I nearly forgot!

Sometimes I think I've shared something only to discover that I definitely haven't... and this is one of those times.  

This year I'm making a concentrated effort to try new things... experiment... push my creative limits and generally being open to new ideas.  So in the spirit of all that I came up with some Waitangi Day cookies... just because I could :)

 

It all started off with a new 'Donut Smould' from Sweetly Impressed.  This very cool (in my opinion) stamp and mould set creates a rounded cookie that resembles the shape of a donut.  

I had only just received my Smould set (Stamp and Mould) and was eager to try it out... and it did not disappoint!  I used my favourite vanilla cookie dough and thanks to plenty of flour dusting the mould it worked perfectly!

Cookies ready for baking

 I had a basic idea in my head for what I thought I'd do... since these were for Waitangi Day that had to have a New Zealand theme to them so I was thinking ferns... kiwis... and a bit of text.

One of the very best things about having a 3D printer is having the ability to make things bespoke... so I started off making a little kiwi cutter.

Kiwi cutter

I also knew I wanted to have a go at making a text stamp... this took several goes but I eventually came up with something useable... not 100% happy with it but it DID do the job.

Looks ugly but it did work

Then it was time to make some fondant kiwi.  I coloured my fondant to a deep, rich brown and then rolled it out thinly before cutting with my dinky little cutter.  It worked brilliantly!

 

Kiwi cut out and air drying

 

I wanted a bit of texture on my cookie and I was pretty sure that I had a fern leaf silicone mould somewhere... thankfully I found it before I had to search my whole house!

 

I coloured up some more fondant using about four different greens until I had something I was happy with.  Then I pushed the fondant into the mould... popped it into the fridge for a few minutes to firm up... popped the fondant out and did the next one... over and over and over again! 

My vision was starting to come together!

 Then I coloured some fondant with Colour Mill Latte... I'm really loving that particular colour at the moment... cut it out with the cutter... stamped my text... added it to the cookie along with a kiwi and fern... and it still needed something... so I added some edible glitter.  

The idea I'd had in my head was a lot better than this one... but I knew I was kind of onto 'something'.

 

First trial... close but no cigar!

• Etymology - Close but no cigar

From the practice of giving cigars as prizes at carnivals in the United States in the 20th century; those who did not win would fail to receive a cigar, even if they came close.

I had a look around on Google trying to come up with an idea when I stumbled across bakers using Impression Mats... and that's when the light bulb went off in my head.  An Impression Mat wasn't all that different from an embossing folder.. and I knew I had lots of those!  I even had some brand new ones that I'd never used so I went for a wee hunt and come up with something perfect!

 

I rolled out some Latte coloured fondant... opened up the embossing folder... pressed it into the fondant and hey presto!

 

What a difference a bit of texture makes!

 

Massive difference between the two cookies!  The fondant embossing almost gave it a Tā Moko vibe.

 

 Now that I was happy with my cookie idea I actually re-did the first cookie and carried on with the rest until I had 20 finished cookies.

I still need to work on placing the text in the right place!

 

 

 

Then I covered them with a net cover overnight and in the morning I packaged the cookies ready to take to school for our staff hui.

 

I was really happy with the final results... and my colleagues were all happy to receive a cookie after our staff hui.  

So what have I learned?

• Texture makes a massive difference!
• Making bespoke cutters really makes things unique and personal
• If I only have one mould it's going to take a while to make multiple elements! Those ferns were a little bit painstaking by the time I had made 20 of them!
• Plus I've learned a new word... Etymology... which means the origin of a word and the historical development of its meaning.

I've got plenty more ideas for this particular 'Smould' set so I'm sure you'll see more in the future!

Thanks for stopping by :)
Shelley

Baking cookies... one Māori cookie at a time!

Today's post is something a little different... and an absolute first for me.  Last month Kuki Reka Kani advertised a cookie challenge. The basic idea was to use their cookie cutters... which are amazing... and use their monthly prompts to take part in a year long cookie challenge.

Join our year-long journey of artistic expression, whether you're baking cookies with our cutters or crafting with clay. Each month brings new prompts based on a theme, inspiration, and chances to share your creative spirit.

We're building a community where every creation tells a story. From kitchen to craft room, let's make something beautiful together.

Since I already own several of their cookie cutters... and I like to try new things... I thought I'd give it a go.

I waited in eager anticipation for the first prompt to appear and it did not disappoint at all!

 

I knew almost straight away what I thought I'd like to do and which cutter I wanted to use... what I hadn't planned on was having even more ideas and coming up with two different designs!

So without further ado... here's my entries into the February challenge:

 

Close up

If you want to see how I came up with my designs stick around!

 

My original idea was something like what the palm tree cookie turned out... except that I'd envisioned having shells on it. 

I started off the project making fondant shells in a mould... love how they turned out! Basically I coloured some white fondant with Colour Mill Latte... and some more fondant with Colour Mill Pebble.  Then I marbled the two together and pushed them into the silicone mould. I popped them out and let them dry while I got on with the rest of the project. 

 

Then of course I needed to actually bake some cookies.  I used my favourite sugar cookie recipe and the Koru cutter to make my cookies.  I thought the koru had a similar shape to a wave so that was my inspiration.

Gorgeous design

 

I'm not that great at rolling out cookie dough to an even depth so these cookie guides are an absolute life saver!
 

Ready for baking

I decided my design needed an extra element so I made palm tree cookies as well... yay for being able to make my own cutters!... after all... what's better than one cookie??  Two of course :)

Buttercream frosting ready to colour

Once all the cookies were done I made myself a batch of my favourite buttercream frosting... it's so creamy and delicious... plus it's super easy to work with.

I coloured my frosting with Colour Mill colours... Chocolate and Coffee for the palm tree trunks.

 I did a mix of piping and spatula work to get the look I was after:

Then I coloured some more frosting with a mixture of Lime, Green and Forest to get the colour I wanted for the palm tree fronds:

It was all going pretty much according to plan by this stage:

Then I decided that my palm tree needed a little 'lift' so I added some air brushing to give the cookie some depth and highlights... loving it!

Air brushed cookies on the left

Now for some waves... I coloured some more frosting.  This time I chose four Colour Mill colours... Tiffany, Teal, Sky Blue and Cobalt.

One of the great things about YouTube is learning new things... including how to tie icing bags a different way... LOVE this technique and will definitely be doing it again! I added another bag of plain white frosting for the 'sea foam' of the waves.

 So here's how I created my waves... I started off with piping and then used a brush (that I only use for food) to 'paint' the waves.

Cobalt

 

Sky Blue

Teal

Tiffany

And then finally some white for the sea foam:

 By this stage I had worked out that there was going to be no room on the cookie for my 'shells' and my brain kicked into gear for another cookie.  Meanwhile I added my palm tree and felt quite pleased with the results.

 

Entry #1

 

I had plenty of left over 'wave' frosting so I decided I'd try something a little different for the next cookie.

I took some of the white frosting and tinted it very slightly with Colour Mill Clay: 

I used the same piping and brushing technique to create some 'sand' on my cookie... and then I added a bit of air brushing... if you've got a new piece of equipment you just want to use it over and over LOL

 I thought I needed a bit more texture on my sand so I added some demerara sugar and love how that turned out!

 Then it was time to add the 'water' using all the blues and teals from the first cookie... and some more piping and brushing:

Piped

 

Brushed

Of course it needed some sea foam as well:

 I had another look at my fondant shells and decided they could do with a little air brushing to make them more interesting:

It was while I was doing the air brushing that I realised the pattern from the cookie cutter resembled a sunset... the brain got ticking away and before I knew it I'd reached for my air brush again... it's addictive I tell you! I did a blend of yellow... followed by orange... and then finished off with some red.  I did the airbrushing straight onto the cookie so that I had the cookie pattern incorporated into the design.

 

Finally it was time to add my sea shells:

Entry #2

 An extra photo... just because I can :)

 So those are my entries for the February Challenge :)

 

I really loved this challenge... So what have I learned?

• Run with the ideas and pivot if I need to
• Don't be afraid to embrace a change in direction
• Just enjoy the process
  

Thanks for stopping by... and if you've got a minute to leave me a comment I'd love to hear from you :)

Until next time
Shelley