Santa and His Team!

This is a tasty sugar cookie centerpiece but you can make it out of any of your favorite roll out cookie recipes or in gingerbread!

Supplies Needed:

• Santa & Reindeer 3pc. cookie cutter set. (2308-0328)
• Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Set (2308-1096)
• 1 - 10" Cake Circle (10GCIR)
• 8" Lollipop Sticks (LSW-820)
• Royal Icing Mix  (CK77-101)  (2 bags suggested)
• Brown, Lemon Yellow, Leaf Green, Coal Black & Tulip Red Food Coloring
• Assorted Nonpareils or Holiday Nonpareils
• Icing wreaths. Small (KC-8104) or Med. (KC-8105)
• Icing double holly. (KC-8102)
• Disposable decorator bags. (AT-460)
• Round decorating tips. Tip # 12 (402-12), Tip # 5 (402-5), Tip # 3 (402-3)
• Star decorating tip # 16 (402-16)
• Pastry brush, 1". (AT-60010)
• Iridescent filler. (SC-40)
• Piece of Styrofoam.  

 Let's Get Started:

1. Make your favorite roll out cookie recipe. Cut out 7 reindeer, 1 Santa and 4 cookies from the house front only.
2. Bake and cool completely.
3. Make royal icing mix and color a small amount of each color. Yellow, light brown, dark brown, black, red and green. Leave the rest white. We suggest to cover any made royal icing with a damp paper towel so it does not dry out.
4. Attach tip #12 to bag and fill with white icing and use it as a glue to attach the 4 sides of the house together. Let dry.

Decorating the reindeer:

1. Thin some light brown icing with water and use a pastry brush and brush the entire cookie except the antlers. Let dry.
2. Use tip # 3 and dark brown icing and squeeze on antlers, ears, eye's, nose, mouth and hoofs. Save one reindeer and do his nose red.
3. Use tip # 5 and red icing to pipe on saddles.
4. Use tip # 3 and green icing and pipe in center of red saddle.
5. Use tip # 3 and white icing and pipe white dots around saddle.
6. For Rudolf, use the red icing and squeeze a wide line from top to bottom of his body, then a thinner white line on top, then sprinkle the white line with assorted nonpareils.

Decorating Santa:

1. Thin some red icing down and brush Santa's sleigh, suit and hat. Let dry.
2. Use tip # 5 and black icing for rungs on bottom of the sleigh and Santa's mitten.
3. Use tip # 16 and pipe on details on Santa's suit, beard and top part of sleigh.
4. Use tip # 3 and black icing for Santa's eyes and mouth.
5. After cookies are dry, turn them backwards and attach stick with royal icing. Let dry.

Decorating the house:

1. Use Tip # 12 and white icing and pipe around outside of house and corners. Sprinkle with assorted nonpareils. (Do this while the icing is still wet so the nonpareils stick).
2. Use tip # 3 and dark brown icing and draw on doors and windows.
3. Use tip # 3 and yellow icing and fill in the windows.
4. Use tip # 5 and white icing and add snow below windows. Let dry completely.

Putting it all together:

1. Put white royal icing on cake board.
2. Place house in center.
3. Wrap Styrofoam in aluminum foil and place inside center of house.
4. Arrange Santa and his team in Styrofoam.
5. Fill inside of house with iridescent filler.

This makes a tasty centerpiece for you holiday table!

Remember if you have any questions, feel free to call is toll free at 1-877-487-4289

Enjoy!

Christmas Candy Cabinet

WOW, time fly’s when you’re having fun! Christmas will be here soon. We are so excited to have a lot of new candy, cookie and cupcake ideas. Here are just a couple of pictures of some of the samples and a picture of the completed cabinet. Remember, if you have any questions on how we made anything, feel free to call us toll free at 1-877-487-4289 or stop in and see it in person.

Assorted decorated cookies.

Rice krispy treats, candy and cookies.

Assorted chocolate lollipops and pretzels.

Finished Cabinet.

Fondant Ghosts

Here are some simple instructions from Satin Ice, to make really cute ghosts for cupcake, cakes, cookies and more!

Have fun and enjoy!!

Fondant Pumpkins

Satin Ice is the leading manufacturer of rolled fondant, and is VERY tasty! Here are simple instructions to make pumpkins. You can make different sizes depending on what you need them for.

Have lots of fun making them and try not to eat too much!

Cascading Cupcake Stand

This is a very clever design for a cupcake stand. It's available in white but you can decorate the stand with stickers construction paper and more. Here are a couple of ideas.

Decorated like a construction site.

Decorated for a Wedding or Shower.

Decorated for a flower party.

Decorated for a child's birthday party.

For Fall, you can use small fall leaf cutouts, and decorate the top of cupcakes with chocolate leaves.
For Christmas, you could attach cotton on them and put chocolate snowflakes on top.
For Valentine's Day, you could put pink and red hearts on and decorate cupcakes with chocolate hearts.

And the list goes on and on and on. You are only limited to your imagination!
To order your stand today, Click here: 1512-1676

Halloween Sample Cabinet

It's hard to believe that Halloween is around the corner. It's lots of fun creating and tasting the samples we make. Here are some pictures of the samples and the completed display cabinet. Remember, we will be featuring some of the samples here on the blog with detailed pictures and instructions. If there is something you see, and would like more info , please let us know. We hope you enjoy the pictures.

Halloween cupcakes and mini cakes.

Cake pops and treat pops.

Halloween Candy.

Halloween cookies.

Molded Halloween pretzels and cookies.

Finished Cabinet.

Enjoy and have fun making all of your Halloween goodies!

Ricotta Cheese Cookies

Ricotta cheese in cookies? When you try them you'll fall in love. We got this recipe from JoAnn. These can be used for any occasion or holiday. Just use the color sanding sugar that goes with the season you are baking them for. We used red and blue for Labor Day.

Ricotta Cheese Cookies for Labor Day!

RICOTTA CHEESE COOKIES

2 cups sugar
1 cup margarine or butter (2 sticks) softened
1 container (15 ounces) ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons milk
red and blue sanding sugar  (Use any color that matches your event)

1)  Preheat oven to 350. In large bowl, with mixer at low speed, beat sugar and margarine or butter, until blended. Increase speed to high; beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

2)  At medium speed, beat in ricotta, eggs and vanilla until well combined.

3)  Reduce speed to low. Add flour, baking powder and salt until dough forms. (Will be slightly sticky)

3)  Drop dough by level tablespoons, about 2 inches apart, onto un-greased cookie sheet. Bake approx. 10 to 15 minutes or until cookies are very lightly golden. (Cookies will be soft). Remove cookies with a spatula onto a cooling rack.

4)  When cookies are cool, prepare icing; In a small bowl, stir confectioners' sugar and milk until smooth. With a small metal spatula or knife spread icing on cookies, then sprinkle with sanding sugar. Set cookies aside and let icing dry completely, about 1 hour.

Makes about 6 dozen cookies.

I find these cookies also freeze very well.

Starting Halloween Samples

Cookie Dough!

Dough pushed into greased pan.

Cookies cooling.

 

We love our jobs!! It’s time to start making samples of Halloween cookies, candy etc. JoAnn is starting some spooky eye cookies. It’s a new pan from Wilton. We used the recipe on the back of the pan and it is sooo good. The dough and cookies! We call this quality control.

 

 

We will be adding more pictures as we continue to make samples! Hope you enjoy!

Down By The Sea

There are a lot of weddings that take place at the shore. Cupcakes are a fun and convenient solution to a cake. This design is simple but elegant. They can also be used for a beach party!

Cupcake with chocolate sea shells and a pearl.

 Supplies Needed:

• Cupcake papers (Any color)
• Candy mold (N-1) and (N-5) 
• 4mm white candy pearls (4MMWH)
• Merckens white chocolate (MMW)
• Merckens milk chocolate (MM)
• Merckens peach color chocolate (MPE)
• Super pearl pearl dust (49) 
• Paint brush (LCB)
• Buttercream icing (favorite recipe)
• Favorite cake recipe
• Granulated brown sugar (We got this at the local grocery store)

Making the chocolate:

1. Melt down all chocolate in microwave or a double boiler. Please remember do not over heat or boil your water.
2. Take a small amount of the milk and peach chocolate and drizzle it on top of the melted white chocolate.
3. Spoon a combination of white and milk into molds.
4. When the chocolate pours off the spoon it will marbleize on its own. Continue to drizzle the darker chocolate on top of the white chocolate as needed. If you marbleize the entire bowl first, by the time your get half way through the chocolate will be one solid color.
5. Tap mold on table to remove air bubbles and flatten the back.
6. Put into freezer for approx. 10 min.
7. Dust with super pear dust.

Putting it all together:

1. Bake cupcakes and let cool completely.
2. Ice cupcakes with white buttercream icing. You don't have to make it smooth.
3. Sprinkle granulated brown sugar on top.
4. Add chocolate sea shells and 1 candy pearl.

It's that simple! You can also mix it up with different color combinations of the chocolate sea shells.

Frozen Cupakes!

As in the movie! These are so simple to make and and the kids at the party will think you are the best!!

"Frozen" The movie, cupcakes.

Supplies Needed:

• Snowflake cupcake papers (LN9-971)
• Snowflake rings (BC-X-208)
• Frozen rings (DP-17676)
• Sugar snowflake (L-19068)
• Snowflake confetti (CON-SNO)
• Blue sanding sugar (SSUG-blu)
• Royal blue food color (CH-7306) 
• Disposable decorator bags (AT-460)
• Tip 1M (402-2110)
• Small spatula (AT-1385)
• Your favorite cake recipe
• Your favorite buttercream icing recipe

Bake cupcakes and let cool completely.

Cupcake on left:

1. With tip 1M attached to decorator bag, fill with white icing.
2. Hold bag straight up and down and start to squeeze icing from the outside in like a pinwheel.
3. Sprinkle with blue sanding sugar and place snowflake ring on top.

Cupcake in center:

1. With a spatula, ice top of cupcake smooth.
2. Sprinkle top with blue sanding sugar.
3. With tip 1M attached to decorator bag, fill with white icing. 
4. Hold bag straight up and down and start to squeeze icing like a pinwheel in the center of the cupcake.
5. Sprinkle a very small amount of blue sugar on top.
6. Place Frozen rings on top.

Cupcake on right:

1. Color icing blue.
2. With tip 1M attached to decorator bag, fill with blue icing.
3. Hold bag straight up and down and and start to squeeze icing from the outside in like a pinwheel.
4. Place sugar snowflake in center.
5. Place a couple of small snowflake confetti around outside.

 Have fun making them and watching the kids' faces light up when they see them.