These are a few of my favorite things… from 2011

So considering I’ve only been making cookies for a year, it seems kind of silly to do a year in review of my favorite cookies.  But then I thought, what better a year to examine where I started and where I’ve gone since I first started making decorated cookies last January.

These are the first decorated cookies I made almost exactly a year ago for my son’s second birthday. They took me DAYS to make.  And it was before I knew enough to use Americolor coloring instead of Wilton, to avoid color bleeding.  But I was so proud of them. I was immediately hooked, and wanted to make more.  I think no matter what, these will always be among my favorite cookies ever.

I still love these “love trucks” I made for Valentine’s Day.  These are cookies I would love to remake knowing what I know now about icing consistency, and using a heat gun to avoid craters. I believe this was the first time I wrote on a cookie too! So nerve racking!

This was really my first big cookie “project”.  I made a life-size iPad cookie for my dad’s birthday. I had yet to find a chocolate roll-out recipe I liked, so I made a hybrid cookie/brownie one.  I did taste pretty good, but it did not hold it’s shape particularly well.  I made about a million “Ap” royal icing transfers, just to try and get a few good enough to use .  I would LOVE to make this again!!! Hmmm – maybe next year Dad? He does keep saying he wants an iPad2.  But I don’t think he’s talking about the cookie version.

This was my first mosaic style cookie. I wanted to make little individual cookies with castles on them for a party I was going to.  But then I thought: how the heck am I going to put a whole castle on a little 3″x 3″ cookie?! And so was born the mosaic cookie.  I drew it out on a piece of paper first, and then used my edible markers to do a rough sketch on the cookies to follow with my icing.  I think my favorite part of this whole this is the tree.  I just love that it actually looks like it has some dimension to it.

I still LOVE these cookies.  This was an order from a college friend I reconnected with through facebook. I look at this set and see the start of my love of using only a few colors to make a visual statement.  I was also really happy to be able to make cookies for two men that had just gotten married in Massachusetts.

This cowgirl cookie set holds a special place in my heart because they were the first order I ever received.  Jen, from Rhody Mammas and Keekoin, is a friend I know from my days of writing for Providence Monthly.  We also reconnected through facebook, and was one of my earliest cheerleaders when I first posted pictures of my cookies online.  Her order set in motion a notion that I may be on to something here with my cookies. Jen is also the girl who designed my amazing logos, for which I will be forever grateful!

This was the second mosaic cookie I made.  If you follow me on Facebook, you may remember the story of this cookie… I made it to bring to a Father’s Day BBQ with my dad and father-in-law.  But I had to hide it from my Dad, who had come to our house for dinner the night before.  I had the brilliant idea of putting it in the oven to hide, as I knew we were using our grill to make dinner.  But later that night my husband, unknown to me, preheated the oven to make a spontaneous desert.  Well… the picture tells the rest of the story.  The clouds took on the look of burnt popcorn, and the colors became a little muddled, and over all everything was a little crispy. I have yet to make another mosaic cookie – but I want to SO bad!! Just haven’t had the extra time to play.

I made this next set as a wedding gift to my cousin and husband for the dessert table at their reception.  I was given a bunch of images by my aunt that had special meaning to the bride and groom, and was asked to put them on cookies.  This was also the first time I had the honor of  having my cookies at a wedding.  I think my favorite thing about these are the colors.  So often cookies and cakes are covered with strong and vibrant colors. I loved working the the black silhouettes against such soft and soothing colors.

I’m not exactly sure why I love this cookie set so much.  Maybe its the colors, maybe it’s my love of olives.  Or it’s the client that ordered them.  I was asked to make these for a business meeting by an advertising agency in Boston. They sent me a link to Creta Farms, who makes healthy hot dogs from olive oil.  I knew I wanted to include some hot dog cookies in the set, but the companies website was so tasteful and pretty, I wasn’t sure how to make it all work together.  In the end, I loved how they came out and may possibly have made a few extra “olives” for myself.

I actually think these may be my favorite cookies from 2011.  These were an order for Providence Media, who operate RI regional magazines like Providence Monthly, East Side Monthly, and The Bay. I am from RI so thinking of iconic Rhode Island images to put on cookies was a blast.  I only made one of each cookie, and to be honest this order took me forever to make.  But I loved all the little details, and trying to figure out how to translate them in to icing.

These cookies were made for a dessert table for Sweet Indulgence. They are kind of typical me.   I had didn’t have much notice on making them, and yet I still decided to try new techniques I had never used before.  Like when I throw a dinner party, I always try a new recipe for the first time, and then cross my fingers.  I had never done this ruffle technique or brush embroidering before.  But I love the simplicity of them.  I am a big fan of making a statement without making a fuss, and these cookies do that perfectly.

Looking back at all my cookies from the year, I can see where my skills have grown, and where I still have learning to do.  But I am pleasantly surprised to see that each set of cookies seems more “me”.  I’ve had some wonderful opportunities this year to brighten people’s days with some fancy sugar and I look forward to doing it again in 2012.  Thank you so much to all who believed in me this year and pushed me in the direction of this new path paved in royal icing.  I have loved every second of it and can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Tagged as: Cookies, corporate, favorites, giant cookie