This will be a pretty dull post visually, as I have no pictures to add, but I thought I would share my fail safe recipes for cookies and frosting considering I keep referring to recipes for cookies and frosting. My top secret recipes that everyone else had to pay for when they bought my book:
Sugar Cookies:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
(can add 1 1/2 tsp almond extract here. Yummy. I do that.)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and blend well. Add extracts and blend. Mix flour and salt and gradually add. Chill dough for about 2 hours before rolling out and cutting. Bake cut out cookies on parchment lined baking trays at 375 for 12-14 minutes.
Frosting:
Note: This frosting is similar to royal icing, but I add shortening and flavoring to make it taste delicious. Thus, it dries hard enough to handle and pack when left overnight, but not rock hard, like traditional royal icing. The consistency is NOT the runny kind used for flooding. It's stiffer. Take a spoonful, turn it over the bowl. The frosting should cling to the spoon and slowly fall into the bowl. That's the right consistency.
4 tblsp meringue powder (available at many supermarkets and in most craft stores)
1/2 cup water
6-7 cups confectioner's sugar (may need more or less, see the consistency advice above)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup Crisco
Whip the meringue powder and water on high speed for a looooong time, several minutes, until it's fluffy and peaks form. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients to desired consistency. Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to a month.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
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14 comments:
This was such a wonderful idea. I just had to post it on my blog (Swedenst largest interior design blog with over 30 500 scandinavian readers every week) to show my readers the link and picture of your lovely work!
I love your book and use it for inspiration all the time. I especially like your idea of adding vegetable shortening to royal icing so that you get a creamier product. But I have two questions about this; one, how do you handle transporting cookies with softer icing? I have made dozens of cookies with your icing and moving them to the party is always a problem, or just displaying them at home. I have to buy a large coat box so I can put all the cookies on one layer. How did you all move cookies with soft icing? Do you have any suggestions? Second question; Crisco was reformulated a couple of years ago to omit trans fat (TF). But TF is what makes vegetable shortening work so well in frosting. I bought some high-ratio shortening at my local bakery supply store for my buttercream needs, but wonder if you think it's necessary in your royal frosting. Thanks! Sorry for all the questions. I really do USE your book!!
Thanks Susan R. for your great feedback! So glad you're making good use of the book! Makes me happy to hear. Hopefully you'll read this reply... VERY good questions. I do use this recipe (with the new Crisco), and handle the cookies, even wrap and ship them tightly packed with no problem, so hopefully we can crack down on why yours aren't drying. Are you letting the cookies sit at room temperature overnight before handling? You can even let them sit 2 days (the cookies will still taste fresh) and put a fan on them, but they MUST sit overnight at least. I've never handled or packed cookies the same day I decorate. If that doesn't help, or in addition, you can easily cut the amount of Crisco. Only use a couple tablespoons, and add a little light corn syrup, too, for consistency. It might be worth trying just a little (again, only a couple tablespoons) of your special shortening on a test batch, but I do think the issue might be the length of drying time. Hope this helps and keep me/us updated!!
Meaghan, thanks so much for your response! Hmm... maybe I'm not letting them dry long enough before covering them. In Austin we have significant humidity most of the year. Uncovered baked goods become stale pretty quickly so maybe I'm just too quick with the Saran wrap out of habit. I'll try a test batch of icing with a reduced amount of Crisco and the corn syrup and maybe put a fan on them but definitely leave them uncovered overnight. Thank you again for your suggestions. I'll give an update and send a photo.
Hi,
I bought your book 2 cookie seasons ago. I make all my Holiday gifts - cookies and candy and cookies. I ship them to family all over the world. This is the second time I tried using thefrosting recipe in your book. I used Crisco the first time and yesterday I used High Ration Shortening. The same thing happened both times. I whip the meringue powder and water for a looong time until it is light and fluffy. Then I add vanilla, shortening and powdered sugar in that order. When I do this my light fluff goes down to a separated liquid. It does fluff back up but then as I am using the frosting, in bags, the frosting eventually separates and sometimes it runs out like a milky liquid. My cookies do not look like your cookies in your book. Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong is greatly appreciated. I am on my third batch of frosting and I still have over 1/2 of my cookies to decorate.
Hi Vicky,
I'm so sorry you're having trouble with your frosting...must make decorating so frustrating, as that's the key to a good decorated cookie! Clearly something's off, because you shouldn't have any separation at all. Sounds like you're whipping up the meringue perfectly so it's fluffy. I would whip the meringue powder and COLD water (1/2 cup water and 4 T powder), gradually blend in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time (about 6 cups total) at low to medium speed. The whipped part WILL go down and lose it's fluffiness at this step, but still should blend into a nice frosting. There should never be any separation at all at any step. Then blend in 1 tsp vanilla and blend only about a rounded tablespoonful of Crisco. You don't need the full amount. Then, if you still feel like the frosting doesn't have that pliability that Crisco gives, you can add a tablespoon of light corn syrup, too. Drastically cutting back the shortening should help with the separation. And traditional royal icing has no shortening. I only add shortening because it makes a better consistency and makes it more paletteable, but you can eliminate it if you keep having separation issues. Also, I know heat can cause separation. May sound odd, but summer months are tough on frosting (I mention in case you're south of the equator and it's summer where you are). Hope this helps! Please keep me updated!! meaghan
Hi there, I'm having trouble finding meringue powder, can I substitute egg whites? if so what measurement should I use?
I also should note I live in NYC and we do not have any craft stores such as Michaels, Jo Ann's etc.
Hi Katie! Great question, so I posted the answer with other questions I've received so others can see it. If you click on the question mark in the right side column over there, you'll see your answer on the top of the entry. Thanks!
Do i use a whisk attachment or a paddle attachment to make the icing?
Thanks
Use the whisk for the icing! You want to beat the meringue powder/water really really well. (Paddle for cookie dough)
If I was to add more water in the icing recipe, would that make the icing smoother and not show lines, yet dry just the same?
Yes, Cat, you can use this to flood by thinning! If you click on the question mark on the right side, I answered your question in more detail and gave some flooding tips. Thanks! (I'll try and post a tutorial soon, too. good question)
Thanks so much for sharing the recipe! I was really surprised how well the cookies stayed in shape after baking!!! GREAT! If you want to you can see what I made (I covered the cookies with fondant) on my blog
http://muffinsnmore.blogspot.com/2009/10/fondant-covered-cookies.html
Will try frosting sometime, too. Curious how that will turn out ...
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