They are adorable, dee!

Thanks, funky and mtnd. I'd like to attribute my ability to accept these less than perfect cookies to my life philosophy of perfection being the enemy of good, but it is more likely attributable to my very wise granddaughter, who says, in exasperation, when she sees me getting exasperated, "Meemaw, it doesn't HAVE to be perfect!"

You are being wayyyy too hard on yourself! I think you need to take a step back from them and look at them as others will vs with a microscope... you don't want them to look like they were stamped out of a machine.

And btw.. take a moment to look at the professional ones (including the elephants). Not one is perfect but when you look at the cookie instead of each line and dot, you see a great cookie design!

Awww, thank you.

Yeah, Dee, i think yours are totally saleable. Amazing for a first try.

Thanks, mtnrd. But I know you know that inner perfectionist voice.

Just wanted to follow up and share the cookies I had made. The colors aren't exactly what I was envisioning in my mind... I was hoping for a spicier orange and an herbier green but still, I think they are perfect for tomorrow's luncheon.

They are lovely! I love the design. I am sure the recipient will be touched!

Gorgeous!!!

My goodness, Funkyart! You are a natural. Those are beautiful.

Wow Funky! Those look perfect. Professional.

Please tell me that you had to throw the first one away :) .

Wow! I like yours better than the original pic you posted.

oh my gosh-- I am sorry to have misled! *I* didn't make these! I hired a local person to make them.. I needed the first batch (3 doz) this week and there was no way I was taking them on myself with no prior experience.

That said, I am very inspired by the cookies you all made (and the price tag for these). I am going to try the batches for the next event.

That was pretty funny, Funky. :) I thought "I had made" = "I'd made", rather than cookies you had someone make. Sorry I didn't pay closer attention to your prior posts re: what your plans entailed. BUT: sorry, we've already associated those cookies with your name, so the bar is high. Get baking & decorating! :p

LOL.. well, the bar IS high after seeing what you all have made!

I just finished a 2 hr vision therapy consultation.. and while I am enthusiastically hopeful, the appt. reviewed the results of the previous 2 weeks of testing. It's not pretty. I really don't know if it's even something I should take on-- but there's no harm in trying!

Bakers - I want to make book-themed cookies. Have you ever used a two-part cutter like these?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/530060309/books-and-apple-cookie-cutter-3d-printed?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=apple%20and%20books%20cookie%20cutter&ref=sr_gallery_1

I bought a couple of similar Halloween cutters a million years ago (pre-royal icing days), and was never sure what to do with them. Unless there's another use, I assume the internal design serves as a guide for icing (vs free hand). I did something similar with with my 84 bday cookie up there ^^. I first cut the cookie (using a cut-off canola oil bottle top, actually, as I didn't have a scallop cutter!), and made the birthday cake imprint using the smaller bday cake cutter. This made the inset little cake much easier to ice.

I like it. Should make it easy to ice. I'd love to see them when you get done. I will say that the solid cutter makes it more difficult to lift up without distorting the cut image.

As an aside, does this mean you have a Russian connection now?

LOL, calling Bob Mueller!

Lol. Also, if you are looking to make those mitten cookies, I found a Resource for sparkling sugar, Bob's. I ordered a bag and the grains look like snow. Much cheaper, too, than the small bottle in the cake decorating supply store.

Update - DS made the cake, and it was easy to make the marble effect. He used store bought cream cheese icing, and made the stripes with hershey syrup. He froze it to make it easier to transport without messing it up (it will have a few hours to defrost). He did three layers for drama, and we used a lazy susan to ice it and then "comb" the side.

Meantime I had a question about the pink mittens above. It looks like that is flooding icing allowed to drip over the side, almost like you do with petits fors? Is that correct?

Re: mittens, I think it's a camera angle thing, and it just seems like the icing on the far/right end drips over the edge. Based on the left margins, this baker ices right up to the very edge of the cookie.

You can also dip cookies in the background color. They might have done that and then added the accent colors while the first is still wet. There is probably less risk of the background color starting to set up while you are trying to add your design.

Lascatx,I wondered about that too.

I am making a batch of cookies for one of my kids' theatre group rehearsal dinners. I am making stars but I thought I would mess around with icing effects as a learning experience.

Well, I totally blanked up. I halved the No-Fail sugar cookie recipe. But I got interrupted while i was measuring flour and only put in 1 cup. Instead of 3. Oops. I also added some almond in addition to vanilla to improve the cookie taste, then realized it's always a bad idea to put "nuts" in something for school, duh.

I put a batch in, and they were so hard to cut out. I thought, goodness, it feels like I am working with pure butter. (close) Before I figured it out I put one batch in the oven. They spread like crazy and don't look the least like stars.

But you know what? OMG they are so good! Just enough flour to transport the butter and sugar to your mouth, LOL! They look like misshapen Brown Edged Wafers, anyone remember those?

I still search for brown edge wafers LOL.. they were my dad's favorite until they stopped making them!

Yes! You may have stumbled on something there. I want to bake and decorate cookies. No time right now, but I want to do some for Christmas and then work on butterfly cookies for spring.

Lascatx, It's addictive. I have ordered 6 cutters since I started fooling around with this!

Funky, lots of online recipes to replicate them. Mine looked like that, but they were sooooo rich. Apparently it was is just enough flour to transport butter and sugar to one's mouth.

Lacsatx and Jawiwa, I actually found a video of the person making that cookie. It was outlined, but in the same color and it just sort of disappears.

I made a batch of stars for the theatre group dinner. I was able to guess how much flour to add to the dough I messed up. They came out perfect. My only issue is I really love to eat them!

Does anyone have a similarly foolproof recipe for a gingerbread or even chocolate? I don't really like those.

LOL I make cookies I don't care for also! It's the only tried and true method to keep them outta my mouth. Unfortunately, I love sugar cookies-- and gingerbread/molasses. I'd make chocolate-- but not only do I dislike eating them, I hate the smell of them cooking. :(

I am hoping to play with decorating this weekend-- unfortunately, I have some work that MUST be completed by Monday so we will see.

I have a gingerbread recipe I like the flavor of, but I have not used it for cutouts. It was probably written for them, but I rolled the dough in balls and did the reindeer with the pretzel antlers. Total fun. I will try to find it and post it for you.

This post was the post that launched a dozen batches! It got me hooked on making decorated cookies.

I am resurrecting it because I have an occasion for which I am planning to make cookies as similar to these as i can, and I had a few questions.

1. I have never used any of the metallic dusts, but they get mixed reviews. If you have, what kind do you like? Is Global Sugar Art good?

2. From my experience, getting the icing color correct is one of the hardest parts. Especially if you want softer and less vibrant, muddy, "old" colors like these elephants. How do you get/mix colors like these?

TIA fellow cookies crazies

Re #2, this may be a good starting point: Sweetsugarbelle. << I followed her a ton in the very beginning of my iced cookie adventure -- so talented and generous with her advice.

Googling something like 'mixing gel colors Royal icing' will likely yield many more color charts -- good luck finding the perfect elephants! :)

WTH are you all a bunch of wizards?!?!?

It's all truly amazing...thank you SO much for resurrecting this thread. Literally, my mouth is watering...

Off to check out the other thread..

Synchronicity. I can't answer your question but I returned to this thread last night because I was trying to track down the bakery. I will be hosting a baby shower for one of my employees and I thought these would be fun! (I had no luck btw)

I absolutely agree that getting the color right makes a big difference. The cookies I had made for the wedding celebration were very nice but the colors were just too vibrant. The didn't bring India to mind.

So much fun reading this old thread-and the new responses! As an aside, brown edge wafers are so easy to make from scratch. Perfect when you are yearning for a cookie, but have only the basic ingredients and have no desire to make anything fancy. Of course, chances are you will eat more than just one or even more than a few. Ask me how I know!

Funkyart are you referring to your cookies above? If so, they very much say "India" to me...

How do you get the gold?

Also, if anyone is around, I just did a practice run following the Icing recipe linked...I've only done the outline, but was wondering if anyone could tell me how long it takes to set so that I can go ahead and do the flooding. It's been around an hour already.. If they should have set, I'll have to find out how I managed to mess it up :(

It's not like any Royal Icing I've made before...it's almost marshmallow-y in texture and I admit to not really enjoying the taste of it...

Penny - I just took a couple of decorating classes, so I am FAR from feeling like I deserve to chime in, but the outline always set within a few minutes during my classes so we were able to flood rather quickly.

The icing for the outline in my class was 20-second icing with a shake or two, whereas the flooding was 10-15 second without any shakes (meaning it melted back into itself after a dollop was dropped in the bowl). If that helps.

pennydesign: Sorry, this thread is so wonderfully (!) long -- which icing recipe did you use? My experience is the same as amj0517's: If I'm using the same color to outline and flood, the outline sets rather quickly. So there is no discernible line to the outline, I flood just as soon as the outlining is done.

Penny, I posted a number of photos above-- starting with the original inspiration. The cookies I was able to have made are posted above 11/8/2017.

They were pretty-- and much appreciated-- but still not what I had in my mind's eye.

Thanks...I guess I did something wrong...

I used this one recommended by Zeus (nightowl) on the other thread...

https://www.thecookiecountess.com/blogs/recipes-and-tutorials/royal-icing-recipe Is that one not good?

Funkyart, yes, the cookies above on 11/8....However, I read it to mean that you "had made"...as in you made them (past tense)...did you have them made by someone else?

pennydesign: I just took a quick glance (so, can't speak immediately to the proportion of water : confectioner's sugar : meringue powder), but I noted the addition of corn syrup. I believe that's adding to the 'marshmallowy-ness' of your icing, as well as possibly increasing your set time.

This is the recipe I use, which is based on Antonia74's Royal Icing recipe further down that same page (they're both quite similar, and I may even have tinkered with the flavorings ever so slightly).

Remember it's always better to use less water to start. If the icing consistency is a bit too thick for your needs, add water spritzed from a (clean/sterile) sprayer bottle as opposed to trying to add by tsps, 1/2 tsps, etc. It's much easier to gradually thin your icing without getting it too runny. When I'm initially mixing my icing, a coating of confectioner's sugar always sticks to the side of the bowl. Lightly spritzing the sides partway through the mixing process makes it easier to scrape the sugar down.

Morning, Penny.. yes, I had them made for me. Originally, I had hoped to make them myself for a fundraiser but the reality of my vision and depth perception issues quickly made me realize that I wouldn't be able to do them.

I then decided to have some made for a wedding party for one of my employees. I hired a local woman who did custom cookie designs. She's since stopped taking commissions so I will need to find someone else if I want them for the baby shower.

Thanks so much for the additional tips and link, javiwa....I didn't think of the corn syrup contributing, but of course you're correct...I think that recipe is a general fail for me as I didn't care for the taste, either (maybe a good thing for my a$$ :). However, in my house they WILL get eaten by someone...

I'll try the link you posted..

Thanks again! I'm so envious of these creations...I think they deserve their own picture thread..

Is there a way to post a word doc on here? I have created a file for myself with detailed recipes and instructions for making and icing cut out cookies.

On the color note, I did have that chart, thank you.

My more general point was how to make muddy or faded colors like the original photo. I think I found the answer here, FWIW

http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2013/09/toning-down-pink-icing/

Okay, cookie mavens.

I took a stab at this, and I like the result, but ... had some snafus.

I will say one thing I have learned. Buy a lot of tips and bags, it makes life easier if you are doing a lot of colors. Also, buy colors! Mixing color is not easy and it is so important to have the right color to get a certain look. For example, these colors should be a bit muddy and grey, not pure and bright, but then you also have to make them appetizing! Not easy. Also, I did try gold powder, love it and very easy to paint on with spirits.

As for my attempt to copy these cookies... I ended up deciding that I would rather do them without a flooding color. Flooding color is just a sweet taste, it adds little else. The cookies themselves are delicious with no icing at all. I think i'd rather leave the background plain.

Still, I am frustrated by my inability to to finely detailed icing. When I choose piping consistency, it won't go thru the (smallest) tip. When I thin it, it goes thru, but spreads as it dries. Anyone use piping gel? I assume that is the perfect consistency?

I forgot to get pics before i bagged them, but here we havermy first try on pachyderm.

Look good, but your icing is way too thin for details like that. I like a 1.5 PME tip, with about 20 second icing. I also use some corn syrup, which help keep piped lines from breaking.

Hmm i used a 1.0, and could not get 20 second icing through. I will try a 1.5. How much corn syrup? Have you ever tried piping gel?

I find any size below 1.5 unusable (for me). Honestly, I am guessing 20 second because I mix RI to feel. I put about a tablespoon of corn syrup in, and I have never used piping gel.

Beautiful job, mtn...

I can frost cakes in a rather messy way, but what I know is that if you want a thin line, then speed counts...

Thanks, Dee. The 1 didn't work for me until i watered the icing down, and then of course it spread as it dried.

1 T syrup to a cup of icing?

BTW, just been reading up on tips. Seems people swear by the PME tips in general and the 1.5 specifically. Look at the diff:

I only use PME, except occasionally for flooding, and then I use a Wilton 2. I use the corn syrup when I first make up the batch of icing.