Why do beginner and kid cookie decorators make the best cookies? I have a few ideas.
Let me set the scene. Last weekend, I invited Jack, his roommate, and their girlfriends to come over for cookie decorating. (Have I mentioned how happy we are to have moved to the same area as Jack? It's a dream.)
Here's what I prepped for our Christmas cookie decorating party:
- about 60+ cut-out cookies: trees, sweaters, holly, ornaments, and presents,
- royal icing: I made 2 and a half batches and limited the colors to red, two shades of green, white, pink, golden yellow, and brown (for tree trunks),
- several types of sprinkles and sanding sugar in bowls,
- I pre-bagged the piping consistency icing into piping bags fitted with couplers and #2 tips. The brown icing was fitted with a #3 tip, again for tree trunks. I had other tips available if anyone wanted to swap them out,
- The remaining icing was thinned and poured into squeeze bottles,
- lined rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper for each person.
The difference between hosting a cookie decorating party and hosting a cookie decorating class?
At a class, I would have waited to thin the icing, demonstrated how to determine a stiff peak when making royal icing, and had them fill piping bags...but this was a party, not a class.
Tips and techniques for a successful cookie decorating party:
Once everyone arrived, I gave them a few tips and showed some basic techniques, such as...
- the difference between piping consistency and flood royal icing. Explained how to outline first, then fill the outline,
- how to hold a piping bag,
- NOT to shake the icing in the squeeze bottles,
- toothpicks are your friend. Use to distribute icing, pop and air bubbles, marbling, and nudging sprinkles,
- wet-on-wet decorating, including making dots and marbling,
- dip marbling,
- I also had both of my books (Decorating Cookies and Decorating Cookies Party) out if they wanted to look through for more ideas and techniques.
I was available for questions and assistance. Guess what? They didn't need any. All four of them got busy decorating.
(Does that ribbon not look like ric rac trim??? Obsessed.)
Why do I think that new, inexperienced, and kid cookie decorators make the best cookie decorators?
Their creativity is limitless! They don't worry about icing consistency, technique, or that cookie they saw on Instagram that they're trying to recreate.
They're not thinking that their cookies aren't good enough.
If you guessed the occupation of this sweater cookie maker to be engineer, you are correct!
They're HAVING FUN! And it shows!
Every time I decorate cookies with people new to decorating or with kids, I come away with new ideas.
Take this tree...
I am so going to copy that.
And these sweaters!!! A. I want to wear them. B. Look at that detail. C. They're stunning, and there's not an ugly Christmas sweater in sight.
Doesn't that sparkly bow sweater look like it's right out of Kate Spade?
While they were decorating, I decorated some cookies of my own.
(Yes, I copied that "ric rac" ribbon method.)
Let's be honest: They look completely pedestrian. I'm not "fishing for compliments," as my mom used to say. (Hi, Mom!) They're nice cookies but not filled with the creative energy that the newbies brought that night.
All this to say, newbie cookie decorators, you are killing it! Go forth and cookie!
