually I don't like to used the darkest color right against the cookie because it gets lost, but in this execution I think it actually serves the design of the cookie better and I love the way it turned out.

The icon design is taken from a necklace off of Heidi Klum's jewelry line which the bride loved so much that she transformed it into her wedding theme. To distinguish the stark white in the center of the icon with the stark white surrounding it I utilized my awesome new technique that I discovered. I again chose to use the more elegant silver as opposed to a color which serves to make the names pop and works as a great background.

Overall, this was such a fun cookie to make for a good friend and I loved the icon and colors that I got to work with. All the hard work paid off and it was part of a perfect afternoon.

 

A better view of the textured band

Owen's Baptism Cookie

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When I get to create cookies for special occasions like Baptisms I always try to make it extra special and pull out all the stops in terms of utilizing new techniques. 

For this cookie for my nephew's baptism I again utilized design from the plates and napkins that his mom chose for the party as a base for my overall look. I really liked the way the last baptism cookie turned out so I kept a similar composition with the solid square in the center and cross on top surrounded by the design from the napkins. 

The cross is a large version of the one found on the napkins, but the different depths and textures added make it pop against the background which is something I am especially happy with and proud of because it's a new technique for me that I just discovered. Wilton makes an edible iridescent powder in all different colors that when added to a little bit of vanilla turns into a liquid that I can then paint with. This was my first attempt at this technique, but it turned out so well I plan on using it a lot. The silver color kept it elegant and was subdued enough that it only emphasized the cross and words written on top.

I like the bold and layered design of the swirls all around the edge and I think it holds its own as it travels down around the edges not needing a border, but relying on the design itself for all the impact.

Pineapple Housewarming Cookie

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The pineapple is a symbol of welcome in some cultures, but all I knew when I was designing this cookie for my brother and his wife-to-be's housewarming party is that she absolutely LOVES pineapples and they pop up everywhere in the new house probably for that same reason.

I really wanted to focus on just the pineapple for this cookie since it was a quick one I made right before the party. So I decided that the texture of the pineapple was going to be the pop factor in the design. I used a simple star tip with the yellow icing to achieve that and then framed each section with the different greens to create a more layered and realistic look with real depth and texture. Since I had put so much detail into the body of the pineapple, the stem was a bit boring at first, but when I started adding the second green color and then swirling them together it really came together. A little white detailing added and the pineapple became the center of attention.

With the addition of the 'Welcome Home' title it all came together and was a hit for all the hungry family and friends who had worked all day cleaning and moving everything into the new house.

Ryan's Baptism Cookie

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 This was an ambitious design attempt for one of my first cookies of this detail, but I always love doing cookies for family members, especially for my only nephew (at that time) on his Baptism day.

Being one of my first cookies I decided to leave the intricate designing up to whoever it is that designs plates and napkins for Baptism parties...OK so I copied the design, so sue me. Everyone needs to start somewhere. I loved the spring colors and the level of detail around the center was right up my ally so I thought it was a great design to start with.

The green background is one flaw that I wish I had figured out how to remedy first. I couldn't get the icing to be as flat as I liked so I decided to keep the spatula marks which I didn't like in the end, but with the depth and detail of the cross which I LOVE and all the really beautiful detailing around the box it doesn't take away from the overall cookie. 

Bold capital text works well in this design and with the overall composition. The simple finishing around the edge brings it all together and finishes a great cookie. I really loved this cookie and I was so proud to present it at the baptism for all the families to see and enjoy.