A little background...before going to CookieCon last month, I'd never heard of a "toothpick rose." Then, I met this sweet cookie girl named Andrea, of Andy Kay's Cookies (go check out her cookies!) Andrea is so vivacious, and friendly, and gracious...and a fellow curlytop! Andrea just so happens to be THE Andrea, Lady Andrea of the Toothpick Rose. (It's kinda like being Duchess of Cambridge.)
Have you ever seen anyone make a frosting flower for a cake using a "flower nail?" This is similar. You can make all of the roses you want ahead of time and place them exactly where you want them, as opposed to piping them directly onto the cookie.
Andrea was kind enough to show me her toothpick rose technique at CookieCon...and let me try it. I failed miserably. Once I got home, though, I couldn't wait to try again. (Keep reading; there is a link to Andrea's tutorial video farther down. You don't want to miss it.)
Andrea makes her roses using a Wilton 101s tip. I have a million tips and, of course, did not check to see if I had a 101s until I was ready to start making them. Did I have one? No. I had a small petal tip, an Ateco 264. It did the job, but I definitely need to get my hands on a 101s.
To make the toothpick roses, you'll need:
- thick royal icing (I used my regular recipe and then added more powdered sugar until it was super thick and at a stiff peak...if you have a glob of icing on your spatula, you should have to forcefully bang it on the side of the bowl to get it to fall off.)
- piping bag
- 101s or Ateco 264 tip (small petal tip)
- toothpick
- small parchment squares
- paper towels
(I'll walk you through the steps, then link to Andrea's awesome video, so you can see the technique in action.)
Hold the icing tip so that the small end is pointing up.
Start at the top of the toothpick and pipe a loop going above the toothpick and back down. From here, backtrack to before where the last loop ended, and pipe an arch while rotating the toothpick. Repeat until you have several layers.
The more you have your tip angled out from the top, the more open your rose will be.
When you're finished, poke the bottom of the toothpick through the parchment and slide the parchment up. Gently push the rose off of the toothpick using the parchment. Place on a cookie sheet to dry.
Have a paper towel handy to wipe the tip off...and for mess-ups.
Once your roses are dry, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. Use royal icing to secure onto cookies.
Now that you've read that through, take a look at Andrea's toothpick rose video.
It will all make sense to see it in action. Promise!
It will all make sense to see it in action. Promise!
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Toothpick roses. Are you as in love with them as I am?
