EC&I 831 – Major Learning Project Summary

Again, wow! I can’t believe we are already at the end of this course, and thus the end of my major project. It has been a very busy semester filled with dough and icing. My fiancé has appreciated all the baking popping up every weekend, but I am not sure if my waistline agrees with that appreciation (hahah). Let’s take a look back at this journey!

Project Timeline

Each week, I decided to try a different technique or style of cookie decorating. I found a lot of my ideas on Pinterest, and also had some ideas previously from watching many baking shows over the years.

• Introduction – This post introduced my plans for this project.
• Week #1 – I began my project by defining some common terms that would be used throughout my posts and practicing the technique of flooding cookies.
• Week #2 – I attempted to make pumpkin pie cookies. This was my first attempt at royal icing with different icing consistencies. Let’s just say it took a lot of trial and error.
• Week #3/4 – These weeks I tried cookie decorating using a medium more familiar to me- buttercream. I made a few different Halloween cookie designs.
• Week #5- I finally found a royal icing recipe that I liked this week. I also attempted the embroidery brush technique using a paintbrush and icing.
• Week #6 – This time, I decided to try and see if a technique I had previously used on cake would transfer to being useable on cookies. I used gel food colours and water to paint cookies.
• Week #7/8- These weeks, I made a 3D cookie tree using various sized start cutters. I stacked these stars flooded with icing and dusted them with powdered sugar to create a winter look.
• Week #9- For my final week, I polled my classmates on twitter to gather which Xmas designs I should attempt. I then created a few different Christmas cookies using many different colours of royal icing.

Here is a collage showing my progress from week 1 to week 9!

What did I miss?

Although I think I did a great job trying many different techniques and challenging myself to complete many different cookie tasks, there are still some things from my original plan that did not make the cut!

• Writing- Writing on cookies was something I was hoping to tackle, but did not get around to trying. In the future, I would like to try writing on cookie (both with edible marker and with icing).
• Cookie Class – I was hoping to get a chance to try a cookie decorating class. With COVID, I was not able to find anything locally offered in person. I did however find some online options with either live or pre-recorded classes. The time got away from me and it was something I never got the chance to try. Next time I am bored and have some free time, I would like to check out a class.
• Cookie Kits- I toyed with the idea of making my final week cookie kits instead of various Christmas cookies. Cookie kits are boxes containing cookies, icing, and sprinkles which people can purchase to decorate at home. Although I think this would have been a great side project for a bit of extra cash, I felt that my icing making skills were not up to what I would like them to be in order to take this on. I also thought that it would be best for my final week to showcase my own decorating, and not simply the assembly of something else. Perhaps next time I am feeling a bit creative, I will try them out.

Even though there are some tasks that I never got to try, I am happy with the techniques I have learned. I will hopefully get around to trying some of these other tasks in the future!

Tips & Tricks

I am definitely no professional, but I have learned a few tips and tricks that I would like to share with you in case you ever want to give cookie decorating a try yourself!

• Use real vanilla not artificial – This is a big peeve of mine with any baking. Real vanilla is just SO MUCH BETTER. Trust me. Also, Costco sells a huge bottle for like 25$ if you are actually into baking and will use it up it is worth the investment instead of the 15$ small bottle from the grocery store.
  
• Pick a recipe that has little baking powder, and NO baking soda – When making cut out cookies, you do not want them to rise like regular cookies. This will make it so they lose their shape and are not as flat to decorate. A cut-out cookie recipe should not have any baking soda and only a little bit of baking powder.
  
• You don’t need tips– At first, I assumed that you would always need to use a tip in your icing bag when decorating. It has changed my ways by learning that you can simple cut the end off the bag to whatever size you desire and it will give you the same look as a regular round tip. This makes clean up so much easier!
  
• Chill that dough!- It is super important to chill your dough before cutting your cookies. This will help your cookies to spread less and keep the shape you have cut. Also, if you have the time, your cookies will have even nicer, crisp edges if you chill them after they are cut for another 10-15minutes before baking. You can even roll out your dough between sheets of parchment paper and refrigerate that first instead of a ball, then it is ready to cut right away!
  
• Use gel food colouring– Gel food colours tend to take less colour to acheive the same effect as the liquid colours made with water from the grocery store. They also don’t give you a nasty taste if you use too much (this can happen when you use a lot of a liquid colour, espcially red).
  
• Dry time is important- If you are going to attempt a design that uses multiple layers of icing, make sure the cookies have had ample time for the first layer to set. This way, the colours will not run into each other.

Links, Links, Links!!!

I thought it would be a good idea to make a list of links to all my favourites in once place- just for y’all.

• The best supplies: piping bags, scribes, 3D tree set, brush set, piping tips, gel colours, KitchenAid mixer
  
• The best recipes: basic vanilla dough, chocolate dough, my favourite royal icing, my favourite buttercream icing
  
• Bonus: The best cake recipes, the best cupcake recipes

Final Thoughts

I am very happy that I chose to take on cookie decorating for my major learning project. I believe that this was a great opportunity for me to explore something that I have always considered trying out. I enjoyed getting the chance to challenge myself to something that was new, but still related to a passion of mine (baking). I think that my cookie decorating skills have definitely improved over the weeks. I have found a few go-to recipes as well as an icing recipe that seems to be working. I am hoping to continue to work on my flooding skills – I would like to get the flood nice and smooth all the way to the edge of the cookie without it dripping over. Although the royal icing cookies looks super nice once they are dry, I preferred working with the buttercream icing as it was easier for me to use. With that being said, I do think that the royal icing cookies look much fancier. I found that I still struggled to get the right consistencies with the royal icing. This is just another thing I can continue to work on improving. I am hoping to find the time to continue to practice cookie decorating. However, for now my focus will be on all of our regular Christmas baking. Then, I think I will take a break and go back to cakes and cupcakes for awhile as I have been missing those!

Thank you to all who followed along on this journey! I will leave you all with some final questions:
1. Which week of cookies was your favourite?
2. Any suggestions on cookies (or other types of baking) that I should try out in the future?
3. Have you ever decorate cookies before? How did it go? If not, are you wanting to try it out now?