Photo Cookies... a bit of a tutorial!

After posting about my Aveda Clean Water photo cookies

last night I received several e-mail requests for the details

So let's talk details, shall we? The best advice tip I can give you about

undertaking a photo cookie project is to Relax... Know you can do it!

Of all the reading I did and all of the advice I was given, the

advice Jenny gave me turned out to be best and, spot-on to

achieving the flawless results I was after. The first step is to

flood-ice the surface of your cookie. Don't worry about piping

an outline. I was determined to pipe an outline to hold my

flood icing in, but I immediately realized it was not necessary

and frankly, it wouldn't work! So let it flow... It'll be okay!

I used a long cocktail pick to smooth the

icing over the surface of the cookies

In between uses I stand my squeeze bottle of icing on

the point to keep the icing loaded into the tip. This cuts

down on time otherwise wasted waiting for the icing

to come back down into the top of my bottle. I keep

a moist paper towel in the bottom of my container

to keep the icing from running out of the bottle

Most of the e-mailers asked me how difficult the icing sheets were to

work with. Truthfully, I lost sleep wondering the same thing! Here is what

you must know... Icing sheets must be kept out of direct sunlight to prevent

fading of your image after printing. Also, they must be kept in an airtight

container or the zippy bag they come in, to Prevent the sheets from drying

out. That being said, the sheets do not dry out instantly, so there is no need

to hurry your work to get to them. In fact!! Trying to peel your icing sheets

from the backing while they are fresh is big trouble! I found them more

difficult to remove than a price tag stuck to a mirror! I did my fair share of

damage to edges of the first few icing sheets I attempted to remove. However,

after I'd left my work station to take a quick call and rushed back, fearing the

sheets I'd left out were all ruined, I found that after they had dried 10-15

minutes is when they lifted away from the backing the easiest! Just lay the

sheet flat, and slide it to the edge of your table and watch them Pop off!

Then take the icing sheet and place it onto your iced cookie

Wa-La!

Now... It's important that your icing sheet lay flat against the

icing. If it doesn't or if there are large air bubbles, your icing

sheet will sink into the voids as it dries. Trust me... It isn't pretty!

This is where a nice coaster comes in handy! I used this one

I've never used before, which when placed onto my icing

sheet atop my cookie, leveled everything beautifully!

Beautiful!

My client requested a crystal sugared border for his cookie

but you could also use Non-pareils in a coordinating color

But do it while the border icing is still wet. I'd read where you could

go back and paint the edge with a little water mixed with meringue

powder using a food-only paint brush but it did not work! As soon

as the wet brush hit the icing sheet, the edible ink (coloring) ran!

I also read something about painting the back of an icing sheet

with corn syrup (=Mess!) and then laying it onto a dry iced

cookie - and there was even a suggestion about painting

the back of an icing sheet with flood icing and then

placing it onto an blank cookie, which I didn't try

This way just worked So much better for me!

All done!

Remember to allow for extra drying time before you wrap

photo cookies. Icing sheets trap moisture so the flood icing

takes Two days to dry instead of the usual overnight dry-time

This is my ingredients label on the back of my cookie

bags, placed just under the Aveda sticker supplied to me

by the store. It tells purchasers what's in my cookies, and

in this case, that they were made Exclusively for Aveda!

Exclusive. As in just for them and not for anyone else!

I hope they Love them!

As much as I heart a certain friend that works there!

SpaBoy and I plan to have lunch tomorrow where I will

hand over the first hundred of my photo cookies!

It's going to be difficult to let them go!