There are certain things I've learned about writing a book.
1. Publishing a book is like having a baby. You forget the work, the pain, the sleepless nights...once the baby is around, you think, "hey, that wasn't so bad...let's make another." You only show people the cutest pictures...no poopy diapers (baby), no dirty dishes stacked in the sink for three days (cookbook). Hopefully, it was obvious which one of those was baby and cookbook. ;)
2. You'll have to swear to your copy editor that yes, there IS such a thing as white food coloring.
3. As soon as your book is sent to printing, you'll think of a million things you'd like to add.
4. Things get cut. Like this whistle. Oh, I loved this little whistle cookie. With it's Twizzler cord, it stole my heart. Well, there wasn't enough room in the book for every cookie, so this one ended up on the chopping block.
The good news, I can share it with you here! If you have Decorating Cookies Party, this is goes perfectly with the Tailgate cookie set.
The whistle cookie cutter comes from e.crandal. I love their cookie cutters...so well made and so unique.
Before you bake the cookies, use a straw to poke a hole in the cookies. After they've baked, if the hole has closed up a bit, press the straw through the hole again just after they come out of the oven.
To make the ref whistle cookies, you'll need:
- whistle cut-out cookies, as described above
- royal icing, tinted grey using Americolor Super Black and white with Bright White
- coupler and tip, #2
- squeeze bottle
- silver luster dust
- vodka
- small ramekin/bowl
- small (food-only) paintbrush
- twizzler pull 'n' peel, or red licorice laces
Use a #2 tip to outline the cookies in grey icing.
Reserve some of this outlining icing. Thin the rest of the grey icing and all of the white with water, a bit at a time, stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a thick syrup. 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.
Fill in the outline, using a toothpick to guide into the edges and to pop large air bubbles. Let the icing dry for at least one hour.
Using the piping consistency icing again, pipe detail lines onto the whistles.
Let the icing dry completely, 6-8 hours or overnight.
Once dry, mix a bit of luster dust with vodka and brush onto the bottom section of the whistle to give it dimension.
Thread the licorice through the hole of the whistle and tie.