That's right: wedding cookie cutters! Actually, I had forgotten I ordered these, so I left sugar cookies out of the plan. Oops. But luckily, sugar cookies are one of those things that, if stored in an air-tight container, will keep for up to two weeks. I only need them to keep for one week, so I'd say that this isn't a problem at all.
So I got out everything that I would need for sugar cookies.
- 1 1/2 c. butter
- 2 c. sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 5 c. flour
I whipped it all together and ended up with...
Ok, not very interesting. But it has to chill for at least an hour before I can do anything with it.
In the meantime, I ate breakfast (while enjoying a great storm.) I was sort of glad it was raining. I'm trying to hold out as long as possible on turning on my air conditioning, mostly because I'm cheap. I live in an upstairs apartment, which means it gets super hot! Sometimes my apartment is several degrees hotter than the outside, even with my windows open and my fans blowing. But with the rain came weather a few degrees cooler, which meant my apartment was bearable again. However, I know that this can't last. When I start in on my 15 cheesecakes for the wedding, the oven will pretty much be on all day, and I think I'll have to turn on the A/C or risk melting (myself and the cheesecakes!)
After doing other things for about two hours, I baked these at 400 degrees for 6 minutes. All told, the recipe made 68 cookies. Not too bad--the cookie shapes are medium sized, so that's about what I figured I would get. Didn't burn a single one!
After letting them cool for a bit, I mixed up some royal icing, using a recipe that I invented that has no eggs or milk or anything else that would make me nervous about leaving it out for a week. I know everyone says it's okay, but I run the risk of killing 250 wedding guests if I screw up the food. So I'm not taking any chances. Here's the recipe:
- 1 c. powdered sugar
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract (or almond, or any flavor you like really).
- 2 tsp. light corn syrup
- 4 tsp (approx) water (use as much or as little of this as you need to get it to the right consistency)
Simple, and it probably won't kill or maim anyone who eats it. I made mine thick enough the first time to serve as the edging for all the cookie wedding dresses, cakes, bells, and hearts. They looked like this:
Not very interesting, I know. But then, after being interrupted by a visit from my dad (and who can call it an interruption when the interruption in question takes you out for dinner and ice cream!) I made another several batches of royal icing, a lot thinner this time (just added more water until it was the right consistency), and containing a variety of food colorings. Then, I went to town until all the cookies were filled.
After filling them I had to wait overnight for them to dry fully before going on to the last step (boo hoo!).
The next day, I made the remaining royal icing thicker (more powdered sugar) and added a few last touches (belts on the dress, decorations on the cakes, etc). Here's are the finished products:
And they were tasty too!
The hearts and bells were okay, in terms of looks. However, the dresses and cakes were eaten the fastest, which in my experience means they were the crowd's favorite! Plus, I like the dresses and cakes because they are easily reusable for other things (wedding dresses become princess dresses, wedding cakes become birthday cakes.)
More wedding stuff to come in the next couple of weeks. I was a busy baker!
