Third night:
The book calls for a blue icing onto which you drop white dots at each star point. I could barely see any contrast in colors in the photo. Because the cookies themselves were lacking, I decided to treat them as "practice." I mixed up a small amount of plain white icing (1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice - not the one in the book), and tested my piping technique.
I felt like I was writing with the wrong hand; I need the practice. My mixture flowed out the tip, alright, but way too easily. The border lines I drew on the stars wanted to drip over the sides. I adjusted where I laid down the icing - not so close to the cookie edges. Problem solved.
The borders set up by the time I'd edged a dozen cookies, and I flooded the centers. The up-side of runny icing is that flooding is easy and your tip never clogs.
Remember my concern about the rough surfaces of these cookies? The icing mostly filled in the valleys, but viewed at an angle, you can see how rough the surfaces are. They needed further disguise.
A perfect excuse to try the red "Disco Dust" from Home Cake. Using a small paint brush, I dabbed the end into the glittery dust and tapped it onto the icing. Instantly these cookies were decked out for the dance floor. They caught the light and shimmered - or is that shimmied?
Too bad hot clothes don't make you a good dancer. I'm still not enamored with the flavor. The lemon icing contrasted well with the sweetness of the cookies, but without icing, they are not worth consuming the calories. All told, given the labor, the difficult dough, and the modest result, I wouldn't make these again. Surely I can find an easier dough to roll out - one that still gives a crisp but light texture, and tantalizes the taste buds.
Come on, Gourmet Magazine. Won't I find it among the pages of this book?
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| Notice the brown tips - these cookies don't cook evenly, another strike against them. |
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| Disco Dust makes these cookies sparkle, but doesn't improve the taste. |
The borders set up by the time I'd edged a dozen cookies, and I flooded the centers. The up-side of runny icing is that flooding is easy and your tip never clogs.
Remember my concern about the rough surfaces of these cookies? The icing mostly filled in the valleys, but viewed at an angle, you can see how rough the surfaces are. They needed further disguise.
A perfect excuse to try the red "Disco Dust" from Home Cake. Using a small paint brush, I dabbed the end into the glittery dust and tapped it onto the icing. Instantly these cookies were decked out for the dance floor. They caught the light and shimmered - or is that shimmied?Too bad hot clothes don't make you a good dancer. I'm still not enamored with the flavor. The lemon icing contrasted well with the sweetness of the cookies, but without icing, they are not worth consuming the calories. All told, given the labor, the difficult dough, and the modest result, I wouldn't make these again. Surely I can find an easier dough to roll out - one that still gives a crisp but light texture, and tantalizes the taste buds.
Come on, Gourmet Magazine. Won't I find it among the pages of this book?
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