Butler Bulldog Cookies

March Madness is right around the corner, so I tried my hand at some basketball themed cookies.

These basketballs were pretty straightforward.  As for the details, I really loved the navy blue icing on an orange background.  Also, the finger grip details on the basketball looked fantastic.  I also really liked the smooth basketball in pic below.

And then, the Bulldog cookies...  My boyfriend bought a copper hand-made bulldog cutter for about $18 from http://www.walnutcreekmetamora.com/cookie.htm
Though it was a bit pricey for a cookie cutter, the shape of the cookie cutter most resembled a bulldog than any other that we found on the internet.  We are very happy with the shape!  Thank you Walnut Creek!

As an MBA trying to start my own business, I thought that having this cookie cutter in Indianapolis would be a feather in my cap, so to speak.  My big advantage over other decorators of cookies.  Yet my boyfriend, being the friendly, generous type that he is, decided to buy two of the cutters.  Why would he need two, you ask?  To give one to his favorite local bakery, located in Butler-Tarkington.  That Carl, always looking out for the competition ;)

After receiving the cookie cutter, this bakery went to work on coming up with a clever design.  Because they mass produce their cookies (hundreds versus my dozens), their design has been much less intricate than mine (for example, white icing with navy blue outline of the shape).  Their second design was a white, round cookie, using the bulldog cutter to make only a dent in the circle.  Then, they outlined that shape in navy.

Overall, we are liking my attempt a lot better!  Take a look:

 How cute is this bulldog!?

Attention all Butler fans:  ELM Cookies is taking orders and would love to make your next Butler event much sweeter!  Contact me at elm.cookies@gmail.com or purchase directly through my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/ELMCookies

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's almost Valentine's Day.  My Valentine, Carl, and I decided to bake up a batch of the cutest cookies ever in preparation of the holiday.  We really enjoy giving the cookies to coworkers and friends as much as we enjoy eating them--which is good, because we are both on diets!

The cookies turned out so well!  I especially love these kiss cookies.

Robert Indiana would be so proud of our Indiana Love cookies : )

To replicate:  print out the LOVE picture, making sure the design will fit inside the cookie cutter.  Put the picture under some clear wax paper and trace the design by piping thicker icing in the desired pattern.  Let it dry for several hours and then peel the LOVE off the paper.  The design will be very fragile, so handle with care.  After flooding the house cookie, drop the LOVE into the still-wet icing... Voila!  It looks fantastic.  Later, I went back and outlined the houses for a finishing touch.

 The whole collection has an 80's Madonna type feel.  Super, super cute.

Feel free to leave comments about these cookies!

South Beach Vacation

To commemorate the end of residency interview season, my boyfriend and I are going to South Beach.  I can not wait!!  My last interview was a dermatology interview, so its a damn good thing we postponed our trip until after that... you know, those dermatologists hate a sun tan! 

This occasion definitely called for some beach themed cookies.  I hope they are not confiscated by airport security tomorrow!

We are taking polka dot, paisley print and Baywatch-red bikini cookies.

We might mismatch our bikinis--I hear that is in style.

When we get there, we will look for sea shells.

Hopefully we will be eating fish and lobster!!

...but if we don't eat fish and lobster (because we are on a budget and might too lazy to go out), then we can act like the cookies are the real thing.

Forecast is 75 and sunny everyday : )  YAY!  I will definitely need some of these sunglasses cookies!

Fisherman's Birthday!

I'm still on this "making the cutest cookies ever" kick.  And really, if a person has the inclination and the tools, pretty much any occasion can become a cookie-worthy one. 

And so has become my step-father's birthday.  His name is David.  We have a little cottage on a lake up in Minnesota and fishing is one his favorite activities.

So, here are his birthday cookies!

How to make your own wilderness assortment:

First I picked out wilderness or fishing-related cookie cutters.  To replicate, you will need a moose face, small fish (trout), large fish (bass), wilderness tree, ornament/bobber, and something that can be molded into a long pole.  I used a sea horse and molded the cookie dough into the fishing pole shape.

Second I baked a batch of sugar cookies--but substituted rose-water for the almond extract to make them smell outdoorsy.  They smell a bit like rose-scented hand soap, but taste delicious and after all my holiday baking, I was definitely ready for a change!  Recipe available at:  http://www.annies-eats.com/2007/12/12/christmas-cookies/

After baking, I prepared royal icing.  Again, I used the Royal Icing recipe available on Annie's Eats.  The writer of that blog also does an amazing job of describing how-to do royal icing, so I will not repeat.  I will simply post the link and let you read her post.  This is definitely worth reading if you are trying to learn.  The only difference in technique is that I put a heaping spoonful of piping icing onto the center of a piece of saran wrap, roll it up, put it in my decorating bag, then cut off the tip of the saran wrap so the icing can flow.  Then I put on the decorating tip.  I learned this trick from Karen's Cookies at:   http://youtu.be/QxE-pnqmsE0

Here is the link to the Royal Icing recipe and tutorial:  http://www.annies-eats.com/2009/12/04/how-to-decorate-with-royal-icing/

For my wilderness cookie assortment, I used these colors:  gold, brown, no-taste red, super black, leaf green mixed with navy and yellow, leaf green mixed with brown, and white (just the icing--no coloring needed).

Next, I piped the thicker icing onto the cookies.  I used Wilton decorating tip size 1 for the white because I was thinking of the very small fishing line I needed to draw.  I used tip size 5 for the green on the tree, because I wanted the branch outlines to look rounded.  For all other colors, I used decorating tip size 2. 

Then, I flooded the cookies with the thinned out icing:

I then sprayed Wilton spray on the fish to make them look metallic (or wet).  Gold spray looks good on white and silver spray looks great on green.  I let this dry overnight.  Make certain to place a wet paper towel in the bottom of a cup and keep your decorating bag tips in the paper towel when not in use.  Otherwise, they will dry out.

The next day, I added details with leftover thicker, piping icing.

Here is the final assortment!

Winter cookies!