Happy Valentine's Day!!!
Have you ever looked at vintage valentines? Oh my gosh...they are THE best! Of course, the illustrations are darling, but they have the best puns!
So, this is my version of a punny valentine: Wanna Neck?
My child assures me that "no one" knows what "necking" means. Which just confirms my suspicion that kids these days don't watch nearly enough Happy Days reruns.
When Mr. E, king of the puns, came home from work, I had finished the giraffes, but the hearts didn't have wording on them, yet. I was SURE he would be able to guess the pun.
Guess, I told him...guess the valentine pun! Want to know what he said?
"Giraffe-ter my heart?"
Giraffe-ter my heart. Really.
We could not stop laughing.
Our family is weird. But, you knew that from these cookies already.
To make these giraffe valentine cookies, you'll need:
- giraffe cut-out cookies
- royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Super Red and Deep Pink
- couplers and tips (#2, #1)
- disposable icing bags
- squeeze bottles
- toothpicks
- black food coloring pen
Use a #2 tip to outline the giraffe with pink icing. Add a tail and horn.
Before thinning, reserve some piping consistency red icing for later. Thin the pink and red icings with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup. (Reserve some of the white icing for piping details later.) You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand two." Four is too thick, one is too thin. Count of 2-3 is good. Cover with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.
Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed. Pour into squeeze bottles.
Working 6-8 cookies at a time, flood the outlines with the thinned pink icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and pop large air bubbles.
Starting with the first cookie filled, drop dots of thinned red icing onto the pink. Drag a toothpick down the center of each dot to make a heart.
(Wipe the toothpick after each drag for a "clean" heart. If you look at the hearts, you can see where I forgot to wipe the toothpick on a dot...there's a line down the top.)
Let the cookies dry at least 30 minutes.
Use a #1 tip to add a mane, heart on the tail, hooves, detail on the face, and heart on the horn.
Let the cookies dry uncovered 6-8 hours or overnight.
The next day, add the eye with a black food coloring pen.
Happy ♥ Day!
