Sugar Cookies with Pink Royal Icing

11:37 khadijamuzaffar 4 Comments


You know how you see those big beautiful cookies with lovely designs on them? I was like 'Yeah, I wanna try my hand at those.' Turns out, its not easy. You need a steady hand and a better paper-cone making ability than I have. That being said, it isn't difficult either. No really. The cookies are your basic roll-out sugar cookies that you cut into shapes with a cutter. And the royal icing needs just two things. Making both these things isnt rocket science. What does require practice, however, is piping them so that they look pretty. You don't need to be goddamn Da Vinci, but you do need to be able to draw a circle or a square.



Of course, your work will be a whole lot easier if you use a store-bought (or synthetic, i think) piping bag. I dont like those because cleaning them is a...well, a chore :p So I tried to learn how to make a piping bag out of parchment paper, and it was messy at first. Which is why icing them was hard. 


But once you get the hang of it, it's pretty fun. I kinda ran out of ideas about what to pipe on them hehe...BE MORE CREATIVE THAN I WAS. Don't be like me. 
I chose a pretty light pink color, mostly because I only had pink/red food color but also because its prettyyy *~* 


Oh and look, I made my very first GIF :D (do you pronounce it 'Jiff' or 'Giff'? I say it with a hard G, Jiff. idk) Nothing fancy, but maybe later I can progress towards GIFs of me pouring syrup or frosting or something. Idk, just a thought. 

A few notes about these cookies, and the icing: 

 The cookies are just as good on their own. Seriously, they're like the ones you find at bakeries.
 The frosting will seem REALLY sweet if you taste it on its own. BUT worry not, it all balances out once it sets on the cookie itself. In fact, you'll be surprised because they've got JUST the right amount of sweetness.
 Speaking of set, the icing is called Royal Icing. It dries REALLY fast, so you need to cover it with a damp towel when not in use, and you also need to work fast. It sets hard, so whatever you 'draw' on it will be preserved :p I sound so unprofessional but you get the idea right? If not, lemme say it one more time: the icing sets hard. This is not a soft icing. It is a hard icing. An icing that is not soft. (I'm actually Mojo Jojo...)
 You can use this icing to draw intricate patterns on cakes as well. 
 The iced cookies last quite a while, in an airtight jar. The icing however, would best be used within two days, otherwise it begins to set.



Sugar Cookie Recipe
(slightly adapted from Cake Central)
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup (two 100g sticks) softened margarine*
  • 1 cup sugar 
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • A good pinch of salt
* You can use butter too. I used margarine because thats what I had, and I found it made the dough a little sticky and soft, and hence a tad bit less easy to work with. 

Cream the margarine till there are no lumps, then add the ground sugar and continue to cream till the mixture becomes pale and fluffs up. Add the egg and vanilla (but dont add too much vanilla because our local pakistani vanilla essence tends to be verrryyy strong and artificial-y) Beat well. Add the flour and baking powder, a little at a time till the flour is fully incorporated and the dough forms.
Chill for two (2) hours. (The dough, not yourself :p) I know i know. But do it, it makes everything so much easier.
Roll out the dough to your desired thickness on a floured surface and use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. 
Place the cookies on a piece of wax paper, place the wax paper on a cookie tray, and place the cookie tray in the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the undersides of the cookies are golden. (The tops remain pale-ish.) Let 'em cool.

Royal Icing Recipe
(from Elisa Strauss)
  • 2 egg whites 
  • 1 500 g pack of icing (confectioner's) sugar
  • White vinegar
Soak a tissue with some vinegar and use it to wipe the bowl you'll be using, the spatula and the beater paddles to remove any fat or grease that might be there. Separate egg whites CAREFULLY. There shouldn't be a single bit of yolk in it, otherwise they wont stiffen up. Sift your sugar to remove lumps and add it to the egg whites. Beat them for a steady 10 minutes. (This is important ok. Ten minutes. I promise it doesn't take too long :p)By this time, the icing will have fluffed up considerably. Now is the time to add half a teaspoon on vinegar and your food coloring. Add 1 & 1/2 tablespoon of water. Mix well. 

Additional Piping Instructions
  1. Put spoonfuls of the icing in your icing bag, cut a small hole, and trace the outline of your cookie's shape on your cookie. This is called outlining, and it prevents the rest of the icing from running off the edge of the cookie.
  2. Take something like a chopstick, or the other end of a paintbrush to place small dollops of icing inside your outline. 'Pat' the icing (move it in a small swirly motion) to fill in the empty areas. Don't drag or spread, just dab. Watch this video to learn more. This is called flooding.
  3. Wait for it to dry. Then using a different color, draw whatever you want on the top of the cookie. I just saved some of the icing from before i added the food color, so I had some white icing for the script. 
That's it my darlings, its a lot of fun, and you'll feel so proud of yourself! These are great for themed parties or really any occasion. Have fun, stay happy, stay safe and stay kind!
xxx
Khadija.

4 comments:

  1. aleena waqar khan14 May 2015 at 11:48

    Arent these gorgeous! :) love ur creativity! u go girl (Y)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! :D You should make them, they taste even better than they look!

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  2. kdddd these look amaznggggg <3333

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thankssss Hibbsss, I'll bring some over when I FINALLY come to visit <3

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