2012-10-09

Purple Phlox Flower Cookies (Plus an Announcement!)


To make up for my long absence, I have a tutorial for some lovely, food allergy friendly flower cookies that taste as good as they look.  I also have a chance for you to receive some cookies from me...but more on that later!


To bake yourself a bouquet of purple phlox, start by making a batch of your favorite roll out cookie dough or mix up some Creamsicle Cut Out Cookies.  I made the following changes to give them a raspberry lemon flavor instead:

  • Substitute raspberry jam for the orange marmalade,
  • replace the orange zest with lemon zest (save the juice from the lemon for the icing)
  • and reduce the vanilla extract to one teaspoon.

Roll out the dough to 3/8" thickness and use a star shaped cookie cutter for the flower shapes.  (Mine was about 3" across at the widest point.)  Follow the directions for cookie pops, inserting a long lollipop stick into each of the cookies before baking them.

Once the cookies have cooled completely make a big batch of Vegan Royal Icing.  Apologies for the terrible low light process pictures!


 Vegan Royal Icing
(Adapted from The Joy of Vegan Baking.)

1 Tbs Ener-G Egg Replacer
1/4 C warm water
2 tsp lemon juice
3 C powdered (confectioners') sugar
food coloring as desired

Combine Egg Replacer, water and lemon juice in a large bowl and whisk vigorously until frothy.  Add powdered sugar and stir with a spoon until smooth.  Thickness may be adjusted by adding additional water or powdered sugar as needed.




The icing should be fairly thick at this point.  To check it, pull a spoon across the bottom of the bowl and count the number of seconds before it is smooth again.  Ten Mississippi's should be about perfect.  (Sweetopia has a nice video demonstrating how to do that.  Just be aware that vegan icing doesn't act exactly the same way and probably needs to be a little thicker than a meringue based one.  When you pull a knife or spoon through the icing, make sure you can see the bottom of the bowl, then begin your count.)  If the icing isn't thick enough, stir in a few tablespoons of powdered sugar and check again.  Repeat until desired consistency is reached.

Spoon about a quarter to a third of the icing into an piping bag equipped with a number two tip.  Tightly cover the bowl holding the rest of the icing so that it doesn't dry and crust over.  To begin decorating the cookies, gather together the icing, a paper towel or napkin, toothpicks and yellow sprinkles for the flower's stamens.  A very small circular cookie cutter and a small stiff brush will make things easier.  I like to use a flexible cutting board for my surface, because it makes rounding up runaway sprinkles easier.



Use the round cookie cutter to make an indentation exactly in the center of the cookie.  If needed, use the brush to clean off any crumbs.  Pipe a circle just inside of the outline made by the cookie cutter, then fill it in with icing.  (The toothpick can be used to clean up any misplaced icing.)  Immediately drop yellow sprinkles onto the icing circle so that they will stick to the center.  Once the center is done, pipe the rest of the outline by drawing a straight line from the center circle to each of the indentations on the outside edges, then outline the entire outside edge of the cookie.  Cover the tip of the piping bag, so that the tip doesn't clog.  Allow the cookies to dry until the icing is completely firm, at least half an hour up to several hours, depending on the humidity.



Stir up the bowl with the remaining icing and add red and blue food coloring until you get a nice purple, then stir in water a half teaspoon at a time until the icing is at a nice flood consistency. (See the Sweetopia video again, but this time the icing probably will appear a little thinner.)  Pour the purple flood icing into a bottle like this one.  You can also use a piping bag with a larger tip, but the thinner icing tends to flow out messily, so a bottle gives much better control.



Place a large dot of the white outline icing in each section just next to the center circle, then squeeze enough purple flood icing into the section to cover the remaining area.  (Do a single section at a time until comfortable with the technique.)  Use a toothpick to spread the purple icing over the entire area, then pull the white icing through the purple to create a marbled effect.  Allow the cookies to dry for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.



So...who wants some cookies?

We are going to be walking again this year to support the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.  I was trying to think of a way that our team could do a fundraiser.  Then it occurred to me.

Cookies.

If you are generous enough to donate $50 to me (or anyone else on my family's team), then I will send approximately a dozen decorated egg, dairy, peanut and tree nut free cookies as a way to say thanks.

Since I will be using one of the USPS small flat rate boxes, that will be the limiting factor as to how many cookies I can send and where I will be able to ship them.  If you are local to the Tampa Bay area, I will happily meet with you at a halfway point to deliver the cookies, which means you'll get more cookies, since they won't have to fit in the box, and I'll be able to make cookie pops, if you'd prefer them on a stick.

I will accommodate as much as I am able to as far as design, color and flavor, or you could just let me surprise you, especially since I have some really cute Halloween cookies planned.  (Though I'm afraid that I won't be able to make the monarch butterfly cookies, since they require a simply amazing amount of time to decorate.)

There will be a post later with all the details, but feel free to send me an email at allergiesmom@gmail.com if you'd like to donate $50 to our favorite cause.


I'm sharing my bouquet with:

7 comments:

Nowheymama said...

Beautiful!!

Jennifer Buteau said...

You really have a talent! What a great post and a wonderful idea!

Amy (Easy as Pie Recipes) said...

These are beautiful! Your icing has really lovely texture!

Unknown said...

Its really beautiful dear..Kids love this lovely textured recipe. Excellent recipes for kids.

Tammie Grey said...

lovely~ i'm sure this is also yummy

Ashley said...

I'm living in Spain at the moment so I can't take advantage of the cookie offer. Would it be possible for you to cook up some food (something a bit more substantial than cookies) and give it to the homeless in your area instead?

Going to donate now anyway!

Margot @ 416 Studios said...

They are beautiful! I liked it on StumbleUpon so hopefully you will get some visits to this post... and donations! :) Speak soon.