Showing posts with label babushka. Show all posts
Showing posts with label babushka. Show all posts

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Walking Dead Nesting Doll Cookies Zombie and Daryl Dixon


Well it's out there. I'm a Walking Dead fan which is kinda strange as I really do not like horror or scary films at all.

So when I decided to make up some Zombie nesting doll cookie's I had to throw in someone from The Walking Dead and who else could it be but Daryl Dixon.

Seriously. It's not even a real competition.

Anyhoo I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be doing Daryl's arms any justice so I chose to make the cookie in the poncho outfit. Plus I find it kinda weird that the only people that look good in poncho's are 6 year old girls and Daryl Dixon. I'm not sure how that works, maybe it's the cross bow accessorizing.


The actual zombie cookies come in two types. Traditional green brain hanging out and the new walking dead inspired grey skin, gold eye and mildly more gory version (notice the missing hand).

If you follow the blog y'all would know I have some type of obsession with making stuff into nesting doll cookies (matroyoshka or babushka). If you use the search tool at the right you can find previous Halloween cookies I've made as pictured below.

Cookie instructions for Male Zombie, Daryl and fondant cross bow included below: There is a link to another post with the sugar cookie roll out recipe I use.

Daryl Dixon and Zombie Nesting Doll Cookie Instructions


Male Zombie Cookies (walking dead inspired)

These instructions use the medium nesting cookie cutter, follow the exact same instructions for small or large nesting doll cutter. For traditional green zombie replace green fondant for grey and add a partial piece of gummy brain onto the head.

Sugar cookies made using medium nesting doll cookie cutter (CLICK HERE for post with a cookie recipe)
rolled fondant shop bought or home made marshmallow fondant (Coloured Grey, White, blue, black and yellow - pink if you are making female)
small rolling pin
medium nesting doll cookie cutter (around 9.5cm or 3 3/4 inch)
small sharp knife
clean brush and water
black edible writing pen
gold dusting powder plus dry clean brush
*Fondant dries out very quickly. Use small amounts work quickly and when not in use place the fondant in an airtight container or ziplock bag to minimise the chances of it drying out and cracking.



 Roll out the grey fondant onto a clean benchtop dusted with cornflour/ cornstarch until a couple of mm (1/8") in thickness. I like to lift my fondant frequently and turn it like pie dough to ensure it does now stick to the bench while rolling it out.

Use the nesting doll cookie cutter to cut out a shape. Do the same with the black, blue and white colored fondant.


Refer to picture above as part of instructions

Place the black and blue fondant cut outs on top of each other and using the sharp knife cut out boots. Place the white cutout on top of the blue and using the knife cut a ragged shirt/pants then finally place the grey on top of the white and cut out a zombie face. Use a small amount of water to adhere the fondant cutouts onto the cookie, using the rolling pin to press into place as necessary.

Using the back of a knife or a fondant tool imprint an indent in the middle of the jeans and shoes.

With the remaining offcut head of the white fondant use the sharp knife to cut out a shoulder with ragged sleeve edges.

With the remaining offcut from the grey fondant use the sharp knife to cut out an arm and hand.Refer picture below. I gently twisted each finger to round the shape out a little, and then used the tip of a #1 piping tip to make nail indents, but just cutting the shape would be ok. On some of the cookies I did not put a whole hand and just added red fondant for a bloody stump (with a little white bone sticking out).
 

Make a second smaller arm and hand.

Adhere the shirt shoulder and larger arm to the zombie cookie as per picture and the smaller arm to the other side, the different sizes and prominent shoulder is supposed to give the allusion of lurching.

Roll out the yellow fondant and using the nesting doll cookie cutter cut out a head. Using the sharp knife cut out hair for the zombie and adhere with a small amount of water.

Using the knife, add some indents into the zombie's grey skin.

Add eyes, I used a small amount of white fondant and added yellow iris with a small amount of gold lustre dust. Any color would be ok - or you could just draw on eyes with an edible pen.

Optional - shape a small amount of grey fondant into a triangle and add a nose.

Draw on a mouth using the edible pen.

Allow to sit to until the water and pen have dried and then store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Daryl Dixon Nesting Doll Cookie
*I use chocolate fondant for the dark brown, add white to make a lighter brown and mix black fondant into the chocolate fondant to make black. I just think it tastes better this way.

Sugar cookies made using medium nesting doll cookie cutter
rolled fondant shop bought or home made marshmallow fondant (Coloured Skin tone, brown, blue, black, cream, red and light brown)
small rolling pin
medium nesting doll cookie cutter (around 9.5cm or 3 3/4 inch)
small sharp knife
clean brush and water
black edible writing pen
*Fondant dries out very quickly. Use small amounts work quickly and when not in use place the fondant in an airtight container or ziplock bag to minimise the chances of it drying out and cracking.

Simple Fondant Cross Bow - the cross bow is of course optional (Umm yeah right - without it he's just some weird guy wearing a poncho)

Roll out the black fondant onto a clean benchtop dusted with cornflour/ cornstarch until a couple of mm (1/8") in thickness. Use the nesting doll cookie cutter to cut out the head, then move it inwards a little and press down again to cut out the front of the cross bow. Smooth it a little with your fingertips and pull the edges up a little as shown in the picture above.

Roll a thin strip of black fondant (or use an extruder) and shape into an upside down U. Make the U very thin and long and then place the front of the crossbow onto the top of the U shape, press the ends of the U together and then cut off excess fondant.

Roll out another even thinner strip of black fondant, attach it in the middle to the back of the crossbow (see picture) and then pull each end up to the ends of the crossbow 'front'. Cut of excess with sharp knife. Allow to set for a little while on baking paper while you make the Daryl Cookie.

Daryl Dixon Cookie


I mixed together grey, blue and brown to make dirty jean color fondant, this is optional you can just use blue or grey if you like

Roll out the jean colour fondant onto a clean benchtop dusted with cornflour/ cornstarch until a couple of mm (1/8") in thickness. I like to lift my fondant frequently and turn it like pie dough to ensure it does now stick to the bench while rolling it out.

Use the nesting doll cookie cutter to cut out a shape. Do the same with the dark brown, cream and skin tone colored fondant.

Place the dark brown and jean color fondant cut outs on top of each other and using the sharp knife cut out boots. Place the cream cutout on top of the jean color and using the knife cut a deep V for the bottom of the fondant then finally place the skin tone on top of the white and cut out Daryl's face. Use a small amount of water to adhere the fondant cutouts onto the cookie, using the rolling pin to press into place as necessary.

Using the back of a knife or a fondant tool imprint an indent in the middle of the jeans and shoes.

Roll out the lighter brown fondant and using the nesting doll cookie cutter cut out a head. Using the sharp knife cut out chunky asymmetrical hair and adhere with a small amount of water.

Roll out the red fondant and cut into thin strips, adhere around the neck and hem of the 'poncho'. then make small triangles and decorate the poncho (see picture above for example).

Shape a little excess light brown fondant into a moustache and beard - see picture above for example.carefully adhere with a tiny amount of water.

Use the edible black pen to draw on extra detail. I added dots along the red poncho trim and in the middle and side of the red design on the poncho.

Add eyes, arched eyebrows and a mouth. Make sure he's not really smiling too much.


Place the crossbow onto Daryl's shoulder adhering with a very small amount of water.

Allow to sit to until the water and pen have dried and then store in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

Daryl Dixon is a fictional character from The Walking Dead.



Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores.

Original photography and recipes by Linda Vandermeer for Bubble and Sweet do not reuse without permission. 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

I'm a flower girl Babushka nesting doll cookies


Who and what inspires you? I am often inspired by my children, their wonderment and joy of seeing the world and ability to find beauty in every little thing. But Sometimes I get my inspiration elsewhere.

Many years ago I had an inquiry asking if I could make some treats for a garden party photoshoot. I had seen Jordan from Polkadot Prints' work and blog which was fun and innovative and I agreed. I popped off an email saying yes, but pick up or post only and provided my address.


Back came an email, of course pick up was fine, in fact it was not a problem at all. It turned out we lived in the same suburb with 3 streets between us. The world wide web can be a small place indeed. It was the start of a lovely friendship and irregular coffee catch ups that lasted until Jordan moved over to Canada a year ago.

Our friendship and sometimes collaboration resulted in a few of my all time fav cookie designs, including this pretty cookie set, inspired by an invitation/ printable range.


I never actually got around to doing up a tutorial for these cookies when originally posted, I guess they are kind of fiddly and have a lot of fondant cutters. Rather than worrying about matching up cutters exactly the same, you can just use this tutorial as a guide.

I would say the only essential are a babushka cookie cutter set, a carnation set and a blossom set.....oh maybe a daisy set as well. I'm teasing y'all, once you get the nesting doll cutter, really I'm sure you can use what you have :) Or maybe not, luckily if you shop around these days you can pick all the fondant sets up pretty cheaply.

To match these cookies up to the original invitations CLICK HERE .


Oh and just in case your thinking your options are limited with those cookie cutters check out these other cookies I have made with them in the past. Yup all using the nesting doll cutters. Links to tutorials listed under photo:

Penguin nesting doll Tutorial ; Santa TutorialSnow man TutorialElf Nesting doll tutorialMonster nesting doll tutorialMummy nesting doll tutorialEvil Ghost tutorialScreaming ghoul nesting doll tutorial


I'm a flower girl Babushka Doll
* If you prefer Royal Icing to fondant covered cookies you can replace the initial step with a light pink royal icing cover and then adhere the floral fondant decorations. Marshmallow fondant can also easily be used in place of shop bought fondant. CLICK HERE for an easy Marshmallow Fondant recipe


Ingredients and Equipment
Babushka Cookies (cookie recipe and instructions below)
Small Babushka Cookie Cutter 8.5cm (3") (mine from Bisc-Art)
Small Rolling Pin
Regular size piping tip (you are using the open round end so any regular size)
Various flower cutters
- Carnation cutter 3.5cm (1  1/2")
- Daisy cutter 14mm (9/16 ")
- Daisy cutter 2cm (13/16")
- Blossom Cutter 6mm (1/4")
- Blossom Cutter 9mm (3/8")
- Blossom Cutter 14mm (9/16 ")

Rolled fondant (coloured yellow, light yellow, Pink, dark pink, skintone and brown) pink used is Sugarflair dusky pink which will make both the light and dark colours^
Sharp knife
Cornflour (cornstarch)
Black edible pen

^fondant dries out quickly, when not in use store in an airtight container or ziplock bag. To use fondant knead until pliable and smooth and roll out on a workbench dusted with cornflour (cornstarch)


Knead light pink fondant until smooth and pliable. Dust workbench with cornflour (corn starch) and roll out fondant until quite thin then using the babushka cutter cut out a fondant shape. Using the large round end of the piping tip cut out a round shape so that a face can be inserted.


Roll out the skintone fondant until quite thin then using the large round end of the piping tip cut out a round shape for the face.

Brush the cookie with a little water and adhere the pink fondant to the cookie and then insert the skintone face into the round hole. Use the rolling pin to press fondant on gently and push out to the edges where required.

Roll out the brown fondant then using the large round end of the piping tip cut out a round shape. Using the edge of the babushka cookie cutter where the head meets the shoulder, cut into the round to make hair.


Knead and roll out separately the white, light yellow, dark yellow, light pink and dark dusky pink fondants and cut the following shapes from the fondant for each cookie. (If you are making a number of cookies it can be more time effective to work on a number of cookies at the same time instead of doing each separately.)

For each cookie you will need to cut out:



Daisy cutter 14mm (9/16 ") - 2 X dark dusky pink
Daisy cutter 2cm (13/16")- 1 X light dusky pink
Blossom Cutter 5mm (1/4") - 1 X light yellow
Blossom Cutter 9mm (3/8") - 1 X light yellow + 1 X light dusky pink
Blossom Cutter 14mm (9/16 ") - 1 X dark yellow
Carnation cutter 3.5cm (1  1/2") - 1 X white + 1 X light yellow
A little extra white and dark dusky pink for making flower centers.


Use a tiny amount of water to adhere the flowers to the cookie as detailed in the picture. Yes some of those flowers are hanging over the edge - you'll fix that in the next step. Finish off each flower with a little dot of fondant rolled into a ball and pressed on with a small amount of water.


Use the sharp knife to trim off any excess overhang.


Then draw on a face, 2 eyes and a mouth with the edible black pen.


Sugar Cookie Recipe (makes 24 regular sized cookies)

460 grams plain flour (16 1/4 oz all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
230 grams unsalted butter (8 1/8oz)room temperature
220 grams caster sugar (7 3/4 oz superfine sugar)#
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
#use regular white sugar if you do not have caster/ superfine sugar

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Reduce the speed to medium low, add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. Reduce mixer speed to low and mix in the sifted flour mixture until combined. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill in fridge for 30 minutes or so.

Line a few baking trays with parchment/ baking paper.

Dust workbench with plain flour and using a large rolling pin roll out the dough until around 1/2 cm (1/4") in thickness. If the dough is to hard you may need to work/knead it a bit until you can roll it out.

Cut out cookies shapes and place the cookies on the prepared trays. (Knead and reroll dough as necessary, if it becomes to soft you can pop it back in the fridge.)

Pop the cut cookie dough trays into the fridge to chill again for around 30 minutes until firm (or in the freezer for 10 minutes).

Preheat oven to 160 C (320 F) and cook the cookies until they just start to turn golden, around 15 minutes (less or more depending on cookie size).

Cool on trays for 5 minutes and then carefully lift onto a wire rack to cool completely prior to decorating.

- Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for 1 week.



Unless stated otherwise, the above pictures and post are original works and the property of Linda Vandermeer.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores: 

This post is not sponsored.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Munchy Mummy Cookies


These munchy mummy cookies were hands down the kids favorite from the Halloween Babushka cookies I made up.

In case you've missed the last few posts I have a set of terrifying adorable babushka Halloween cookies that I whipped up and am trying to make my way through the tutorials before the 31st of October.


So far I have posted the instructions for:

Evil Ghost (Click here for instructions)
Screaming Ghoul (Click here for instructions) and
Cute Monster (Click here for instructions)

Tip - If you make these munchy mummy's try to roll out the fondant as thin as possible as there ends up being a bit more than I usually use due to the double layer.

You can either use a beige look 'bandaid' wrapping like I did in the picture or the plain white fondant would look just as good.

I was even going to make up a pink version before I ran out of time and had to pack the kitchen up.......maybe next Halloween.

GIVEAWAY

Don't forget if your in Brisbane I have  giveaway  for a double pass to the Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show. The pass will be for a Flavour Session and one day general admission to the show.




The Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show is on from 9 - 11  November at the Brisbane convention center and are lots of super exciting things to do including celebrity chef sessions, exhibitor stands, masterclasses and Chef's Book signings. Pop over to the official website HERE to see all the important information. I will be along one day to check it all out and can't wait.

To enter the competition simply follow the instructions on this Rafflecopter giveaway, it's open until Sunday night.

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

CHRISTMAS COOKIE DEMONSTRATIONS IN BRISBANE


and also if you are in Brisbane don't forget that I have another Christmas Cookie demonstrations on the 17th of November as part of Hands on Brisbane. I will be demonstration how I roll out the cookie dough, how I get an even finish and then decorate a range of cookies from elegant snowflakes to cute babushka snowmen and penguins. The demonstrations are very interactive and limited to 15 people so you can feel free to ask me as many questions about cookies or blogging that you would like. The sessions are on from 10:30am to 12:30 at the Bleeding Heart Cafe Brisbane and are $30. Tickets are available HERE.


Munchy Mummy Halloween Babushka Cookies Instructions

Ingredients and Equipment
Babushka sugar cookies (baked and ready to decorate I used the recipe from Sweets on a Stick)
Babushka cookie cutter 
Beige or white Ready Roll Fondant
Black Ready Roll Fondant
small rolling pin
clean food safe brush and water
Sharpe Knife
cornflour (corn starch) or crisco/oil for rolling out fondant
Edible Eyes - shop bought or make your own from Royal Icing CLICK HERE

1. Knead the beige (or white) fondant until pliable. Dust the workbench with cornflour (corn starch) or rub on a little crisco/oil and roll out the fondant until a couple of mm's (1/8") thin. Using the cookie cutter, press down and cut out a babushka shape.

Brush the cookie with a small amount of water and press the fondant onto the cookie. Use the small rolling pin to adhere the fondant to the cookie by pressing down lightly, if necessary gently roll out the fondant to the sides of the cookie by lightly rolling the rolling pin towards the edge.

2. Roll out a small amount of black fondant in an uneven circle and attach to the face area using a small amount of water.

3. Cut some of the remaining beige fondant into thin bandaid strips using the sharp knife.

4. Brush a tiny amount of water onto the fondant covered cookie, avoiding the black face and then adhere the bandaid strips in a random fashion, leaving a stripe of black face showing. Use the sharp knife to trim the excess bandaid strips away from the cookie.

5. Brush a little water on the black strip and adhere a set of eyes to the face area.

** The cookie cutters I used are from Bisk-art and the easy vanilla sugar cookie dough recipe I used is from Sweets on a Stick.



Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Screaming Ghoul and Monster Babushka Halloween Cookies

Screaming Ghoul cookie

OK this past week did not go exactly as planned.

Nope not even close.

I was supposed to post tutorials for these 2 cookies during the week and be up to a new one today. Real life can be so time consuming sometimes.

My new kitchen is almost finished, tomorrow they pop on the finishing touches and then there is just the painting to go.

Oh and install lights, which sadly will not be the chandelier that I bought and had to return due to the fact that Mr Sweet could not actually walk through the room without ducking.........Oh my goodness I am so dumb sometimes I don't think about that stuff.......next house for sure.

Nervous Monster Cookie, or maybe he is super scary but needs to pee....

Anyhoo I am trying a new tutorial style today to save me a bit of time and plus these particular cookies are pretty simple so I hope y'all like it.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE DEMONSTRATIONS IN BRISBANE

and if you are in Brisbane don't forget that I have some Christmas Cookie demonstrations on the 27th of October (yup next weekend) and the 17th of November as part of Hands on Brisbane. I will be demonstration how I roll out the cookie dough, how I get an even finish and then decorate a range of cookies from elegant snowflakes to these cute babushka snowmen and penguins. The demonstrations are very interactive and limited to 15 people so you can feel free to ask me as many questions about cookies or blogging that you would like. The sessions are on from 10:30am to 12:30 at the Bleeding Heart Cafe Brisbane and are $30. Tickets are available HERE.



GIVEAWAY

Plus also for those of you in Brisbane I have  giveaway  for a double pass to the Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show. The pass will be for a Flavour Session and one day general admission to the show.



The Brisbane Good Food and Wine Show is on from 9 - 11  November at the Brisbane convention center and are lots of super exciting things to do including celebrity chef sessions, exhibitor stands, masterclasses and Chef's Book signings. Pop over to the official website HERE to see all the important information. I will be along one day to check it all out and can't wait.

To enter the competition simply follow the instructions on this Rafflecopter giveaway, it's open until next Sunday...Ummm I'm a little unsure of the actual time due to timezone difference but the Rafflecopter has a countdown thing going on.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

OK and for everyone even those not in Brisbane......on to the tutorials. If you totally hate this new collage style I have done up let me know :)


Screaming Ghoul Babushka Cookie
Ingredients and Equipment
Babushka sugar cookies (baked and ready to decorate I used the recipe from Sweets on a Stick)
Babushka cookie cutter 
Black Ready Roll Fondant
small rolling pin
clean food safe brush and water
cornflour (corn starch) or crisco/oil for rolling out fondant
Small amount of white fondant

1. Knead the black fondant until pliable. Dust the workbench with cornflour (corn starch) or rub on a little crisco/oil and roll out the fondant until a couple of mm's (1/8") thin.

2. Using the cookie cutter, press down and cut out a babushka shape.

3. Brush the cookie with a small amount of water and press the fondant onto the cookie. Use the small rolling pin to adhere the fondant to the cookie by pressing down lightly, if necessary gently roll out the fondant to the sides of the cookie by lightly rolling the rolling pin towards the edge.

4. Take a small amount of white fondant and using your fingers shape it into a ghoul face (see step 4 for example) and press onto the cookie in the face area. Shape a small amount of the excess black fondant into eyes and mouth (once again see step 4 for example of shapes).

5. Press the black fondant eyes and mouth onto the face where you would like them. Use a tiny amount of water if necessary to stick the black fondant down, make sure you do not use too much or the black will run into the white fondant.


Nervous Monster Babushka Cookie
Ingredients and Equipment
Babushka sugar cookies (baked and ready to decorate I used the recipe from Sweets on a Stick)
Babushka cookie cutter 
Green Ready Roll Fondant
small rolling pin
clean food safe brush and water
small sharp knife
cornflour (corn starch) for rolling out fondant
Small amount of white fondant
Black edible pen

1. Knead the green fondant until pliable. Dust the workbench with cornflour (corn starch) and roll out the fondant until a couple of mm's (1/8") thin.

2. Using the cookie cutter, press down and cut out a babushka shape.

3. Brush the cookie with a small amount of water and press the fondant onto the cookie. Use the small rolling pin to adhere the fondant to the cookie by pressing down lightly, if necessary gently roll out the fondant to the sides of the cookie by lightly rolling the rolling pin towards the edge.

4. Using the sharp knife cut some of the excess green fondant (that is still rolled out) into two monster arms, shape see step 4 for example. You may need to manipulate the monster fingers a little with your own fingers to get a shape you are happy with. Stick the arms onto the cookie at each side.

5. Roll out some of the white fondant to make a large oval eye and stick onto the cookie where you would like it using a tiny amount of water to adhere if necessary. Allow the cookie to dry for an hour or so and then use the edible black pen to draw a black dot on the eye, a mouth (I made mine a little wonky) and a short line at the bottom to make legs). *

* Note any of these directions are just suggestions, it's a monster it could have 5 eyes and no legs :)

The cookie cutters I used are from Bisk-art and the easy vanilla sugar cookie dough recipe I used is from Sweets on a Stick.



Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Babushka Ghost Halloween cookies


I'm in the middle of packing up my kitchen so they can rip it out this week and pop in a new one.

It's kind of exciting and totally exhausting.

So I really hope that it looks great when they put it in.

Oh, and I hope it stores stacks of stuff which is what I really need. I am a total cake and cookie decorating hoarder. My dining room has been a total cluttered mess for a couple of years now.

So no baking now for at least a week.....and probably more as I imagine it will take me a while to sort out where everything will need to go.


Luckily this week before I packed everything away I made up some easy to decorate babushka doll cookies that I will be sharing with you over the next couple of weeks.

I'll start with the easiest cookies requiring the least equipment and work my way through to the more difficult ones. Today we have the evil ghostly babushka cookie. Next up will be the screaming ghoul cookie :)

Because I have a few of these to get through I'll be back to my old posting schedule of a few times a week so check back on Tuesday or Wednesday.

The cookie cutters I used are from Bisk-art and the easy vanilla sugar cookie dough recipe I used is from Sweets on a Stick.



Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!
Ghostly Babushka Cookie if you like your ghosts a little bit cute rather than a touch evil just change the eyes to a more rounded shape and the mouth to a smaller happy smile.

Ingredients and Equipment
Babushka sugar cookies (baked and ready to decorate I used the recipe from Sweets on a Stick)
Babushka cookie cutter 
White Ready Roll Fondant
small rolling pin
clean food safe brush and water
cornflour (corn starch)
Black edible pen
Small amount of black fondant (white fondant colored black with food color) - optional you can just use the pen if you like

Knead the white fondant until pliable. Dust the workbench with cornflour (corn starch) and roll out the white fondant until a couple of mm's (1/16") thin.



Using the cookie cutter, press down and cut out a babushka shape.


 Brush the cookie with a small amount of water and press the fondant onto the cookie. Use the small rolling pin to adhere the fondant to the cookie by pressing down lightly, if necessary gently roll out the fondant to the sides of the cookie by lightly rolling the rolling pin towards the edge.


If you are using black fondant for the eyes, roll out small amounts of black fondant into small triangles (see picture for example) and press onto the head where you would like the eyes to be. Use a tiny amount of water if necessary to stick the black fondant down, make sure you do not use too much or the black will run into the white fondant.

Repeat for all cookies.

Allow the fondant on the cookies to set for an hour of so until the surface hardens.


Use the edible pen to draw on a large wide smile just under the 'neck' area of the babushka shape (see picture for example) draw small vertical lines across the mouth to look similar to stitches. Draw a couple of dots for nostrils and if you are using the pen to draw in the eyes do that at this stage as well.

Ta-daaaahhh super easy evil ghost cookies come back in a couple of days for screaming ghoul cookie......


Sunday, December 18, 2011

Elf in my Tummy - Christmas nesting doll cookies


Um.....are you bored of the nesting doll cookies yet? Don't worry it's ok this is the last Christmas one :)

I came up with a new one the other day while I was doing up the Santa Nesting doll cookies.

Actually I came up with it at the cinema while I was watching 'Arthur Christmas' which I really enjoyed. While I was sitting there watching it hit me and I couldn't believe I had missed elves out of my original set.


So I rectified it straight away.

and in case you didn't get the lame joke reference in the title I was alluding to The Elf on the Shelf which is an adorable tradition based on the fact that before Christmas Santa must send out an elf to every house to check if the kids are being naughty or nice. It is a fun book that comes with a little elf and the tradition is to move the elf around every day to be found in different parts of your house. So fun you should check it out.


The cookie cut out recipe I made the nesting doll cookies from is from my book Sweets on a Stick available here at Amazon, the book also has a recipe for Marshmallow Fondant.



Or the book depository (Click HERE)

Or here at fishpond (Aus/NZ)

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

You can find similar recipes for vanilla sugar cookies, chocolate sugar cookies and marshmallow fondant on my blog by using the search function :)


Elf in my tummy nesting doll cookies
These instructions use the small nesting cookie cutter, follow the exact same instructions for medium or large nesting doll cutter. In Australian I got my nesting doll cookie cutters from Bisk-art HERE.  In the US I have noticed that Fancy Flours have an ok priced nesting doll set and Ecrandal have a super pretty copper 5 set.

Sugar cookies made using small nesting doll cookie cutter
Green, Red, White, Skin tone, black and yellow rolled fondant shop bought or home made marshmallow fondant (I used shop bought fondant colored with gel colors)*
small oval cutter with ruffled edges - I picked this up on Ebay in a set of 4
small rolling pin
piping tip - regular size like a Wilton #2
small nesting doll cookie cutter
small sharp knife
clean brush and water
black edible writing pen
pink dusting powder plus dry clean brush
*Fondant dries out very quickly. Use small amounts work quickly and when not in use place the fondant in an airtight container or ziplock bag to minimise the chances of it drying out and cracking.

Roll out the green fondant onto a clean benchtop dusted with cornflour/ cornstarch until a couple of mm (1/8") in thickness. I like to lift my fondant frequently and turn it like pie dough to ensure it does now stick to the bench while rolling it out.

Use the nesting doll cookie cutter to cut out a shape. Do the same with the red and black colored fondant.

 
Place the green, red and black fondant next to each other to use as a guide and using the sharp knife cut out boots, pants and a belt from the black fondant, at the bottom of the red fondant cut a matching piece off that will be replaced with the black 'boots'. Use a small amount of water to adhere the green body and black boots to the cookie, using the rolling pin to press into place as necessary. Attach the belt to Santa's middle using a tiny amount of water and press in place. Take a small amount of yellow fondant shape into small rectangle and press into the middle of the belt using a tiny amount of water if necessary.


Roll out a small amount of skin tone fondant and using the large round end of a regular size piping tip cut out the face. The Cut a little bit off the top of the round as per picture, this is where the hat will sit. Using a tiny amount of water attach the skin tone face to the cookie (use completed cookie picture as guide).


You will need to roll out a bit more of the green fondant and use the nesting doll cookie cutter to cut out the head area, then use the sharp knife to cut out a beanie/hat and attach it to the fondant covered cookie. 


Roll out some white fondant and cut out a shape using the oval ruffle cutter. Then use the sharp knife to trim it so you can use it as the fluffly furry edge to the elf's hat.

 
Take a small amount of the skin tone fondant and shape a very small oval to attach to the middle of the face for a nose. Then take a couple of pieces a little larger and shape into tear drops to make the ears. Attach them to the sides of the face with the point facing up, the tops will sit over the edge of the hat. I pressed the ears on with the wrong end of a paint brush, placing the end of the brush in the center of the base of the teardrop to make the indents in the inside of the ear and then used a clean toothpick to make further indents up towards the point of the ear.

Roll out more of the green fondant and again cut out the nesting doll shape. Using the sharp knife cut out the arms from the nesting doll shape as per the picture.

Take a small piece of red fondant and shape a couple of small mitten like hands and attach them to the cookie at the ends of the arms.

Take a small amount of white fondant and shape into a small ball for the top of the beanie/hat and attach with a little water and then do the same for the trim on the arms where they meet the red mittens.

Add some detail around the neck. I made a type of turtle neck sweater by rolling out red fondant and using the sharp knife to cut out a strip that I attached below the face, then I added indents with the back of the knife. Or you can make a collar by cutting out a couple of triangles from white fondant and attaching them under the face. 

Allow the fondant on the Elf to dry a couple of hours and then using the edible pen draw on 2 eyes.


 If you like use a clean brush to brush on a couple of circles of pink dusting powder to the cheeks.


  The End