DECORATING TECHNIQUES

BASE FLOOD

■ Make royal icing in two different consistencies:

1. For the thicker consistency, use the recipe as written.

2. For the thinner consistency, thin the icing with a little warm water.

■ Fill a piping bag with the thicker consistency icing and cut a small hole. Touch the tip down on the cookie and apply pressure, then raise the bag about a half-inch above the cookie and follow the cookie outline. This gives the icing a chance to smoothly fall onto the cookie and creates a straighter outline.

■ Fill a second piping bag with the thinner consistency icing and cut a slightly larger hole. Place the piping bag just above the surface of the cookie and use more pressure to force out the icing and allow it to cover the cookie. Start working at the piped outline and move around the cookie toward the center. If there are holes in the coverage, use a toothpick to pull the icing to fill in the hole. Once the cookie is covered with icing, lightly shake it and tap it to help the icing cover the cookie evenly.

LAYERING WET ON WET

This method gives you icing that’s all one layer.

■ While the icing is still wet, pipe details in another color icing that is the thinner consistency and lightly shake and tap the cookie. The new icing will “melt” into the base flood and the icing surface will be flush.

■ Another option is to pipe a different color thinner consistency icing on the wet surface and use a toothpick to drag the wet icing through the base flood to make a new shape. For example, pipe a round dot on the cookie and then insert the toothpick in the center of the cookie and pull it out of the dot. This will form a heart.

■ Or pipe parallel horizontal lines of the thinner consistency icing across the cookie and then drag the toothpick through the lines to create a wavy design.

LAYERING WET ON DRY

This method gives you icing with raised details.

■ Let the base flood layer dry for 10 to 15 minutes.

■ Using thicker consistency icing, add details like polka dots or any other design.

TEXTURE

■ Let the base flood layer dry for 10 to 15 minutes. Then using a fan brush, lightly tap fresh thinner consistency icing across the surface of the cookie. This makes a texture like a sweater, fur on a fluffy bear, or snow for a snowman or snowball.

■ Or use the thicker consistency icing to cover the entire surface of the cookie. Then crumple a piece of parchment paper and open it up, then place it on top of the iced cookie and gently press in. Let the cookie dry overnight and remove the parchment the next day.

TRANSFERS

Transfers are essentially small decorations made of royal icing that are made ahead of time and then applied while the cookie surface is wet, or attached to the surface of a dried iced cookie with more icing.

■ Tint your icing into all the colors you’ll need and put each in a separate piping bag.

■ Pipe whatever shapes you like directly onto a piece of cellophane. This is the stiff shiny plastic used to make cookie gift bags. The smooth, stiff plastic means the back of the transfer will dry very flat so it will sit flush on the cookie when it is applied, looking as if it was made directly on the cookie.

Let the transfer dry for 24 hours, then gently peel it off the cellophane. You can store the transfers in an airtight container or use them right away.

Flooding can be done in two consistencies, thicker and thinner.

Wet on wet: Add wet icing to wet (flooded) icing, and manipulate with a tool in this case.

Wet on dry: Add icing to the top of a flooded design that’s been allowed to dry.

Texture: Use a crinkled piece of parchment paper to add texture.