You guys know I'm a huge fan of Sweet Sugarbelle's line of cookie decorating line. Callye's a cookie decorator, and she knows what works. She also knows what's cute!
I've used her cutters and tools to make latte & donut cookies, football cookies, cookies for college students, deviled egg cookies, and dia de los muertos cookies.
Psst....you can find Sugarbelle's cookie products at:
So, I just had to make these sweet gem cookies using Sugarbelle's Geometric Heart and Jewel cutters and new Edible Spray Mist.
I'll put this in the tutorial, but I wanted to call out this new Americolor gel paste food coloring that I used for the base and the piping. (Thank you, Nicole!!!) It's called Blush. It honestly looks a little suspect in the bottle...it looks like a dark gold. Once it's mixed into royal icing, though, it is in fact, a soft, delicate pink. Almost a rose gold color minus the metallic.
See it here next to untinted icing for a comparison...
To make the watercolor gem cookies, you'll need:
- cut-out cookies (my go-to recipe) cut with Sugarbelle cutters
- royal icing (my go-to recipe), tinted with Americolor Blush (or Bright White)
- coupler and #2 tip
- disposable icing bag
- squeeze bottle
- toothpicks
- Sugarbelle edible spritz: pink and mint
- edible gold paint or gold luster dust
- food coloring pen (big surprise, I used Sugarbelle's)
Use a #2 tip to outline the cookies. Reserve some of the piping consistency icing.
Thin the remaining icing with water, a bit at a time, stirring gently. Stop when a ribbon of icing dropped back upon itself disappears in a count of "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two" (or three). Cover the bowl with a damp dish towel and let rest for several minutes.
Uncover the icing and stir gently to pop large air bubbles that have formed on the top. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.
Flood the outlined area with the thinned icing using a toothpick to pop air bubbles and guide to edges. Let the icing dry uncovered 6-8 hours, or overnight.
The next day, use the spray to color the cookies. Hold the spray about 12" above the cookies. The effect will be more of a watercolor look rather than a completely even spray like from an airbrush. It does even out a bit as it dries. It's a great look...so pretty!
Let the spray color dry at least 20 minutes.
Use edible gold paint or luster dust mixed with vodka to add gold flecks. Dip a food-only paintbrush into the gold. Use the tip of your finger to flick the gold over the cookies. The gold will need 45 minutes or so to dry.
Next, add the detail piping. Sugarbelle's cutters come with stencils. Place on top of each cookie and draw the lines for piping. Use the reserved icing and a #2 tip to pipe the outlines.
Let the icing dry for at least one hour before packaging.
I love, love, love this technique! You get a lot of WOW factor for only using one color of royal icing.
