Adventures in Cookie Glaze

I love using cookie glaze (vs. royal icing) but consistently run into two problems: spotting (random white spots appearing in the icing as they dry) and bleeding. I've tried switching color brand (from Wilton to Americolor), allowing lots of drying time, letting the cookies rest a day between baking and decorating, and using a fan to dry them. Using milk helps with the bleeding, but is more prone to spotting, using water helps with the spotting, but makes the colors almost always bleed. It's so frustrating because of the randomness of these things happening!! I've had cookie orders totally messed up because of bleeding or spotting. Most decorating blogs that I follow use royal icing, and the one decorator I've contacted who uses glaze (with gorgeous results) says that yes, spotting sometimes happens (and she's done her own experimenting, too!) 

When starting this order for palette cookies, I was very nervous about all those bright colors on white, bleeding and looking awful. I did another search for solutions (as I do from time to time) and came across this recommendation for "frankenfrosting" which is a hybrid between royal and glaze. However, this solution involves making both kinds of icing and combining them … got no time for that. But, it gave me an idea … what would happen if I just threw some meringue powder into my glaze recipe? Yes, I know that an actual order should not have been the time to experiment, but I was too excited about the idea, I had to try it right away. 

I used two tablespoons of meringue powder. First thing I noticed was that I couldn't get the shiny smooth consistency that glaze provides, but it was easier to work with than straight up royal icing. And, it still stayed soft after drying, another something I like better about glaze.

Final results on this new icing? Pros: NO bleeding. NO spotting. Cons: Less smooth, less shiny. However … I am absolutely willing to give up smooth and shiny for colors that stay true! I am so excited to try this again! 

Brushes With Celebrity!

I have a good friend who is a tv writer (and most recently: comic books) who put the creator of Being Human in touch with me last year to do artwork for a t-shirt that was to be a gift for the writing staff. This year, she asked me to do another illustration that was printed on hoodies. 

I hadn't noticed this guy in previous seasons, but he's apparently always been hanging around the set. He had a few big cameos this year, and Jeff and I got a kick out of seeing him show up on a couple of episodes. I also got a kick out of this tweet:

… which was taken at the series finale viewing party. Nora and Aidan! Wearing my hoodies! So cool! Also? Great series finale. I was not expecting such a happy ending from a show that regularly featured so much blood. 

The second story is of my own doing … between gardening and taking Penny for walks, I was listening to a lot of audiobooks last summer. Kevin Smith's book directed me to the podcast he does with Jason Mewes, then to Tell 'Em Steve Dave, which he would reference all the time. I started with episode one in January and was caught up by March. It started out as something I'd listen to on dog walks then eventually listen to for hours, wearing earbuds around the house like a teenager. During this long, cold, miserable, grey winter, TESD was something I looked forward to every day. 

I don't know what it was that kept me so engaged … Bry dealing with his depression, Walt's rare sweet stories about his kids, Q's overall bravado … or maybe how their time-filling activity turned into something more exciting, and then into a tv show. I find it inspiring, because I'm constantly struggling with "what should I be DOING with my life?" 

(Also? True story: for the last twenty years, every single time I check a dozen eggs at the store, I think about the Egg Man. It makes me smile to think that I now hear him tell stories every week on a podcast. Crazy!)

I can't even say why I wanted to send them something, but I really did! Which is so odd, because I haven't done fan art since middle school (mostly comics of my friend Amy and I meeting Duran Duran and going on crazy adventures). My first thought was an illustration, but then decided on my other favorite time killer, cross stitch. This pattern was the base (if you've seen my Facebook page, it's also the one I used for our family portrait) and turned it into Bry, Walt and Q (and also Mr. Whiskers Benjamin Cat). I stitched it over a couple of evenings, then sent it off to NJ. Two days later, this showed up on Twitter:

… and was grinning like a goofball. Ming Chen tweeted my work! I showed it to Jeff, prefacing the reveal with "Please don't make fun of me, but …" It's very silly how happy this makes me, but I also need a little silly right now. 

Baking Monday – Peanut Butter Cupcakes

The last ones were not great, so I was determined to try again. This recipe from Epicurious is right on. No notes on the recipe … I used 1% milk instead of whole because that's what we have at home. I also frosted these with leftover icing from the fridge (most likely Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Frosting, because that's my favorite).

These may have come out of the oven a few minutes early, because I was worried about over baking them like last time. They were just slightly soft in the center, but no worries – still delicious. These are the pb cupcakes to make! 

Baking Monday – Caramel Gooey Bars

It's all in the name … how could I NOT want to try these bars? Not much to report on the baking process … I followed the recipe exactly and followed all the tips especially lining the pan with parchment and allowing lots of time for these to cool.

Cut into small squares … these are super rich and delicious! They were even better the next day. Enjoy!

Baking Monday – Chocolate Almond Cookies

I've had this recipe saved for awhile – these were really good! A few adjustments: I used almond extract instead of peppermint, omitted the green food coloring, cut cocoa to 1 tbsp, and cut back on the butter to 1.5 sticks. These were made as slice and bake instead of balls of dough. After mixing the vanilla and chocolate dough, split each flavor in half. Take one of each half, put them together, and roll into a short tube (repeat with other two halves). Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate or freeze until ready to bake. After cutting the cookies into 1/4" slices, I dipped the top of each cookie in sugar, though I didn't think that made a big difference, could be optional. They spread a LOT when baking, I put twelve on a tray, spaced generously.

Not only were these yummy (I love almond!), but they were very pretty to look at, too! They would also be good with peppermint or vanilla extract, and the vanilla side would also look nice tinted pink or green. I picked this week's flowered paper background on purpose … hoping that spring will be here soon!

Baking Monday – Glazed Lemon Cookies

A few weeks ago, I made Engagement Chicken for dinner. Clearly, I'm not angling for a proposal, but the story behind this recipe is so interesting, I had to try it out. True confession: First time I've ever cooked a whole chicken. It was very easy and delicious, but the neck stump really bummed me out. However, whole chicken is way cheaper than chicken breast, so I may have to channel my inner Laura Ingalls and make it more often. Anyhow, I ended up with some leftover lemons and knew I'd be making something lemony for dessert this week.

True confession #2: I hate lemon zest. For as much as I LOVE crunchy bits in cookies, ice cream, and just about any kind of food, I cannot bear citrus zest. Yes, yes, I know that that's where the best lemony flavor comes from … and I went back and forth trying to decide if I should use it or not for this recipe, but in the end decided to skip it once again.

These cookies were delicious! Bake until just browned around the edges – I took the first batch out a tad too early – and ice with lemon glaze, with sanding sugar for the something crunchy. Drizzling icing would be much easier, but there's something so soothing in spreading icing by hand if I've got the time (and the mini spatula!) The biggest surprise this week was the accolades from Mr. Hotcakes, who typically hates all fruity desserts (with the exception of apple pie). I expressed how shocked I was that he liked these cookies so much, and he said, "It's because they didn't have any (spoken with distain) lemon zest." Two peas in a pod, we are.

Baking Monday – Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars

This was a baking for no reason treat. I was feeling kind of blue, and baking cheers me up. I went with my go-to flavor of choice, peanut butter, and searched Pinterest for an easy bar recipe. This was originally a vegan recipe, but I replaced the "flax egg" with a regular out-of-a-chicken egg. I used milk chocolate chips (mixing them into the batter instead of sprinkling on top) and the remaining chopped up pb cups from last week's cheesecake.

These were tasty enough – and give the impression of being healthy because of the oats – but not a keeper. Even though this one won't go in my regular rotation, it was good for a sweet fix.