Regrettably, I'm still feeling under the weather. I feel a bit like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh, with a raincloud over my head and I keep misplacing my head (or tail, as it may be). In addition to losing 5 pounds in the last week (which I will certainly gain back in eating many, many cookies), I've temporarily lost my sense of smell and taste.
Moment of silence.
Now I ask you this: is there anything worse for a food blogger? How am I suppose to share delicious food and decadent desserts with you if I first can't test them out for myself?Devastating is what this is. Maybe even a little bit ironic.
So today, we're going to try something new. I'm going to ask you to eat with your eyes instead of your taste buds.
My cousin Missy has been expecting a sweet little girl for some time now and she's finally arrived! Congratulations to Missy and Kurt (and new big brother Dylan)!
I can't wait to meet the new baby. Since my brain is always focused on butter and sugar, I wanted to give the new, soon to be very sleep deprived, second-time parents a special treat while they spent some time in the hospital with their new bundle of joy (and something to feed the visiting guests who have come to Ooo and Ahh over the cute baby toes).
Earlier this week, I baked up a batch of baby themed sugar cookies to send their way. I have already shared a couple sugar cookie recipes on this website which you can find here and here. Since I can't think of anything cuter than baby items (I literally squeal over them if I happen upon them in a store), I filled a bunch of pastry bags and quickly set out to decorate them. I used a royal icing to decorate the cookies (recipe below).
If there is enough interest, I would love to do a cookie decorating tutorial for you. Let me know if you'd like to learn!
I hope I've inspired you to try out cookie decorating for yourself! Or, if you know of a baby in the works, a few ideas to use to decorate your own baby themed cookies.
Royal Icing
3 3/4 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
6 tablespoons water
In a large mixing bowl, beat together the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water until stiff peaks form, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To thin icing to fill larger areas, use a few drops of water at a time. Remember, a little bit of water goes a long way and it will take a lot of powdered sugar to compensate if you've added too much water.
