Cake! magazine by Australian Cake Decorating Network August 2017 | Page 16

Step 1 - 6:
Roll out cookie dough and cut out plaque shapes.
Chill dough in freezer for 15 minutes then bake as your recipe directs (until edges are just lightly golden).
Make royal icing according to your recipe. Separate into bowls and colour one bowl with white gel paste
and another with chocolate brown and a touch of black gel pastes to achieve very dark brown.
Thin the white icing with water a little at a time using a teaspoon or spray bottle, stirring gently with a
silicon spatula. For piping icing, add only enough water for the icing to form soft peaks. Leaving some
icing in the bowl, scoop a small amount into a tipless piping bag and tie the end in a knot.
Add water to the remaining white icing until it drops from the spatula in a thick ribbon. This is flooding
consistency. Scoop into another tipless piping bag.
For the brown icing, the consistency should be somewhere between piping and flooding, Add just enough
water so that when you draw a knife through the icing, the line heals to a smooth surface in 20 seconds.
Scoop into a tipless piping bag.
Step 8 - 10:
Step 7:
Cut a small hole in the
bag containing the white
piping icing and pipe
an outline around the
cookie. Let the outline set
for a few minutes. Cut a
larger hole in the icing
bag containing white
flood icing and flood
the cookie. Pop any air
bubbles that rise to the
surface with your scribe
tool or a toothpick.
Allow to dry completely
(at least 8 hours, but
overnight is best).
Prepare the paint palette
with drops of teal and
white food colour gel
pastes.
Mix a tiny bit of teal with
water in the palette with
a number 5 round brush
until you have a very light
wash. Dab the brush
on paper towel before
applying the colour to the
cookie in light, circular
strokes, avoiding the
centre and bottom quarter
of the cookie.
Step 11:
Gradually add more colour to the watery mix and
repeat the process, using light circular strokes to build
up colour working from the outside towards the centre.
Remember to always dab the paintbrush on paper
towels before applying to the cookie. Too much water
will erode the royal icing causing the surface to pit.