WEDDING CAKE CUTTER

You’ll notice that all of the cookies in this group are oriented the same way. Challenge yourself to see if you can turn the cutter one way or another and find a different design in it.

The Typewriter is one of my favorites. Think of it as an all-occasion card and write a short message on the “paper” with edible marker.

The wedding cake also has so many possibilities. Embellish it with flowers or even a monogram.

WEDDING CAKE

beginner intermediate advanced

MAKES 12

what you need

TO MAKE THE COOKIES

4-inch wedding cake cookie cutter

Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out

Cooling racks

TO DECORATE

2½ cups Royal Icing (here)

Pasteurized egg white or water

Gel food colors: whitener, neon green, bright blue, royal blue

Edible gold luster dust

Vodka or lemon extract

3 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)

3 #1 tips

Assorted paintbrushes

• 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 12 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
• 2. Make white lining and flooding icings. Mix 1½ cups royal icing in a small bowl with whitener gel to make bright white. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 3. Outline the cake and paint in. Using the white lining icing, outline the silhouette of the cake. To make sure that the tiers look level, pipe the rectangular outline of each tier, beginning with the bottom tier. Keep the lines and corners as straight and squared off as possible. Let set for 5 minutes. Paint in the tiers with the white flooding icing, painting over the horizontal outlines on the interior of the cookie. Let set dor 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
• 4. Make blue lining and flooding icing. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Mix ¾ cup icing in a bowl with neon green, bright blue, royal blue, and whitener gels to make robin’s egg blue. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 5. Re-outline the tiers and make the bands. Using the robin’s egg blue lining icing, re-outline the tiers, then make a horizontal line ¼ inch above the bottom of each tier to make three rectangular bands. Let set for 5 minutes. Paint in the bands with the robin’s egg blue flooding icing. Make blue dots along the top edge of the bands, spacing them evenly apart.
• 6. Make white lining icing for the ribbon. Make gold ribbons and white dots. Mix ¼ cup royal icing in a bowl with whitener gel to make bright white. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Using the white lining icing, make a wavy line across the middle of each tier. Make white dots above the wavy line on the top half of each tier. Let set for 5 minutes. Mix a little gold luster dust with vodka or lemon extract in a bowl with a paintbrush. Paint a band of gold just under each wavy line, butting it up (see here) to the white line and making the band thinner and thicker with each curve. Let set for 30 minutes.

STACKED LUGGAGE

beginner intermediate advanced

MAKES 12

what you need

TO MAKE THE COOKIES

4-inch wedding cake cookie cutter

Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out

Cooling racks

TO DECORATE

4½ cups Royal Icing, (here)

Pasteurized egg white or water

Gels: lemon yellow, gold, ivory, whitener, chocolate brown, royal blue, bright blue, neon green, super black, bright red

Edible gold and silver luster dust

Vodka or lemon extract

10 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)

10 #1 tips

Assorted paintbrushes

• 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 12 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
• 2. Make the lining and flooding icings for the suitcases. Fill three bowls with ¾ cup each of icing. Cover two with plastic wrap. To the first bowl, add the bright blue, royal blue, and whitener gels to make blue for the suitcase. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remainder to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add the lemon yellow, gold, ivory, and whitener gels to make yellow for the suitcase. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remainder to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the third bowl, add the lemon yellow, neon green, ivory, and whitener gels to make green for the suitcase. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 3. Outline and paint in the suitcases. Using the blue lining icing, outline the bottom suitcase, rounding the corners. Using the green lining icing, outline the middle suitcase, rounding the corners and butting the green line (see here) to the top of the blue suitcase. Using the yellow lining icing, outline the top suitcase, rounding the corners and butting the yellow line to the top of the green suitcase. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the blue, green, and yellow flooding icings, paint in the suitcases. Let set for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
• 4. Make lining and flooding icings for the details. Refresh the remaining icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Fill two bowls with ¼ cup each of icing. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the first bowl, add a toothpick each of super black and whitener gels to make gray for the metal parts. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remainder to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add ¼ cup of the chocolate brown gel to make leather brown. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remainder to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 5. Outline and paint in the details. Using the gray lining icing, outline the metal corners on the blue suitcase and two semicircles that the blue handle attaches to. Using the brown lining icing, outline the leather trim on the green suitcase and two small rectangles where the green handle attaches. Reserve the brown lining icing. Outline the leather belts and the tag on the blue suitcase. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a small paintbrush and the gray flooding icing, fill in all the metal parts on the blue suitcase. Using the brown flooding icing, paint in all the leather parts on the blue and green suitcases. Let set for 1 hour.
• 6. Make the lining icings to re-outline the suitcases. Fill three bowls with ½ cup each of icing. Cover two with plastic wrap. To the first bowl, add the bright blue, royal blue, and whitener gels to make dark blue for the outline of the blue suitcase. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remainder to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add a toothpick each of lemon yellow, gold, ivory, and whitener gels to make dark yellow for the outline of the yellow suitcase. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remainder to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the third bowl, add the lemon yellow, neon green, ivory, and whitener gels to make dark green for the outline of the green suitcase. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 7. Re-outline the blue suitcase and make details. Using the dark blue lining icing, re-outline the blue suitcase. Pipe a horizontal line across the top of the suitcase to show where it opens, going around the leather belts. Outline the blue handle. Outline a small rectangle on the yellow suitcase for a sticker. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a small paintbrush and the dark blue flooding icing, fill in the blue handle.
• 8. Re-outline the yellow suitcase and make more details. Using the dark yellow lining icing, re-outline the yellow suitcase. Make a horizontal line across the middle of the suitcase to show where it opens, and pipe two vertical lines just within the left and right edges of the yellow suitcase. Make two small ovals for where the brown handle attaches and a small circle in the middle for the lock. Make two ovals for the latches on top of the horizontal line on the yellow suitcase. Make two bigger ovals on top of the horizontal line on the green suitcase for the latches. Outline two rectangles just under the horizontal line on the blue suitcase. Then make two ovals just above the two rectangles. Outline a square around each belt for the buckle. Let set for 5 minutes. Using the reserved brown lining icing, make two lines butted up to each other for the handle on the yellow suitcase. Using a small paintbrush and the dark yellow flooding icing, fill in the rectangles on the blue suitcase. Let set for 15 minutes. Using the dark yellow lining icing, pipe two smaller ovals on top of the rectangles to complete the latches.
• 9. Re-outline the green suitcase and paint in details. Using the dark green lining icing, re-outline the green suitcase. Pipe a horizontal line across the top of the suitcase to show where it opens. Outline the green handle on top of the brown rectangles. Let set for 5 minutes. Using the small paintbrush and the dark green flooding icing, fill in the green handle.
• 10. Make lining and flooding icing for metal details and stickers. Make details. Fill two bowls with 2 generous tablespoons each of icing. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the other, add super black and whitener gels to make dark gray. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the second bowl, add bright red gel to make red for the outline of the stickers. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Using the dark gray lining icing, make two dots on each metal corner of the blue suitcase for screws. Make dots on the leather belts and a line connecting the blue handle to the leather tag. Using the red lining icing, outline a triangle and small rectangle on the yellow suitcase and a rectangle on the green suitcase for the stickers. Let set for 15 minutes. Mix 2 tablespoons of icing in a small bowl with whitener gel to make bright white. Thin to flooding consistency. Using a small paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in all the stickers.
• 11. Make metallic paint with luster dust and paint on. Using a small paintbrush, mix a little gold and silver luster dust with vodka or lemon extract, each in a separate bowl. Paint all the latches and the buckles gold. Paint the metal parts on the blue suitcase silver. Let set for 1 hour, until dry.

TYPEWRITER

beginner intermediate advanced

MAKES 12

what you need

TO MAKE THE COOKIES

4-inch wedding cake cookie cutter

Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out

Cooling racks

TO DECORATE

5 cups Royal Icing (here)

Pasteurized egg white or water

Gel food colors: royal blue, bright blue, neon green, whitener, super black, sunset orange, bright red, gold, lemon yellow, electric pink

10 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)

10 #1 tips

Assorted paintbrushes

• 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 12 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
• 2. Make green lining and flooding icing for the desk. Mix ¾ cup royal icing in a small bowl with royal blue, bright blue, neon green, and whitener gels to make light green. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 3. Outline and paint in the desk. Using the light green lining icing, outline the desk, leaving the top unlined where the typewriter overlaps the desk. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a large paintbrush and the light green flooding icing, paint in the desk, thinning the icing where the typewriter overlaps. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
• 4. Make black flooding icing for the area behind the keys. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Mix 2 generous tablespoons of icing in a small bowl with the super black gel to make black. Thin the icing to a very loose flooding consistency. Using a medium paintbrush and the very loose black flooding icing, thinly paint in the dark area behind the typewriter keys. Let set for 1 hour. The black should be completely dry or it will bleed through the red.
• 5. Make lining and flooding icings: orange-red for the typewriter and white for the paper. Meanwhile, fill two bowls with 1 cup royal icing each. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the first bowl, add sunset orange and bright red gels to make orange-red. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add the whitener gel to make bright white. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 6. Outline and paint in the typewriter and paper. Using the orange-red lining icing, outline the typewriter, making sure to go completely around the painted black area. Leave space above the typewriter for the black cylinder. Outline the inner edge of the typewriter on top of the black painted area. Using the white lining icing, outline the piece of paper above the typewriter, butting (see here) the white line to the top of the typewriter. Let set for 5 minutes. Reserve the white lining icing. Using a medium paintbrush and the orange-red flooding icing, paint in the typewriter. Using a medium paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in the piece of paper. Let set for 4 to 6 hours or until dry. Reserve the white flooding icing.
• 7. Re-outline the paper; make the keys and space bar. Using the reserved white lining icing, re-outline the piece of paper. Make fat ovals on the black icing for the typewriter keys. Outline a long thin rectangle on the bottom for the space bar. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a small paintbrush and the reserved white flooding icing, paint in the space bar and paint in the white keys.
• 8. Make black lining and flooding icing for the cylinder and spool outline and paint in. Mix ¼ cup royal icing in a small bowl with the super black gel to make black. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Using the black lining icing, outline the right and left sides of the cylinder that sits above the typewriter. Outline each side so that the black line butts up to the edge of the paper and the edge of the typewriter. Outline a thin rectangle on each end of the cylinder so that it sticks out from the sides of the typewriter. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a small paintbrush and the black flooding icing, fill in the right and left sides of the cylinder. Let set for 1 hour. Using the black lining icing, outline the spools on the right and left sides of the typewriter just below the black cylinder. Using a small paintbrush and the black flooding icing, fill in the spools.
• 9. Make gray lining and flooding icing for the bail and metal part; make lining icings: orange-red to re-outline the typewriter and dark gray to make the type keys. Fill three bowls with ¼ cup royal icing each. Cover two with plastic wrap. To the first bowl, add super black and whitener gels to make light gray. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining light gray icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. To the second bowl, add sunset orange and bright red gels to make dark orange-red to re-outline the typewriter. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the third bowl, add super black and whitener gels to make dark gray for the type keys. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
• 10. Outline and paint in the metal part and make the details. Using the light gray lining icing, outline the metal part on the front of the typewriter. Pipe a dot in the middle of the top edge of the metal part. Pipe a horizontal line across the length of the black cylinder and the piece of paper for the bail. Let set for 5 minutes. Using the black lining icing, pipe two short lines just above the light gray bail. Using a small paintbrush and the light gray flooding icing, paint in the metal part. Reserve the lining icing. Let icing set for 2 to 3 hours.
• 11. Re-outline the typewriter and cylinder and make the details. Using the dark orange-red lining icing, re-outline the typewriter and pipe horizontal lines across it. Using the dark gray lining icing, re-outline each end of the black cylinder. Pipe a curve across the metal shape and lines fanning down from the curve for the type keys. Reserve the dark gray lining icing.
• 12. Make lining icings for the pencil. Fill three bowls with ¼ cup royal icing each. Cover two with plastic wrap. To the first bowl, add gold gel to make dark brown for the pencil tip. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the second bowl, add gold, lemon yellow, and whitener gels to make light yellow for the pencil. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the third bowl, add electric pink gel to make pink for the eraser. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
• 13. Make the pencil. Using the light yellow lining icing, pipe the length of the pencil on top of the desk, slowly squeezing the bag to make fat lines. Using the dark brown lining icing, pipe a triangle at the front of the pencil. Using the dark gray lining icing, squeeze a dot at the tip for the graphite. Using the light gray lining icing, pipe the metal band at the end of the pencil. Using the pink lining icing, pipe the eraser. Let set for 2 hours.

WITCH’S FEET

beginner intermediate advanced

MAKES 12

what you need

TO MAKE THE COOKIES

4-inch wedding cake cookie cutter

Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out

Cooling racks

TO DECORATE

3 cups Royal Icing (here)

Pasteurized egg white or water

Gel food colors: neon green, super black, gold, lemon yellow, whitener

4 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)

4 #1 tips

Assorted paintbrushes

• 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 12 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
• 2. Make green lining and flooding icing for the stockings. Mix 1 cup royal icing in a small bowl with neon green gel to make neon green for the stockings. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 3. Outline and paint in the stockings. Using the green lining icing, outline each leg. Leave the areas unlined where the shoe overlaps the leg. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a medium paintbrush and the neon green flooding icing, paint in the legs, thinning the icing where the shoe overlaps the legs. Let set for 4 to 6 hours.
• 4. Make black lining and flooding icing for the shoes. Mix 1¼ cups royal icing in a small bowl with super black gel to make black for the shoes. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap.
• 5. Outline and paint in the shoes and stripes. Using the black lining icing, outline each shoe, leaving the area unlined where the buckle overlaps the edge of each shoe. Make the toe of each shoe curl up. Outline horizontal stripes on the stockings. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a large paintbrush and the black flooding icing, paint in the shoes. Using a small paintbrush, paint in the stripes. Let set for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
• 6. Make yellow lining and flooding icing for the buckles; outline and paint in. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Mix ½ cup icing in a small bowl with gold, lemon yellow, and whitener gels to make golden yellow for the buckles. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Using the golden yellow lining icing, outline each buckle. Outline a smaller rectangle inside each buckle. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a medium paintbrush and the golden yellow flooding icing, paint in the buckles.
• 7. Make black lining icing to re-outline the shoes. Mix ¼ cup royal icing in a small bowl with super black gel to make black for the outline of the shoes. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Using the black lining icing, re-outline the shoes. Let set for 1 hour.