High on Holiday Sugar Cookies

Last weekend finally got off my butt, rolled up my sleeves and got into sugar - lots of it!!! :)

This has been on my to-do list like for-ever. Decided that I had to make them before the year ends.

Baking the cookies was easy. Making the royal icing was easy too. The tough part was getting the icing on the cookie - professionally and properly of course!!! Since I’m not a gifted or natural drawer, this 'free-hand' drawing proved to be the biggest challenge, for me anyway.

Since tis the xmas season - made some cute snowman. These were really fun to make.

Tried some other styles too - cupcakes, teapots and butterflies.

Yeah I know they are all coloured in a sweet blue - perfect for a baby shower or new born baby boy party, don't you think?

Since there were lots of royal icing leftovers, decided to make more....

.....pink ones this time.

Hehehe...wouldn't they be great a princess tea party or something?

List of my inspirations and sifus: :) They generously share great handy tips, tutorials and even cookie recipes so do mosey over to learn more from them.
annie
bake350
bakegreek
browneyedbaker
cakejournal/
iambaker
katie
sweetopia

Bench notes:

1. Plan ahead - bake the cookies 1st and cool them. Preferably, ice them on another day so you do not feel rushed (see #3 below). Also prepare the tools you require ahead.

2. Royal icing do not keep well overnight as the mixture tends to separate. So only make what you need.

3. Take your time and enjoy decorating them rather than rushing through them in a stressful pace! The icing takes time to dry and set so have a lot little patience.

4. If you are squeezing the bag really hard and with both hands to get the icing out - s.t.o.p. you need to dilute it a little more to make it more manageable.

5. Water at the bottom of a tall glass is great in keeping the tips from drying out.

6. To avoid messing up the edges of the soft icing, best to place cookie on a paper towel and rotate the paper as required to decorate.

7. The key to perfectly decorated cookies is good icing consistency. For outlining and flooding the cookie, use the 5-10 seconds rule: drag a spoon/butter knife through the surface of the icing. The surface should become smooth between 5-10 seconds. If the time taken is less, it might be too runny, add more icing and slowly thicken it. If the time taken is more, add a little liquid until you reach the proper consistency.

Have fun - think I've got the sugar cookie bug. If time permits, hope to whip up MORE!!! Now who would like a cookie?

Cakepops - the rage!

Cakepops made fun and fame by Bakerella.

Cakepops are tiny cakes on a lollipop stick = cake + (lolli)pop. They are actually made from cake crumbs or cake that has been crumbled. Usually bakeries with left over ‘kitchen cake scraps’ (from the ‘dome’ on the cake tops to make them look flat and pretty before frosting them) usually make rum balls with these rolled in melted chocolate or cocoa powder.

My motivation - the white kitties with a red bow!

I’m no bakery. So I baked a whole cake and proceeded to ‘destroyed’ it by crumbing it into small tiny bits and pieces. Using a food processor is a whiz for this. Otherwise you can also you use your hands. To save time, consider store bought cake instead!!

Handful of kitties :) (source of my bane!)

To bind the cake together (otherwise how do you keep the cake crumbs together?) you need some frosting (can frosting cream is recommended by Bakerella) but you can also use a little water or liquor! I’ve actually made this twice – the first time tak jadi (aka didn’t turn out) as I had a tough time tempering and melting compound white chocolate and these quickly ended up as cake balls instead especially at that time I couldn’t find lollipop sticks nearest substitute is perhaps using bamboo (satay) skewers instead.

In my second attempt, got excited again when KDW informed me where I could source for lollipop sticks and also ‘candy melts’ at a reasonable price. HOI (or House of Ingredients @ Sri Damansara) offers a good range of local coloured compound chocolates (pink, green, purple, white, etc) and at different package sizes too which is great for me since I wasn’t too keen on storing 1kg block of pink strawberry flavoured chocolate!!! Dark chocolate I don’t mind since I use them regularly.

Don't lick, just bite em' (lolz)

Btw was informed that the coloured compound chocolates are similar to ‘candy melts’. Still found it difficult to melt the compound white chocolate!! And so my poor kitties suffered a little. Oddly I had no trouble with the compound pink chocolate. Bless those professional chocolate makers who make tempering chocolate look so easy!

These mix goodies are perfect for a dear friend's birthday pressie :)

Bench notes:
#1. Have lots of kitchen towel paper around as dealing with melted chocolate can get messy!! Yummy but still messy.

#2. If you intend to dip in white chocolate, make sure your cake is lighter in colour, ie choose butter cake over chocolate cake, otherwise you will have to coat it a few rounds to get rid of the darker cake base. But too much coating makes the outer later thicker and thus tougher to eat??

#3. High quality chocolate are generally easier to melt and handle. But the important rules of melting chocolate are similar. The key lies in the heat temperature used to melt the chocolate, lower for white chocolate. Otherwise you may ‘burn’ the chocolate, making them unusable ie. they become thick and gooey. Unusable in the sense that dipping and getting a smooth coating may be difficult but that doesn’t mean you have to throw it away – can still be eaten spread with bread or something.

Double-boil method: Fill lower pan with water to below level of top pan. Bring water to simmer; then remove from heat. Put chocolate in top pan and set in position on lower pan. Stir constantly, without beating, until smooth and completely melted.

Microwave: Melt them at 40% power or defrost setting for 1 minute. Stir thoroughly. Continue to microwave and stir at 30-second intervals until smooth and completely melted or at the consistency required.

#4. KDW mentioned (and only realize it all too late as I had already bought them) that paper lollipop sticks are easier to use compared to plastic ones. But I had no problems using the plastic ones but can understand that the paper based product would be less slippery than the plastic counterpart.

#5. If you wish to tint your white chocolate (knowing how difficult it is already handling melted white chocolate), use concentrated oil-base colouring. HOI sells these too. Do not use water base colouring least you ruin your chocolate! You can also experiment with adding a little shortening but not too much otherwise your white chocolate may turn out oily! (Read somewhere that the ratio is about 2 tsp shortening to 400g candy melts.)

#6. Make sure your chocolate is free and stay far away from any water/liquid. Water causes melted coatings to harden and streak.

#7. Using M&Ms for decorations. While they do not melt in your hands they certainly do in the fridge!! So be aware of the discolouration. Have not tried Smarties and whether they share the same downside.

#8. Ideally, can frosting would be preferred as these enable the cakepops to be stored at room temperature thus avoiding the heartaches of condensation (or sweating) and moisture storing them in the fridge. But I’ve read mix comments with some people who experienced condensation and others who have no problems with storing them in the fridge. Btw, does anyone know where to get these can frosting locally?? Can use homemade cream cheese but that will require refridgeration if consuming them later.

#9. Cake-oil leaks or cake cracks. Browsing through Bakerella’s book, found out that this is caused by not coating the chocolate properly. Except for aesthetic reasons, they are still edible.

#10. If all else fails, make them into cake balls or cake bites, they are definitely easier and faster to make compared to trying to balance them on a lollipop stick. Works well with those 'crack' failed cake balls too. Alternatively (and for a sturdier option) turn them around and leave the lollipop sticks sticking out in the air with a nice ribbon tied to them and the cake balls at the bottom. For more creative ideas, do visit Bakerella.

Cake bites.
Did you notice the use of bento silicon cups? :)

Will I make these again?

Of course I will. They are definitely fun to make but I’ll think twice about handling white compound chocolate though. If I have time later, I must experiment Wilton candy melts to check if its all so easy and simple as Bakerella makes them out to be!!

Other cakepop characters are present/gift boxes, snowman, butterfly, rooster and rainbow sprinkles!!