Recently I decided to step outside of my baking comfort zone and joined the Daring Bakers. A group of passionate bakers testing their skills on a series of unusual and tempting desserts. Past challenges have included crafting baked Alaskas, making their own puff pastry and taking on the French macaron. Personally I am very comfortable making cookies, quick breads and muffins. Anything that requires little thought and is tough to screw up. What can I say? I’m busy and muffins are easy!
My first challenge really pushed my skills, not as a baker, but as a decorator. I’ve made sugar cookies for years and years. I remember Christmas break with my mom and brother rolling out dough, stamping out trees, camels and Santas. After a quick trip to the oven our cookies would be ready to decorate. This would usually consist of royal icing, in varying shades of red, blue, yellow and green. Pink candy canes, blue trees and yellow penguins, all very true to reality. What can you expect? I was twelve.
I was hoping that my icing skills had improved over the past fifteen years and that my cookies wouldn’t turn out looking like something a kid had done. With the directions provided by Mandy (from
What the Fruitcake?!), I think I came out with a success! The key to these cookies is patience. Set aside the time to allow for good chilling. You don’t want to roll out room temperature dough, it just won’t work. If the cookies are too warm, then they will puff up in the oven and lose their shapes!
So dust off your cookie cutters, buy a few zip-top bags and get baking! Push your comfort level and you might just surprise yourself.