For many families, gathering in the kitchen to bake cookies is a cherished holiday tradition. And when the cookies come out of the oven, decorating the finished product is the most fun. At Color Garden we’re constantly developing new products, and we regularly bring in pastry chefs to help us develop new products. We’ve learned some fun and useful techniques for decorating cookies and want to share them with you.
First of all, you might be wondering how much icing you need to make. One single-use packet of Color Garden 100% plant-based color will make about one pound of icing. This will ice about one dozen cookies. And what colors would you need? Well not to worry, because Color Garden offers enough hues to tackle most any cookie design. A good starter set would include a Holiday Pack (consisting of red, green and brown), and a Multi Pack (with red, orange, yellow and blue).
Consider your design first. Suppose you want to start with a simple snowman cookie. You could color some icing brown for the buttons and hat, a little bit of orange for the nose, and some green for the scarf. Then leave most of the icing white for the snowman’s body. For designs like this, try putting your colored icings in piping bags. These make it easy to apply thin layers of icing.
Begin your design by using the piping bags to outline the shape of the cookie first. For our snowman design, this would be white. This outline will act as a barrier to prevent the icing from dripping down the sides of the cookie. Let this set for a minute. Then fill in the shape with more icing. Now decorate your design with other colors.
Don’t let your creativity end with the design of the cookies. Experiment and have fun with the ingredients to change the flavor and texture. Try nuts and creams for different textures. Consider spices, citrus and liqueurs for unique flavors.
We hope we’ve inspired you to enjoy some holiday baking this season. Have a pleasant holiday season.
