Eiffel Tower Tutorial

Some cookies look really difficult but they're really easy once you figure out the sequence of steps and streamline your assembly line.  Here is a great example of impressive cookies that are actually simple to execute.  Just follow these 85 steps in our easy to follow picture tutorial.  Just kidding.  We broke it down to 21 steps.  Sounds like a lot but once you get the rhythm of the pattern it's not as daunting as that may initially sound.  Give it a try.  You'll be surprised at how easy this look is to achieve.  

Flood and let dry over night.

Outline bottom.

Now begin to build in small steps.

 Voila!

  http://ohsugareventplanning.blogspot.ca/

The Bramble

A row of Bramble Jelly Shots, a la Toby Cecchini, beckons . . . 

I have been dying to have a go at the Bramble Jelly Shot recipe since it first appeared on the NYT blogs in March of this year!  A Bramble cocktail is quite divine - a lemon sour base, gin, and a float of blackberry liqueur.  The Bramble's translation to gelatin was conducted by noted cocktail expert/bartender/author Toby Cecchini, who also wrote the NYT  piece.
 Take a minute to read the article if you can - its a tremendously fun read, not only because JSTK is mentioned in the article - Toby's trials and tribulations in Jelly Shot Land are very entertaining!

Well, Bramble Jelly Shot was certainly worth the wait.  It's a wonderful recipe, tasty and gorgeous, with a handsome, well thought out garnish!  I tested the Bramble recipe first with gin, as indicated Toby's instructions, but made a vodka version as well, per the preference of one of the tasting groups.  The gin version was a bit more complex, but the vodka was extremely tasty too - both were gobbled up in short order!   Nice work, Toby - you are welcome at the Test Kitchen anytime!!!

Hope you enjoy!   The recipe for Bramble Jelly Shots follows, and is also on the NYT article link.

XO, Michelle

BRAMBLE JELLY SHOTS (with apologies to Dick Bradsell)

Recipe by Toby Cecchini and reprinted from the NYT Magazine Blogs

For the float:

6 ounces crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)
7 grams (1 packet) Knox unflavored gelatin
1 package (3 ounces) grape-flavored Jell-O gelatin
1 cup hot water

In a small mixing bowl, sprinkle the Knox and the Jell-O into the hot water and stir until completely dissolved, 5 to 7 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir in the crème de mûre. In a small, nonreactive baking dish or loaf pan, pour a few drops of cooking oil (grapeseed works well) and wipe out with a paper towel, coating the entire vessel with the barest layer. Pour blackberry float mixture in and set to chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to overnight, making certain it is level.

For the gin sour:

1 cup gin (lemon infused) (Note: vodka may be substituted!)
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
28 grams (4 packets) Knox unflavored gelatin
1 cup hot water.

Juice enough lemons to give you 2/3 cup juice, keeping the hulls as you squeeze. Roughly chop the squeezed hulls and put them in a coverable container along with the gin and the lemon juice. Leave at room temperature for at least 2 hours. It’s a good idea to do this before starting the float, so that by the time that has firmed up, your infusion is ready to go. When the float layer is firm, bloom the gelatin in the hot water by sprinkling it slowly while stirring, and continuing stirring until fully dissolved. Add the sugar and stir until that is also fully dissolved. Strain the gin mixture off from the lemon hulls through a fine sieve or chinoise and add it into the gelatin mixture, stirring well. Over a spoon, so as not to gouge a divot in the float layer, pour the lemon sour mix onto the float layer and return to refrigerator, again checking for levelness. Chill overnight. When ready to serve, cut into squares, or use a cookie cutter for shapes, and pull up carefully, using a cake spatula to get under the float layer. Garnish with a blackberry and/or a thin wedge of candied lemon. Or simply slurp.  http://jelly-shot-test-kitchen.blogspot.com/2011/05/bramble.html

Jell-O Strawberry Parfait

Looking for a dessert that is light and pretty
and won't harm your waistline?
I pulled this recipe from my recipe file archives
and wondered why it got lost for so long.

Just three ingredients.
I made mine with sugar-free Jell-O and light whipped topping.

JELL-O STRAWBERRY PARFAIT

PRINT RECIPE

INGREDIENTS
1 package (3oz) Jello-o brand gelatin, any flavor
1 cup sliced fresh fruit
1 cup thawed Cool Whip whipped topping

DIRECTIONS
Prepare gelatin according to package directions. Chill until slightly thickened. Set aside 1/3 cup. Add fruit to remaining gelatin; spoon into 4 to 5 glasses. Chill glasses at an angle until jello is set.

Meanwhile, fold whipped topping into measured (1/3 cup) gelatin. Spoon topping mixture into glasses of set jello. Chill. Garnish.  http://gratefulprayerthankfulheart.blogspot.ca/2012/03/jell-o-strawberry-parfait.html

Marigold cookies

This year instead of buying flowers from the nursery, the littles and I thought it would be fun to grow them from seed.  It’s been really exciting for all of us to watch them grow.  All of the flowers are doing well, but none so much as the marigolds.  They aren’t quite ready to bloom, but while we are waiting I thought it might be fun to create a cookie version.

These are seriously the easiest cookies you will ever make.  This may be the shortest supply list I’ve ever written.
To make these cookies you will need:

• orange or yellow 20-second icing
• pink petal dust

I started with a plain flower cookie.  I used a cutter from this set, which is really really handy.  The key to this cookie is patience.  It’s all about the layering and drying.  Begin by adding the first layer of petals to the cookie.  I used a #2 tip.
Notice the empty spaces between them?  This is an important step in getting a realistic look.  Let the first layer dry for 30-45 minutes then come back and fill in the spaces.  See the dimension you get from adding the icing at different times?
Let the first layer dry then repeat.
Let eah layer of icing set between applications and work toward the center until the petals eventually meet.  For the sake of illustration I also wanted to show a side view of the cookie.  All this layering might give the impression of a mile-high blob of icing on top of the cookie, but this is not the case.
When the middle has dried, add a few dots using a small {about #1.5} tip. Give them a bit of drying time…are you noticing a pattern…and add a few more.
This is when you REALLY let them dry!  And by dry, I mean dry.  Like overnight or something.
The next day, use a paintbrush and apply a little petal dust to the middle of the marigolds.  This is optional, but I think it really adds a lot.
These are what I call laundry day cookies because you can do a lot of folding during drying time.
I’ve always liked marigolds, but after this summer they will always symbolize a very special memory for me.
   http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/2012/04/pretty-marigold-cookies/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheSweetAdventuresOfSugarbelle+%28The+Sweet+Adventures+of+Sugarbelle%29

Sewing Cookies for Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day Week everyone! I wanted to make some sewing cookies for Mother’s Day this year. I first made these cookies back in 2010 and I wanted to  make a tutorial for you so you can make some sewing cookies for your mom. I think these are a great way to say Happy Mother’s Day. You can even make a cute card that says we love you “Sew” much but, I didn’t think of that until just now or I would have made one for my mom. Anyway, lets make some cookies.
Supplies: 
I used 15 second icing for this set.
Colors: 
Grey
Yellow
Green
Red
Brown
Tan
White
Tomato Pincushion Cookie
I avoid hand cutting whenever I can so to make these, I used a smashed circle and a flip flop cutter. I placed the smashed circle into the flip flop and cut.
Then, you can cut a piece of paper like the top of a tomato and use it as a template and trace with a  food safe marker.
Next, with the red icing, outline your tomato. Immediately flood both sides and let dry for about 20 minutes.
With the red icing, flood the middle and let it dry for about 20 minutes.
Then, outline the top of the tomato with green and flood right away.
With your grey icing, make three little lines where your want your pins to be and let it dry for about 20 minutes. This step is important because when you make the pins you don’t want them to look like they are falling down the top of the tomato later. Adding the lines will make it level. Now let this dry several hours or overnight before you add the final details.
Then, with the grey icing, add the pins.
Next, make the balls on top any color you want.
With your green icing, make the lines on the tomato and where the pins are pushed into the tomato top.
The Dressmaker Dummy

For the dressmakers dummy I used a dress cutter and a martini glass cutter. You can use almost any dress cutter for this. The wedding dress was perfect for what I wanted but the other one work well after I trimmed a little off the sides.
Next outline the top of the dummy with red icing and flood immediately.
Then, add the stand with your brown icing.
Spool of Thread Cookies
First, cut a pattern for thread from paper and traced it onto your square with a food safe marker.
Then, outline the cookie with white icing and flood the background. Let it dry several hours or overnight.
With your tan icing, flood the top and bottom of the spool.
With your brown icing and a small tip, (I used a 1.5 PME) make an “X” in each corner of your cookie. Then make your stitches around the edges and let it dry for several hours or overnight.
Next, with your red icing flood the center of the spool and let it dry for about an hour. Then, add the lines for the thread.
If you want a tutorial for buttons, Sweet Sugar Belle has a great one here. That is where I learned to make them.
I love being a mom! It has been the greatest pleasure of my life and I have loved every minute of it! Yes, even moments like when we were on our way to church one Easter Sunday morning and Tylor, who was about six at the time, grabbed his little sisters Easter basket and tossed his cookies into it. And like the time when all three kids had chicken pox at the same time. Or the time when they had a pet hamster that I swear was  Harry Houdini reincarnated because it would escape from it’s cage and crawl on my face while I was sleeping!! Yes, all these things really happened and although it wasn’t funny at the time, we laugh about it all the time now.
Happy Mother’s Day! Now go make some cookies for your mom and grandma!
Happy Creating,  http://thebearfootbaker.com/2012/05/sewing-cookies-for-mothers-day/