Friday, June 14, 2013

A nice client testimonial

Thank you so much for making the beautiful cookies!  My daughter and I couldn't resist eating one while running our errands (good thing I ordered extra). They are soooo good!  Exactly how sugar cookies should taste. So delicious and such a nice size! 

I am sure I will be ordering from you again and will recommend you to my friends and relatives!

Thanks again, Jenny! 

Angela. 

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Hello Kitty!

Years ago I created a Hello Kitty head cutter template to produce a couple of orders of cookies.  I have been wanting to find an actual cutter that was the right size so that wouldn't have to use a template again (if ever asked).  Lo and behold, I found the cutter yesterday.  It's actually a little bit bigger than I would have liked, but that's better than being too small (anything under 4" is too small).  This one is about 6" wide.  Big  cookies.  That's the way I like to make them!


Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Candy thermometer issues

I was making English toffee last night, and there are telltale signs of when it is nearing being done, like puffs of steam escaping.  So I keep watching the thermometer, and it sort of stalled around 225, but yet the toffee was definitely getting hotter.  Finally when it was huffing and puffing, I did the old fashioned water test - dropping a bit in a glass of cold water, and sure enough it hardened instantly - yet the thermometer still was only at 225.

The only thing I can think is that there was condensation inside and that was throwing it off.  Regardless, I bought a new thermometer today.  I've got the cap off of the other one, and I'm just going to let it dry out for a long time.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

Friday, January 04, 2013

Referrals are lovely!

Well, last week I got a referral from the sweet Hollywood Candy Queen herself, Jackie Sorkin.  The client she referred to me for some custom cookies then sent me this picture:

Actually, it was the fully body too but we decided to just do the head with the cape.  Of course, I always get nervous when I have to do a custom cookie, but usually it's the hand cutting around the template that's the worst of it.  Then after I get them baked (and these were all on a stick as well), I develop an "anchor point" for the piece.  In the case of the horse head, the anchor for the entire piece was the line where the mane and cape meet.  using that line, I outlined the mane first and filled it in (all free-hand).  The second anchor point was the insignia with the C.  From there I mapped out the two-toned cape.  Then I mapped out the mask and finally the head, nose and neck shadow.  The details on the nose, the eyebrow and the inner ear were done with food edible pens.  The last part done was the eye, which was iced wet on wet.  The project of 48 cookies was completed over three nights.


Now working on a thank-you to Jackie!  Something sweet, of course!

Thursday, January 03, 2013

Character cookies

What do you do to keep yourself entertained while icing 4 dozen character cookies over 3 nights?  Well, I rewatched/listened to all of the episodes of the funny British series SPY, which is on Hulu.  I really love that show, and it's starting to develop nicely.