A Royal Lesson

So, just wondering, how many pairs of non-descript slippers, ugly sweaters and other why-bother gifts were wrapped and stamped with your name on them this year? It's always my fear that when gifting people I'm related to, but not necessarily close to, that I'll give them something awful, wasting my time and forcing them to lie to me and tell me they love it.

But this year I had a great idea for all my cousins, some more distant than others.  I made gigantic sugar cookies in the shape of their initials and decorated them as best I could at midnight on Christmas Eve.   

Here are a couple pics of the girlie cookies, sort of a winter wonderland theme:

For Paige, Courtney and Abby

Yes, edible sparklies.  Love me some luster dust!

And for the boys, I went with yellow and what's supposed to look like a Christmas ornament made out of gum paste, fondant and a little floral wire.

For Wes and CJ

T is for Tyra!  Don't eat the wiya...get it wire/wiya...okay, it rhymed in my head.

And for those who are curious, I used one of the cookie recipes from the Joy of Cooking and added some almond extract.

WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT ROYAL ICING: This is a substance I learned post-project can easily be turned into that gorgeous smooth finish you find at professional bakeries and such. 

Dang it.

But that's what this is all about...learning the art.  Turns out, if you build a dam of icing around the outline of your cookie, then water down that same icing and sort of flood the inside of the cookie dam, you can move it around with a toothpick and it'll set up smooth as glass. 

Lesson learned for next year!