JACK-O’-LANTERN CUTTER
A presidential profile, a stack of pancakes, a bunch of bananas—this cutter allowed me to make all three in addition to the Jack-o’-Lantern. You’ll notice I make very conscious choices when it comes to decorating these cookies—by forgoing re-outlining George Washington’s profile, you draw attention straight to his hair, which instantly tells everyone who he is.
The way the syrup flows down the stack of pancakes makes it seem as if it has just been poured. And re-outlining the bananas just so makes them look as if they are in a bunch.
JACK-O’-LANTERN
beginner 
intermediate advanced
MAKES 24
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
3-inch jack-o’-lantern 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: chocolate brown, whitener, sunset orange, lemon yellow
4 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
4 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 24 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make the brown lining and flooding icing for the stem; outline and paint in. Mix ¼ cup royal icing in a bowl with chocolate brown gel to make brown for the stem. Thin to lining consistency and spoon 2 tablespoons into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency, add a little whitener, and cover with plastic wrap. Using the lining icing, outline the stem, leaving the bottom where it meets the pumpkin unlined. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the brown flooding icing, paint in the stem, thinning out the icing where the pumpkin overlaps the stem. Let set for 1 hour.
- 3. Make the orange lining and flooding icing for the pumpkin; outline and paint in. Mix 1½ cups royal icing in a bowl with sunset orange gel to make orange for the pumpkin. 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 lining icing, outline the silhouette of the pumpkin, going over the stem and making four bumps at the top of the cookie and four coordinating bumps at the bottom of the cookie. Using a paintbrush and the orange flooding icing, paint in the pumpkin. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- 4. Make lining icings: dark orange for the facial features and to re-outline the pumpkin and brown for the stem. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Spoon ¼ cup icing into each of two bowls. Cover one with plastic wrap. To the other, add sunset orange and chocolate brown gels to make dark orange for the facial features and re-outlining the pumpkin. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. To the second bowl, add chocolate brown to make darker brown for outlining the stem. Thin to lining consistency and spoon it all into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
- 5. Outline the facial features and re-outline the pumpkin and stem; make the ribs. Using the dark orange lining icing, outline the eyes, nose, and mouth (you can make any face you like, as if carving a pumpkin). Let set for 5 minutes. Using the same icing, re-outline the pumpkin and make the ribs, drawing curved horizontal lines to connect the tips of the top bumps with the tips of the bottom bumps, going around the eyes and avoiding the nose and mouth. Using the darker brown lining icing, re-outline the stem and draw in the ribs. Let set for 5 minutes.
- 6. Make yellow flooding icing for the face. Mix ¼ cup royal icing in a bowl with lemon yellow gel to make yellow for the face. Add whitener. Thin to flooding consistency and paint in the eyes, nose, and mouth carefully, butting the yellow up to the outlines. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours.
PANCAKES
beginner intermediate advanced
MAKES 24
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
3-inch jack-o’-lantern 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: whitener, gold, lemon yellow, chocolate brown, buckeye brown, super black
5 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
5 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
Plate or ceramic mixing palette
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 24 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make white lining and flooding icing for the plate; outline and paint in. Mix ½ cup royal icing in a bowl with whitener gel to make white for the plate and fork. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Position the cookie so that the pumpkin stem is the left side. Using the lining icing, outline the silhouette of the plate and the parts of the fork that don’t overlap it, leaving the top edge of the plate unlined where the pancakes overlap. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in the plate and fork, thinning out the icing where the pancakes will overlap. Let set until hard, 4 to 6 hours or overnight.
- 3. Make yellow lining and flooding icing for the pancakes; outline and paint in. Mix 1½ cups royal icing with gold, lemon yellow, and whitener gels to make golden yellow for the pancakes. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Using the lining icing, outline the silhouette of the stack of pancakes, starting above the fork handle and making small bumps for each pancake edge along the left edge of the cookie. Round out the top of the cookie and continue to make small bumps along the right edge of the cookie. Pipe the bottom edge of the pancake stack on top of the white icing and stop where the fork meets the pancakes. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the flooding icing, paint in the stack of pancakes, butting up the icing (see here) to the fork. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- 4. Make brown lining and flooding icing for the maple syrup; make gray lining icing to re-outline the fork and plate. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Mix ½ cup icing with chocolate brown and buckeye brown gels to make dark brown for the syrup. 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. Mix ¼ cup royal icing with super black and whitener gels to make light gray for re-outlining the fork and plate. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
- 5. Outline the maple syrup and paint in. Re-outline the fork and outline the tines. Using the dark brown lining icing, outline the maple syrup, drawing drips going down the stack of pancakes. Let set for 5 minutes. Reserve the brown lining icing. Using a paintbrush and the dark brown flooding icing, paint in the maple syrup. Let set for 4 to 6 hours. While the dark brown flooding icing sets, use the light gray lining icing to re-outline the plate and fork, including the top of the fork and the tines. Do not worry if you can squeeze in only three tines.
- 6. Re-outline the pancakes. Using the reserved dark brown lining icing, re-outline the silhouette of the stack and outline each pancake by connecting the points on the left side to the points on the right. Draw a few pancakes in between the lines if you need to fill empty space. Let set for 5 minutes.
- 7. Make yellow lining and flooding icing for the butter; outline and paint in. After the flooding icing for the syrup sets, mix ¼ cup royal icing with lemon yellow and whitener gels to make yellow for the butter. 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 lining icing, outline the butter pat on top of the maple syrup. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the yellow flooding icing, paint in the butter pat.
- 8. Make watercolor to paint the top half of each pancake. Squeeze a dot of chocolate brown gel onto a plate or ceramic mixing palette. Using a paintbrush, mix in a little water to make a watercolor (see here). Paint the top half of each pancake in the stack, filling in the top of the very top one and working around the maple syrup. Let set for a few minutes.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
beginner intermediate advanced
MAKES 24
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
3-inch jack-o’-lantern 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
Gel food colors: ivory, whitener, super black, buckeye brown, sunset orange
5 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
5 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 24 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make skin tone lining and flooding icing for the face; outline and paint in. Mix 1¼ cups royal icing with ivory and whitener gels to make skin tone color for the face. 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. Position the cookie so that the stem of the pumpkin is the nose of George Washington. Using the lining icing, outline the silhouette of the face, stopping where the chin meets the collar. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the flooding icing, paint in the face, thinning out the icing where the hair overlaps the face and where the collar overlaps the neck. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- 3. Make gray lining and flooding icing for the hair and brown lining icing for the facial details. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Mix 1¼ cups icing in a bowl with super black and whitener gels to make light gray for the hair. 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. Mix ¼ cup royal icing with buckeye brown gel to make brown for the face details. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip.
- 4. Outline and paint in the hair and eyebrows. Make facial details. Using the light gray lining icing, outline the silhouette of the hair, making big bumps along the edge for the curls. Outline the eyebrow. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the light gray flooding icing, paint in the hair and the eyebrow. Let set for 4 to 6 hours. Using the brown lining icing, outline the eye. Draw a C shape to indicate the nostril and a short line in between the lips to indicate the mouth. Reserve the brown lining icing.
- 5. Make lining and flooding icings: white for the collar and orange for the jacket. While the light gray flooding icing sets, mix 1 cup royal icing with whitener gel to make bright white. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ½ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency and cover with plastic wrap. Mix ½ cup royal icing with sunset orange gel to make orange for the jacket. 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 collar, jacket, and eye. Draw in the curls. Using the white lining icing, outline the collar across the neck and under the chin, butting up (see here) the line to the bottom of the hair. Draw in the curls. Using the orange lining icing, outline the jacket, butting the orange line of the jacket up to the white line of the collar. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the white flooding icing, paint in the collar and eye. Using another paintbrush and the orange flooding icing, paint in the jacket. Let set for 4 to 6 hours.
- 7. Re-outline the hair. Outline and paint in the pupil. When the light gray flooding icing is set, use the reserved white lining icing to re-outline the hair and draw in the curls. Draw a few short white lines on the eyebrow. Reserve the white lining icing. Let set for 5 minutes. When the white flooding icing for the eye is set, use the reserved brown lining icing to outline and fill in the pupil of the eye. Let set for 15 minutes. Using the reserved white lining icing, squeeze a small dot on the pupil for a highlight.
BANANAS
beginner intermediate advanced
MAKES 24
what you need
TO MAKE THE COOKIES
3-inch jack-o’-lantern cookie cutter
Cookie dough of choice (here), prepared, chilled, and rolled out
Cooling racks
TO DECORATE
2 cups Royal Icing (here)
Pasteurized egg white or water
Gel food colors: lemon yellow, chocolate brown, whitener, gold
2 plastic or parchment paper piping bags (here)
2 #1 tips
Assorted paintbrushes
Plate or ceramic mixing palette
- 1. Make the cookies. Cut out 24 cookies from the dough. Bake and cool as directed.
- 2. Make yellow lining and flooding icing for the bananas; outline and paint in. Mix 1½ cups royal icing with lemon yellow and chocolate brown gels to make yellow. Thin to lining consistency and spoon ¼ cup into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Thin the remaining icing to flooding consistency, add a little whitener, and cover with plastic wrap. Using the lining icing, outline the silhouette of the bunch of bananas, making the top of the stem square. Let set for 5 minutes. Using a paintbrush and the flooding icing, paint in the bananas. Let set until hard, 6 to 8 hours or overnight.
- 3. Make brown lining icing and re-outline the bananas and make details. Refresh the royal icing on medium low for 30 seconds. Mix ¼ cup icing in a bowl with chocolate brown gel to make dark brown for outlining the bananas and adding details. Thin to lining consistency and spoon all of it into a piping bag fitted with a #1 tip. Using the brown lining icing, re-outline the silhouette of the bananas, then make the curved lines to delineate each banana. Let set for 5 minutes.
- 4. Make watercolors and paint in details. Squeeze dots of gold and chocolate brown gels onto a plate or ceramic mixing palette. With two paintbrushes, mix a little water into each to make watercolors (see here). Using the gold watercolor, lightly paint streaks along the length of each banana. Using the chocolate brown watercolor, paint in the stem and the ends of the bananas, then paint a few dots on each one. Let set for a few minutes.