Sweet Little Lamb Cookies by Sweetopia {Guest Post}

March 14, 2012 | 53 Comments »

I have another surprise for y’all today!  You have once again been spared the DREADED icing consistency lecture.  Instead I have an extra special treat for you today.

Today the amazingly talented Marian, the cookie artisan behind Sweetopia is visiting me here.  What an exciting week right?!

Hi, I’m Marian, and I’m a cookie nerd. Just thought I’d get that out of the way right away. Chances are though, if you’re here with me on Callye’s fantastic blog, you might be a cookie nerd too. So, you’ll understand when I say, isn’t it amazing what can be done with a cookie?! How you use your icing, the different themes, how you use your cutters… It’s one thing that fascinated me when I began decorating, and it continues to do so today. I mean, there are so many possibilities, and every person has their own twist! One glance at SweetSugarBelle’s gorgeous cookies, and you know you’re in cookie heaven; Callye’s got such creative and pretty ideas, I’ll never get tired of seeing them.

One of the biggest things which helped me improve my cookie decorating, was figuring out icing consistency. Everyone’s got their own preferences (there’s no one right way, a little icing experimentation will help you find yours) – I generally use one consistency to outline and flood right away when I’m looking for a smooth layer, (you can see a video on how I do it here, if you like), but today I’m also looking for a thicker texture to simulate the lambs wool.

He’s (she’s?), really very simple to make, you only need a few things to decorate these:

What you’ll need for decorating:

  • 3 piping bags (or squeeze bottles – your choice)
  • 3 couplers
  • piping tip #14, #2, #1
  • white & black food gel coloring
  • decorative ribbon (optional)

Decorating the Lamb Cookie:

You’ll need white icing in 2 different consistencies for this cookie. For the face and legs, the usual flood icing, and for the lamb’s wool, a thick icing. The picture below shows what the thicker icing will look like. When you dip a spoon into the icing and pull upwards, a stiff peak will form and stay standing straight up (right photo). Another way you can tell if it’s thick enough, is that you’ll be able to see “ribbons” form when the icing is being mixed (left photo).

Another tip – Color your white icing, white. I know, seems silly, but makes a difference.

You can use any kind of star piping tip to create the lamb’s wool, but just thought I’d show you that a star tip from one company isn’t necessarily the same size as a star tip of the same number from another company.

I ended up using Wilton’s #14.

Here’s a close-up of the ‘shells’ I piped for the lamb’s wool:

 

Steps:

1. Using the flood icing and a #2 tip, pipe the face and legs. Let it set for a few minutes.

2. Using the thicker icing and a #14 star tip, pipe your shells from left to right, generally following the shape of the lamb.

3. Either with an edible bow or with craft bows of your choice adhere the ribbon to the lamb with a dab of royal icing. (I used these gingham Martha Stewart ones. Thanks to The Flour Pot Cookie Book for the idea! The ribbons are just barely iced on so that they’re easy to remove.)

4. Using a #1 tip, pipe two small dots for the eye and nose.

Voila – You’re done!

Hope you enjoy making these! Thank you so much for inviting me to be here with you on your fabulous blog space, Callye! Come by and see me at Sweetopia!

xo,

Marian

What a fun week, huh!  I guess in a way, it’s spring break around here too!  But I promise soon I will be back with my usual ramblings!

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53 Comments »