How to decorate cookies: methods and tips

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 19:13

Stress? You have to distract yourself by putting your hands in the dough, or concentrating on something else. For example, learning how to decorate cookies. Every occasion is good for putting personal inspiration into practice: a birthday, a graduation, baptisms and confirmations, Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the upcoming Halloween with its trick or treat. We have for you methods and advice on how to get started.

Loved by everyone, even the Royal Family, the (well) decorated shortbread cookies are often true masterpieces to admire. And the point is precisely this: the main purpose is not to eat them, but to make them special, a memory to keep as long as possible.

there how to decorate cookies that tell about you or who will receive them as a gift.

A perfect base

Without a perfect cookie at the base, you won't get a perfect decoration either. It's not so much about taste as it is about smooth surface, firm texture and strength. A shortbread cookie, for example, should be made with:

• powdered sugar and not granulated sugar, for a very smooth surface on which to draw;
• with the addition of honey, which guarantees a rather long conservation of the biscuit (weeks, if done right)

Type of icing

We have already talked about all the useful icings for decorating cakes and biscuits, but in this case you only need two types: water icing and royal icing. It depends on your purpose:

• Use the water glaze if you do not have to draw clear or raised figures, and if you intend to consume the cookies immediately;
• use the royal icing if you want to keep the cookies for a long time, if you need to better define the decorations and if you need embossed details

Dyes: which ones to use

There are different types of food dyes: powder, gel, liquid, water-soluble (ideal for low-fat doughs) and fat-soluble (ideal for fatty doughs, rich in egg yolks and butter). For you who are about to make icing or icing, you will need gods water-soluble dyes, preferably in powder or gel form. The speech is valid whether you have to color the glaze, or you have to melt them separately to paint some elements.

Think "in layers"

If you want to try your hand at cookies like the ones in the picture, you have to think in layers, literally: which element should be drawn first? Which space of the cookie should be filled first? The decision is also fundamental to calculate the time required for drying: yes, because it is good to wait until each decoration is dry in order to combine or overlap another. Arm yourself, therefore, with a lot of patience.

For more definition

Once your cookies have been completed, consider defining the contours with a white border of thick icing or icing: they will be more defined and impactful, complete.

Do you have to pack them or not?

We mentioned the differences between water icing and royal icing. If you have to stack the cookies or pack them, undoubtedly decide for the ice: this - unlike the other - will dry more slowly but become like chalk and you will not scratch it not even jumping on it.

Tools

The best friends of anyone who has to decorate cookies with icing and icing are … toothpicks. Or toothpicks in general. Obviously there are special tools on the market, but if you don't have them, know that a paper cone is one wooden skewer they can work wonders.