Gender Announcement Cookies by Montreal Confections {Guest Post}

March 11, 2012 | 87 Comments »

Okay, this isn’t really what I had planned today.  If you want to know the truth, I was thinking more along the lines of a boring old talk on icing consistency.  But when Marlyn sent this idea my way, I got SOOOOOOOOOO excited, I knew my jabbering would have to wait.  This is COOL stuff.

A little history for those of you who haven’t yet met her.  Marlyn, AKA, Montreal Confections, is one of my oldest {in duration, not age) cookie friends, and a mentor.  Besides being supremely talented and the creator on one of my all-time favorite cookies, I really enjoy Marlyn’s company also.

Last year Marilyn visited my blog to demonstrate airbrushing a cookie without an airbrush.  Now she’s back with something so cool I could hardly wait to share it with you.

Many of you might have heard of gender reveal parties, which have recently become quite popular.  Often they are celebrated with a cake or cupcakes, but Marlyn came up with a cookie version of these sweets so we cookie decorators could join in the fun.

I’m tempted to gush, but I think you’d rather see.   Take a look at what she’s baked up.  THIS. LADY. IS. GENIUS.

While I’m not sure who came up with the idea of a gender announcement desserts, what a wonderful idea it is!

For those of you who aren’t familiar with gender announcement parties, allow me to explain. When it’s time to have an ultrasound, instead of revealing the sex of the baby immediately, parents request that the technician write the babies gender on a piece of paper and place it in a sealed envelope. They then take it to their favorite bakery where a “Gender Reveal Cake” is created by using  gender appropriate buttercream between the inside layers, then frosting the outside in plain white.

After that, the parents-to-be invite their friends and family to join them for a “Gender announcement party”.  The cake is then cut in the company of family and friends to reveal the most wonderful surprise.

This idea is fun because it allows the whole family to share in the joy instead of just the parents. This idea can also be done with cupcakes, which is equally adorable, BUT today it’s all about the cookies!!

Begin by mixing up a batch of your favorite rolled cookie dough.  Reserve about 1/8 of the batch and color it in the gender appropriate color.

For the sake of these photos I colored the cookie dough much darker than I normally would.  This caused the color to show through the white royal icing. When making these, I recommend to coloring the dough a little lighter and adding bright white gel coloring to the icing to make it less translucent.

Once the dough is colored, it’s time to roll and cut the cookies.  You will need two round cookie cutters, one about 3/4 of an inch smaller in diameter than the other.  I used a scalloped round cutter and then a simple round cutter for mine.

Begin the process by rolling the colored dough to about half the thickness you normally do. Using the smaller cutter, cut out a round disks and place them on a cookie sheet.  When they have all been cut, freeze the colored cookies.

Once the colored cookies are frozen, roll out the regular dough to the usual thickness. Place the colored disc on the plain cookie dough and press into the dough till it is flush.  Be sure to take the colored discs out one at a time so they don’t thaw as you work.

When the dough is combined, use the larger cutter and cut out the cookie.

Transfer the 2 pieces together onto a cookie sheet, I then placed the cut cookies in the freezer to set.

Once they are set, bake as usual.

When the cookies have cooled, outline the cookies at the outer edge of the colored cookie dough, then flood.  Obviously, it’s very important to completely hide the colored cookie disc.

When the base is dry, decorate the cookie in the design of your choice. I opted for a stork design from Eddie Spence’s Royal Icing book.

When guests bite into these cookies, they will be greeted by a sweet surprise.

It’s a GIRL, which brings me to a little news I would like to share…

Meet Daisey, the newest member of our family!

Now you see why I was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited!  These are so darn cool I can hardly wait to make them.  I just hope I can talk my bestie {who is due on my birthday} into letting me try them out on her!

I like the idea of adding a little bee and the message, “What will it BEE?”  Crossing my fingers she’ll say YES!

If you like these cookies, you will also love these cuteies from The Bearfoot Baker.

As I said before, Marlyn is one of my favorite decorators.  To learn more of her tips an techniques check out her YouTube Channel, “like” her Facebook fanpage, or check out her extensive portfolio on Flickr.

A new week is here, let’s make it a great one!

Baby Cookies, Cookies, Guest Tutorials, Sweet Sugar Belle, Tutorials
87 Comments »