Don’t we all hope for a birthday celebration that has a place in the history books? (um. I guess I’m not an introvert…) Well clear off the tabletops and hop on up for this legendary celebration set. I was inspired by a trip to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science; they are running an exhibit on Mythical creatures. Wicked cool and culturally enriching. And germinated the seeds of an “epic” birthday set….
Our youngest interned at Jellyvision this summer and had a stinkin’ blast! Learned a ton and so, so enjoyed the folks there. I think I want to work there when I grow up. Jellyvision has these adorable characters, blobbies, they use as part of their communication tools. Yeah, I didn’t know what a blobby was either but, one look, and I knew they were meant to grace the cover of a cookie. Here’s part of the last.week.sweet.treats she took in…
#truth My never ending love of puns extends to every food experience. Just one trip to my favorite sushi restaurant and these little jokesters started hanging around IG (yep, you can find me at MamaMayerBakery on Instagram). Oh, and it’s been a summer of humorous inspiration. Just you wait.
Sugaring up those kids before we put them on that bus…Um, apologies to all teachers (except the art teachers- maybe the decorated cookies will inspire someone?).
I wanted to work the shading on the pencils and crayons so I could take a simple design and turn it up a notch. For the pencil, I watered down the same gel color as the base royal icing and followed the mid point of the cookie, painting after the base had dried- Americolor deep pink, Rainbow Dust ProGel grey, Americolor egg yellow and ivory. Finished off the cookie with the food safe pen detail and the black RI outline.
Many thanks to BRPBOXES for making a great presentation a snap!
Had a request to make cookies for a young lady heading to the University of Florida. How can you say no to a GATOR? Because I needed a very quick turn around on making these cookies, I opted for some logos using simple edible pens and stencils to compliment the traditional royal icing decorating.
Oh succulent. Adjective v. noun. Dessert v. desert…. A prickly topic to be sure. Hopefully you think it is a win-win!
These cookies started out with a basic white coating, including some dimension. The shapes were hand drawn on to card stock and then cut out of dough by tracing those shapes with a knife.
To get the sandy effect, I used a microplane/zester to gently trim up the sides (or spare cookie scraps); these trimmings were later sprinkled over the still wet icing of the base cookie. Thank you Rebecca Weld aka TheCookieArchitect for this “fitting” tip. I ‘zested’ each cactus until perfectly flat on the bottom, so they could stand without the aid of icing/support on the base cookie.
After the cacti were painted and dried, I used stiff royal icing (colored with ivory and a dash of egg yellow) and a butter knife to coat the long base cookie. The cactus were quickly set in place and sprinkled with the “sand.”
I did place toothpicks behind the cactus for support (but they stood on their own without). I had to transport them upright and I didn’t know if I needed that assurance…
The Cactus flower is also edible. I painted some edible wafer paper yellow, let that dry, & then cut a continuous inward circle (tons of how-tos on the web). Little dabs of water made the edges stick together as I wound it into a flower.
Go 4th and celebrate! Here’s to a folksy Independence Day (and by that , I mean I hope you celebrate with some folks that you really enjoy)!
There is a lot of fun banter that goes on via the Instagram feed. So it happened that the fabulous Rebecca Weld, aka the Cookie Architect, off-handedly inquired if a particular set of my cookies had a home. And how she was willing to volunteer hers if not. Those cookies were spoken for but the wheels started turning for a “structurally” sound solution. As ridiculous as it seems, there appears to be a pun/wordplay for every situation, including architecture. If you want to have your socks knocked off, click on the link above to visit Rebecca’s blog- and prepared to be dazzled! Her cookie art is one of the Seven Wonders (of the Cookie World).
In’Tense’ Architecture: past, present, and future
Arch Enemies
Escher Construction Company
packaged and ready to mail
One of our neighbors is cock.a.doodle.coo coo for roosters. It’s good to be my neighbor. If you like cookies.
A dear friend works as a “cheese guru” for Wegmans (utterly fantastic grocery store, for those who do not live in the northeast). As she was approaching a milestone birthday, I wanted to send her something to lighten the mood. You know, to encourage her to BRIE all that she could BRIE. Go a little CRACKERS on her big day….
Mama Mayer Bakery 