HALLOWEEN COOKIES

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1 - Prepare your royal icing as per the instructions on the box. Place a small amount of icing in each of the bowls, adding a small amount of colouring at a time until you reach the desired colour. The colour will darken over time. Then add a few drops of water to your icing to reach thick honey consistency. Cover bowl with glad wrap to prevent icing from drying out.

Step 2 - Roll out your fondant to approx. 4mm thickness. Using the same cookie cutter used to cut your cookie shapes, cut out the fondant shape. Your fondant will be slightly smaller that the cookie (because cookies may spread when baked).

Step 3 - Brush a very small amount of sugar syrup (water or jam) on the back of the fondant, just enough to make it lightly moist. If it's too wet it will make your cookie and fondant too soft and they may go soggy. Gently flip the fondant onto the cookie. Use the fondant smoother to gently smooth the top of the fondant, and then with your hands smooth the sides and edges (if it has stretched out of shape slightly). If you are adding any embossing to your base fondant, do this now before letting the fondant set.

Step 4 - Allow your fondant to set up for a few hours before decorating. In the meantime you can create your fondant decorations for your cookies. Allow these to set for an hour or so before adding them to the cookies. I used Mondo Flower Blossom plunger cutters for the skull eyes and the round plunger cutters for the spiders. You can experiment with the Mondo heart and star plunger cutters to add some extra artistic flair. Your creativity is only limited by your imagination.

Step 5 - Now your ready to start decorating. You can attach your fondant decorations
with a little dot of piped royal icing, matching up the colours to the fondant being used. Then add your piped details. I used a No 1 and No 2 round tip for the scrolls and lacework and curled vine on the pumpkins, and the leaf tip 352 for the vine leaves.

Step 6 - Allow your decorated cookies to dry on a wire rack overnight before packaging. If your store them in an airtight container they will go soft (particularly if not allowed time to dry properly). After approximately 24 hours you can package cookies in cellophane bags or store them in an airtight container with a piece of baking paper in between layers so your decorated
cookies don't spoil. Keep them in a cool area, but not in the fridge.

ANITA'S HOT TIPS FOR GREAT LOOKING COOKIES:

Sugar Cookies - Roll out your sugar cookie dough to 6mm thickness. This gives you a nice solid base to work on with less chance of breakage. To prevent spreading of your cookies place the pre-cut cookies on your baking tray in the freezer for about 10 mins before baking. Allow them to cool for approximately 5 mins on the tray after baking before transferring them to a wire cooling rack. This will again lower your chance of cookie breakage.

Royal Icing Mixing - Mix your icing on the lowest speed of your mixer (using a paddle beater on your mixer, not the whisk attachment). If you mix your icing too fast this will incorporate too many air bubbles and holes will form in your icing when drying spoiling the look of your cookie.

Colouring - Add only a couple of drops of Chefmaster food colour gel at a time to your icing. Adding too much at once to get a strong colour may affect the taste of your icing and possibly cause it to separate. As it's a concentrated food colour gel you do not need a lot. Allow the colour to develop over a few hours if you want a stronger colour, it will get darker over time

CONSISTENCY: 20 second icing is like thick honey. Drag a butter knife through your icing and count to 20. When the surface of your icing becomes smooth at the count of 15 or just over your ready to pipe. Add a few drops of water if it's still too thick, or if it's too thin add a little icing sugar to thicken it up.

Posture - If your hands are a little shaky, rest your elbow on your work surface to and use your spare hand to guide your piping hand to help steady your piping.

Practice - Do 5 minutes of piping practice before you start the project, It always helps my hands get into the flow of piping.

PIPING BAGS: Seal the end of your piping bag with a rubber band so your icing doesn't make a mess everywhere. It also decreases the pressure on your hand while piping your icing.

Piping - Rest your piping tips under a damp towel while not being used. This prevents them from drying out and clogging.

Clean Your Piping Tips - Always ensure your tip is clean when beginning to pipe. This helps keep your piping looking neat.