I really planned to put up a new cake post today. But it's not going to happen. Instead, you're getting these Lace Valentine's Cookies. You see, six out of the eight of us have been sick with nasty colds this week.
Do you know what that means? Cranky, whining, runny noses, not-sleeping enough, more cranky, then coughing and headaches and whining and earaches and sinus pain and MORE WHINING .... it's been a rough three days around the Atwater house.
Today most of us woke up feeling a little better so I decided to spend the first half of our day catching up on housework. Considering we've all been ill since Sunday evening, the house desperately needed attention. It was bad, ya'll!
So we cleaned, then mid-afternoon I started working on these Lace Valentine's Cookies.
I baked them yesterday afternoon/evening and then covered them in royal icing last night (finishing around 2am). It wouldn't have been so late except again... the cranky, non-cooperative kids. But honestly, I didn't mind being up late working... at least nobody was whining! Ha!
Today my only tasks were to add the lace, photograph them, then box them up (and wrap 12 of them). The catch was... I had never made edible lace before today.
I intended to practice yesterday (yeah, I'm on top of things like that!) only to discover I was missing an ingredient. Thank goodness another local cake decorator had what I needed and I was able to get it this afternoon... so much for practice - I dove right into decorating!
I watched a few videos and read the directions then away I went. It honestly went more smoothly than I thought it would, but I still ended up probably throwing away a third of the lace I made. It also took me over four hours to put lace on 70 cookies.
FOUR HOURS of bending over my bar, hunched down, cutting lace, lifting lace, smoothing lace, tearing lace...
My neck hurt, my back hurt, my hands hurt... oh, and MY BACK HURT. Add the sinus headache and the hormone induced cramps (ahem) and I was just down-right cheery by the time I was done. Not.
But you know what? I was really, really happy with them in the end! Or maybe proud was the word. My husband came home after a 12 hour shift at work and the first thing he said to me was, "Baby, those look really, really great!". Needless to say, I really did cheer up!
Of course they're not all perfect and I'll absolutely do better and not make so many mistakes next time, but considering I had ZERO experience with lace mats and edible lace and all that jazz ... they're not bad, huh?!
So, that's that... I finished up around 8pm, we ate frozen pizza for supper, then I set up my photography gear and took pictures. After that, I sorted through and chose the best 60 cookies for the customer (that's how many she ordered), bagged up 12 of them for teachers (the other 48 are for students), then sat down to blog.
Except I decided against cake blogging and thought I'd just share my day.... with cookies.
OH and I had some extra cookie dough, even after baking 60 cookies plus 10 extras, so I made a batch of mini poofy hearts... aren't they cute?
Here's what I can tell you about these Lace Valentine's Cookies:
- I baked this Roll-Out Sugar Cookie recipe. I needed a triple batch to get around 70 large hearts and 22 mini hearts. We absolutely love these cookies. They hold their shape when baking, they aren't too soft or too crunchy and they taste great!
- I used the largest heart cutter from this Ateco set and the largest poofy heart from a Not Just Cakes by Annie set for the minis.
- I used this Royal Icing Recipe. Double batch and I had quite a bit leftover, but I don't think a single would've been enough. My cookie decorating skills sure have improved since then, huh? I also used a #3 round tip for the borders and filling and one of these amazing squeeze bottles. You can see more details about how I decorate cookies here.
- I used Geraldine's Edible Wonder Lace. Note - you will need glycerine for this recipe. I wish that had been mentioned when I ordered the mix because glycerine is not something I keep on hand and since I live in the sticks, I can't buy it anywhere within a 100 miles either. Praise the Lord for a generous cake decorator in the area who gave me a bottle she had on hand or the lace would not have happened today.
- I used this Sugarveil Mat - although I wish I'd have had this mat instead. Those round lace medallions would've made my life a whole lot easier today! Live and learn, people, live and learn!
So, after it was all said and done, I really did enjoy this new medium and I hope a chance to use it again very soon!
Alright... so it's quickly approaching midnight and I have to be up by 7am. Tomorrow's list includes 325 Valentine's cupcakes (yes, THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE), 7 dozen dipped strawberries, a dozen cake pops and one simple cake. I need my rest for sure!
Happy Caking ya'll!
Rose
Glenda
You go girl, I can't say I could've done it so bravo. Yesterday I made valentines butter cookies and chocolate truffles. I got done around 11 p.m. and I wanted to scream and I didn't have a cold or sick children around. So my praise goes to you. Have a wonderful valentines day. Glenda in Rochester NY
Rose
Thanks so much Glenda!! xx
Martha T
These cookies are lovely and I am in love with cake lace. I have been wanting to do cookies, so adding lace to the equation makes me that much more eager!
I haven't ever used Geraldine's product, but I have used three other brands. I find that (if you have time) if you store them between sheets of parchment paper in a ziplock bag, they become firmer. Still very, very flexible, but you can pick the panels up to cut or move around on your cookie (cake for me) without having to worry so much about them tearing. I also always do two layers, letting the first one completely dry before I apply the second. I have lace panels that were made months ago and they are good as new. I used two on a cake for this past weekend.
Rose
Please tell me which brands you've tried and which you like best! I ordered Geraldine's because it was the only one stocked at one of my regular suppliers. I've heart great things about Claire Bowman products but I hated to pay so much shipping if it's not really better than products I can get in the US.
Martha T
Claire Bowman's Cake Lace is the best that I have tried, but I also like Sugar Dress. The third product was from the UK and is not available here. Any of the mats (beginning with the original Sugar Veil) can be used with any of the products. All About Cake Art sells mats that are deeper than Claire's and I think they are easier to work with. You can also get mats from China for next to nothing, but I would rather spend my money on the real thing and know that I have a quality product.
The lace I was working with this past weekend was Sugar Dress (Jan Gresham - All About Cake Art). Wayne Steinkopf (Swank Cake Design) and Jennifer Dontz (Sugar Delites) carry Cake Lace products in the states and Wayne has a video on using it. They are all on Facebook as well and are SO good about answering questions.
http://www.swankcakedesign.com/shop/
http://www.sugardelites.com/Confectionary-Lace-Mix-and-Spreads_c_127.html
http://www.allaboutcakeart.com/catalog.php?category=24
Martha T
The Sugar Dress and Cake Lace come with a small bottle of glycerin included, so all you need is water and your mixer. 🙂
Rose
Thanks SO much Martha!!
Melissa
These are beautiful! I'm not usually one to try such intricate things, but this has definitely piqued my interest. Are there instructions on the lace when you buy it?
Rose
There were instructions on the bag of Geraldine's Edible Wonder Lace and there was as DVD that came with the Sugarveil mat plus tons of videos/tutorials on the web. I basically followed the instructions on the bag of icing mix with not too much trouble.
Melissa
Excellent, thank you!
One more question: if you were going to put lace onto cupcakes instead of cookies, you wouldn't use royal icing on top of the cake, right? You'd lay the lace over, what? Fondant? I'm not sure how exactly to go about this. Thank you!
Angela Smith
You continue to amaze and impress me! Awesome work!
Rose
Thanks so much Angela!! xx
Linda
Beautiful cookies. Impressive work. It would have taken me way longer that 4 hours! Happy Valentine's Day, Linda
Rose
Haha! They really were not nearly as hard as they look! 🙂
cori
Ahhh, those look awesome Rose! I have yet to bite the bullet and try Sugarveil but now, thanks to you, I'm chomping at the bit!!!!
Rose
It was really really fun and not nearly as difficult as I imagined!
Rekha
Wow! Those look stunning!! I was also busy making heart shaped cookies last night for my son's valentine day at school. So was so thrilled to see your email.
Rose
Thank you!! 🙂
Deborah Cline
Rose
Your a woman after my own heart, lace included. The most beautiful cookies I've seen for V day. Will have to try them. First time I have read your blog and Love it and beautiful sweets.
Debby
Debbygoesshabby.blogspot.com
Rose Atwater
Thank you so much Debby!
Cindy Eikenberg
Rose, these cookies are absolutely stunning! Visiting from PinkWhen and pinning! Thank you for sharing - have a happy Sunday and a wonderful week!
Rose Atwater
Thank you so much!! xx
Brenda Young
Those cookies are absolutely gorgeous! I'm not really that much into baking myself but darn, these make me want to give that lace embellishment a try myself! Pinning for sure!
Valerie
I have never heard of edible lace but these look amazing! Well worth all the effort you put in because they are gorgeous!
Katrin
Wow, they look to nice to be eaten!!! they are so beautiful, great job!
Pat
Totally pinning this and just added it to my culinary bucket list 😉
I loved your so very real-and-honest post as much as the gorgeous pictures!
Hope everyone's feeling better these days...
Come share this at Coffee & Conversation this week!!!
Susan
I would like to place an order for 3 dozen please. I wish! These are absolutely gorgeous! Pinned.
Rose Atwater
Haha... thank you!
Rose Atwater
Heehee... thank you!
Emily@Oat&Sesame
These are absolutely beautiful! After all that hard work I hope you ate one yourself! Impressive works of art!
Jamie
These are adorable!! Now I just need to find the time to try it out! 🙂 Thank you for sharing with us at the #HomeMattersParty
Rose Atwater
You're welcome - thanks for stopping by!!
suzan
I am SO impressed that I ran over to the links you provided - took one look at the mats and dejectedly came back to tell you I could NEVER do this - you're amazing - they're just gorgeous !!!
Rose Atwater
Haha - thank you Suzan!
Karly
These cookies are incredibly gorgeous! Thanks for linking up with What's Cookin' Wednesday!
Rose Atwater
Thank YOU Karly!
Liz Latham
These look so dainty and adorable. These would be perfect for a tea party for a little girl! Thanks for linking up with delicious dishes recipe party!