Cookie Mania

Melon mania, inspired from this link from pinterest

My latest obsession is designing cookies. Chanced upon a blog on the most amazing cookies ever. These are nothing short of works of art and this is where I found my new-found love for cookies decorated with royal icing. Marian is a cookie goddess and if you do manage to come back after ogling at her goodies on her site, do check out my humble beginnings in the cookie decorating field :)

Swirls galore

These cookies are made using a basic sugar cookie recipe and have been decorated using tinted royal icing. 

I heart cookies

Do give me your feedback on them as this is the first time I have attempted them. Be sure to see more of them in the near future on my blog.  

Three's company too

Peppermint Chocolate Thins

Chocolate anyone?

I love After Eights, so much so that when it came to naming a column on party events in the city that took place at night at the news paper I worked for, I cheekily named it After Eight. So naturally, it comes as no surprise that when I saw a recipe for chocolate thins on Vanilla Clouds, I immediately tweaked it to make it pepperminty. Do check her blog out, it's got some pretty good ideas. 


If you are a chocolate lover (I know you are :p), this one is something that you will love making and eating. Before you think, no way hose, I'd rather eat them than slave in the kitchen making them, let me tell you that it's a no fuss, no bake recipe and you can make these chocolate discs in minutes. After that, you just need to let them set before you dig into them. They make great gifts too, especially if you are visiting someone for dinner and don't want to carry a dessert per se but do want to show your appreciation for the invitation. In fact, this recipe is so simple, I am gonna do away with my usual recipe format and just ease you into it :)

Chocoholics treat

For the chocolate thins, you simple have to:

• Melt some dark chocolate and a teaspoon of butter over a double boiler or in a bowl sitting on another bowl of simmering water.
• Add in your flavouring, I used peppermint essence.
• Spoon out the melted chocolate on a piece of baking/butter paper, flattening it into a disc with the back of your soon.
• Add your choice of sprinkles/edible glitter.
• Leave on the counter top for about 20 minutes or until set and gobble away.

Edible Ladybirds

Smile for the ladybird please

An old pal was shifting to Bangalore and 2012 was upon us with the blink of an eye, so I didn't need any more reasons to make something special. I had bookmarked this for a long time and finally decided to make them and it was well worth the wait. These cuties will make any heart melt and many wouldn't wanna eat them, just keep them around and stare at them (fly did this, I kid you not :p)
So, without further ado, here are my fondant ladybird cupcakes. You can use any ol' cupcake for this decoration and I must thank Diary of a Ladybird for a detailed description of how to make them. Do check it out if you plan on making them. I added my own two bits to them, so can you, but her pic by pic descriptions leave no room for errors. I hope you enjoy making them and eating them as much as I did. On that note, a Biig welcome to Candy, my 'lumper' :D and a Haappy New Year to all my readers (I'm 12 days late, but better late than never right :p) 

The one in the centre was my whimsical geometric art cuz I had some fondant remaining 

Cream cheese snowmen

Goofy smiles

It's really cold out here and for once, I honestly thought, any colder, it would snow :D And speaking of snow, have I got a treat for you. I was on the lookout for visually appealing desserts, after my edible pencils and fondant bee run. That's when I chanced upon a picture of a snowman's head, edible and oh so cute. 
I decided to take it one step further and made snowmen and snow-women standing on a snow covered plate. What's more, I am sharing the recipe with you guys. Yes, the last few posts have been sans recipes, but I am making up for that :) 
This is a quick fix dessert as it is so easy to make and looks stunning. If you have kids around, get them involved in the process, it's just their kind of thing.

Mrs Snowman

Ingredients:

1. Cream cheese frosting (I've already posted a recipe for this on my older posts which you can find here).
2. Marie biscuits crushed (About 10 to 15 should do. Place them in a zip lock bag and pound away with a chapati belan or whatever you have in hand).
3. Your favourite frosting to cover the snowmen with.

Method:

• Mix the frosting and the powdered biscuits together to make a rough dough.
• Shape them into balls, a bigger one for the bottom of the snowman and a smaller one for the head.

Eat me before I melt

• Chill in the fridge for about half an hour.

• Flatten out the bottom ball a bit so that the 'head' can sit on top firmly. 
• Whip up a bunch of your favourite frosting and roll the balls in it or pour the frosting directly on the snowmen, making sure to leave a puddle below to mimic snow.
• Pipe on some coloured frosting onto the heads and bodies, decorating them however you like. 
• Serve chilled.

To 'Bee' or not to 'Bee'

Hi 'Bee'autiful

Saw a pic of bees and looked around for inspiration online and found the perfect one. Forgot which one it is exactly, so I can't post a link here, but I hope the pics are enough to give you guys an idea :) 

Honey I'm home :)

These are my first fondant figurines and I'm mighty tickled by how they turned out, especially without proper sugar modelling tools. From the back of bubble spoons to bottle caps that matched the sizes I needed, it was a kitchen raid all the way :)
These lil bees make great cupcake toppers like so:

Sitting pretty

Or also add a charming appearance to a cake. You can be as creative as you want with them. Remember, store them in an airtight container if you plan on using them later. I tried making the cake look like a somewhat beehive and placed one cutie pie in the center. Try your own combinations and don't forget, let me know how they turn out. For any tips/queries, leave a comment and I shall gladly help you in any way I can :)

My makeshift bee hive