Mangia Bene Pasta
How to Decorate Sugar Cookies
Sugar Cookies
(Makes about 24)
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl.
With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.
Add the dry ingredients and mix until well blended.
Wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter baking sheets.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the dough to 1/4-inch thickness.
Cut out shapes with cookie cutters.
Transfer the shapes to the prepared baking sheets.
Repeat procedure for remaining dough.
Bake for 10 minutes; do not allow to brown.
Cool the cookies on wire racks.
Royal Icing made with Egg Whites
2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice.
Add the sifted confectioners’ sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth.
The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container.
Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.
Royal Icing made with Meringue Powder or Dried Egg Whites
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder or dried egg whites
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons water
In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder until combined.
Add the water and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy and stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
To get the right consistency, add more confectioners’ sugar or water.
Procedure
1. Bake the sugar cookies and allow them to cool.
2. Make one batch of the royal icing. Divide the icing into small bowls or containers, one for each color you plan on mixing. Add the
food coloring to each bowl and stir in well so that no white streaks remain. Keep the icing covered as it will dry very quickly once
exposed to air. Tinted icing is best used the day it is mixed because the color will dry more uniformly. Otherwise, the icing can be
made 1 to 2 days ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Bring the icing to room temperature when ready to use and stir vigorously to
restore its original consistency. Once applied to cookies, the icing should remain at room temperature so it sets into a candy-like
coating. As you decorate, you will need to adjust the consistency of the icing for different areas of the design. The addition of food
coloring, flavoring, beating time, and normal variations in egg size can affect the consistency. If you make an adjustment and still
think that your icing is too thin or too thick for your application, simply adjust by adding more confectioners’ sugar to thicken or more
water to thin.
3. Prepare the pastry bags that you will be filling with the icing. Since these cookies require a number of icing colors, we recommend
using disposable pastry bags or parchment cones. You may choose to simply cut a small hole in the tip of the bag and fill it with one
of the icing colors. We prefer to insert a small, round decorating tube for more precision.
Outlining:
When piped the icing should hold a thin line with minimal to no spreading. If the icing is too thick to easily pipe through a small
(1/8-inch) hole, gradually add more water.
To draw a cookie border, stripes, zigzags, or any other form of line, first fill a pastry bag with royal icing and cut a hole in the tip of the
bag (the bigger the hole the wider the outline) or insert a pastry tube. Hold the pastry cone at a 45 degree angle to the cookie surface
and apply consistent, gentle pressure while moving the cone in the direction that you want the icing to go. Do not drag the tip of the
cone in the icing. Hold the tip about 1/8 inch above the cookie and allow the icing to fall into place. If the icing breaks as you are
drawing, you are probably moving too fast. If the icing falls back on itself rather than in a straight line, you are probably moving the
cone too slowly.
Flooding:
Flooding describes the process of ‘flooding’ a relatively thin royal icing into an area defined by a pre-existing outline. The outline
creates the dam that prevents the icing from flowing off the cookie. To flood, fill a pastry cone with royal icing thinned to top-coating
consistency. Cut a hole in the tip of the bag or insert a small, round decorating tip. Guide the icing around the interior of
the outline until the area is completely filled. For very small areas or to get into corners, use a toothpick to guide the icing. If your
outline color is different than your flooding color, be sure the outline is completely dry before flooding, otherwise the colors may bleed.
Marbling:
Marbling look best when 3 or more colors of royal icing are used; one for the top coat and 2 or more that get applied to the top coat
with a pastry bag. Begin by mixing all icing colors to top-coating consistency. Transfer all the icings into separate pastry bags and cut
a small hole in the tip of each bag or insert a small, round decorating tip. Apply the top coating or flooding coat and then quickly pipe
lines or dots of the other icing colors on top. Immediately draw a toothpick through all of the icings to create a marbled effect.
Countless patterns can be made by varying the way you pipe the icings onto the top coat and draw the toothpick through the icing.
Sanding:
Sanding is the application of small decorations, such as sanding sugar, to cookies. You can sand an entire cookie by first coating it
with royal icing , or you can sand a smaller area, or even an outline. Either sprinkle the sugar by hand or funnel through a pastry bag
onto wet royal icing. Allow the sugar to set into the icing for several minutes then gently shake off the excess. Remember that if you
do not want to sand a part of the cookie that is already iced, that icing must be completely dry or the icing will adhere to it.
Beadwork:
To make a bead, fill a pastry bag with royal icing and cut a hole of the desired size in the tip or insert a small, round pastry tip.
Hold the pastry bag at a 90-degree angle to the cookie with the tip nearly on the cookie surface. Apply gentle pressure until the dot
reaches the desired size. Stop applying pressure and pull the bag straight up. To create a beaded border, pipe a series of dots
along the edge of the cookie outline. Beadwork may also be applied on top of flooded areas once they are completely dry.
Storage:
Allow decorated cookies to dry at room temperature for several hours until the icing is dry and hard.
Place the cookies in an airtight container with wax paper or parchment paper between layers.
Sugar cookies can be stored for several weeks at room temperature.