| 1 cup unsalted butter, slightly softened | 1/2 teaspoon salt | |
| 6 to 9 cups confectioner's sugar | 4 tablespoons meringue powder | |
| 1 egg | 1/2 cup cold water | |
| 2 teaspoons vanilla extract | 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening | |
| 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour | 2 tablespoons light corn syrup |
For cookies, In the bowl of a standing mixer with a flat beater or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, combine butter and sugar (1 cup) at low speed. Switch to medium speed and blend well. Blend in the egg. Add vanilla extract (1 teaspoon) and blend, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Briefly whisk together flour and salt in a separate bowl and gradually blend into the wet ingredients.
Cover dough with plastic wrap or place in a sealable plastic bag, and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Follow the instructions on page (23) for rolling, cutting and baking cookies.
Preheat over to 375 degrees F. Bake for about 12 to 16 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Reduce baking time for mini cookies (1 to 2 inches across) by a few minutes. Add several minutes of baking time for larger cookies or for cookies on a stick, which are thicker. Because cookie size varies in this book, be vigilant when your cookies are in the oven and watch for browned edges, as that is the best way to determine if cookies are done.
For royal icing, in the bowl of a standing mixer with a wire whip or in a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, mix meringue powder and cold water for several seconds on low speed. Switch to the highest speed and whip for several minutes, until fluffy and stiff peaks form and the mixture looks like snow.
On low speed, mix in the 3 cups of confectioner’s sugar until blended. Add shortening, corn syrup and extract (1 teaspoon) and blend. Add 3 more cups of confectioner’s sugar and blend on low. Check consistency of icing, and if needed, add 1 more cup of confectioner’s sugar, and up to 2 more cups. Your brand of meringue powder, the humidity, and other such factors affect consistency, but I almost always end up with about seven cups of confectioner’s sugar.
Your royal icing should not be so stiff that it’s difficult to manage, but it shouldn’t be so runny that it drizzles or loses its shape. Take a spoonful and turn it over. The icing should cling to the spoon. After several seconds, the icing may slowly fall into the bowl. To thicken royal icing, add ¼ cup confectioner’s sugar at a time and blend well. To thin, add 1 teaspoon water at a time and blend well.
You will use royal icing to decorate cookies. For the flooding technique of cookie decorating, you will need to thin this icing. You may also use royal icing to pipe designs on cake pops, petit fours, or fondant-topped sweets.
Roll out chilled cookie dough, cut out circles, insert sticks, bake cookie pops according to the recipe and let cool completely.
Prepare icing according to the recipe, divide and tint white and yellow. Prepare 2 decorating bags with couplers and size 4 tips, fill with half of your white and half of your yellow icing and close with a rubber band. Cover the remaining white and yellow icing.
Pipe an outline on the cookies (white for bunnies and yellow for chicks) and let set 15 minutes. Use the remaining empty decorating bags to flood cookies with white or yellow according to the technique instructions. Let set very well, preferably overnight.
Prepare fondant, and if necessary, tint bright white. Store-bought white fondant won’t need additional coloring.
Roll out the fondant on a surface dusted with confectioner’s sugar to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Cut out bunny ears about 1 inch long, with a flat bottom.
Lay the cookie pops on a baking tray lined with wax paper. Use a toothpick to dab light corn syrup on the flat ends of the ears and attach to the top of the cookie. Let the cookies lie on the wax paper until dry.
Use the black, pink and orange edible writers to draw the bunny and chick faces.
Special Supplies
2 couplers
2 decorating tips, size 4
Rubber bands
Wax paper Toothpicks
Light corn syrup
Edible writers (black, pink and orange)
Store bought fondant