Inkedibles Edible Image Cookies to benefit Bike MS!

If you read this post last week, then you've already seen the bicycle cookies I

created for the BIKE MS bake sale coordinated by my friend and coworker at

Hanesbrands, Regina Lyalls. But while the bike cookies inspired by Dani's

sweet design were a huge hit, there was also 300 other cookies I created too!

That's right... The bicycles were my idea! Team Champion requested

decorated cookies featuring the BIKE MS logo and their rider Jerseys!

But how? I was so intimidated by the process of creating edible images

that I gave away the printer I bought after seeing the cookies Bridget

created a couple of years ago. The $75 I spent on edible ink was down

the tubes too because it expired over a year ago... Worse than all that,

my friend that usually prints edible images for me also wasn't available!

Not the best position to be in when you've just said Sure, I'll donate four

hundred cookies to your very important cause! Fortunately, I remembered

this photo my reader Stefanie sent to show me the tremendous success

she's been having with her edible ink printing system from Inkedibles!

Feeling inspired to give edible images another try, I contacted customer

service for Inkedibles to discuss my project. But get this... Not only was the

representative I spoke with extremely knowledgeable about their products and

willing to assist me with a purchase... After hearing I was donating 400 cookies

to a bake sale to benefit BIKE MS, he also encouraged me to get in touch with

Inkedibles owner, Dr. Dimitris Constantinou because he said he felt quite

certain that his boss would want to be involved. Now, that's customer service!

Before I could even think about how Dr. Constantinou might offer to help me

with this project, I had an e-mail from him letting me know how delighted he

would be not only to send me their Inkedibles printer and frosting sheet

bundle to sample, but he also offered to print all the images I needed for me!

You see, Dr. Constantinou explained Inkedibles is not only dedicated to

offering superior edible ink and the best-tasting frosting sheets available

on the market today, they also offer custom printing services! This means

commercial bakeries and even hobby bakers like me can submit artwork

and have it turned into edible images without ever lifting a finger to press

the print button! Best of all, Dr. Constantinou also told me his lovely wife is

a member of the National MS Society. Talk about being personally involved!

There wasn't a question I had that Dr. Constantinou didn't personally

answer. And, when the date for the bake sale was changed not once, but

twice, Dr. Constantinou and his team made adjustments in their printing

schedule to accommodate. My new edible ink printer bundle arrived on

the same day I got an e-mail from Maria, a member of the Inkedibles

team, who offered to walk me through my template set up and printing

whenever I am ready to print edible images of my own! Oh, Maria...

I've yet to open the box of my new Inkedibles printer

bundle and, I already feel the need to apologize to you!

Before I share my experience using Inkedibles pre-printed frosting

images, I must tell you about Inkedibles Yummy Art™ edible

pens too! They come in both fine and standard tips, they were easy

to handle and the colors remained true even after the ink dried! I

especially appreciated the suggestion Inkedibles makes to use them

to write/draw on plates, which is something I hadn't thought of before!

So about my experience with Inkedibles pre-printed frosting sheets... As

you know, I've used only KopyKake frosting sheets for all my past edible

image cookie projects. Therefore, I believe I'm perfectly qualified to make

comparisons and to now recommend Inkedibles as by far the better choice!

First thing I noticed is that the Inkedibles frosting sheets are larger than their

competition. At 8.5 x 11", the extra surface comes in handy when images don't fit

into pre-cut shapes. For the text and important Hanes, Champion and BIKE MS

logos featured on these Team Champion Jersey images to show up, it was

necessary to print them a bit little larger than the pre-cut sheet sizes!

Of course, this also meant I had to cut my images by hand; however, it

was a worthwhile investment in time to achieve such perfect results!

Now, I wish I could tell you it was smooth sailing from here...

But it wasn't and, I hope my experience and how a potential disaster was

averted helps you, should you encounter a similar situation. You see, while

some of the images, like the one above, laid down flat and dried into my

icing to look as amazing as Stefanie's Inkedibles image cookies always do...

The first 41 images, such as the example above, curled up around
the edges. Even with more of the negative space trimmed away, you
can see in the example below that the images continued to lift up!

Perhaps worst of all, none of those first images I used adhered to the icing - Despite

having two full days on the drying rack! Clearly, not the results I was aiming for...

Needless to say, I panicked... As my friend Susan, of The Painted Cookie, CT

will surely confirm. Honestly, I don't know what I would have done without her! It

was after 2AM, I hadn't slept in over 36 hours, the deadline to deliver the cookies

was less than 48 hours away and 2/3rd's of my BIKE MS cookies depended on my

perfect success with these edible images. The only thing that kept me from tossing

all the undecorated cookies out the window to the raccoons and giving up totally

was Susan's encouragement that somehow, all of this would work out for me! While

we can't be sure why this occurred, there are a couple of possibilities. First, I rarely

bake cookies in the summer because although I keep our air conditioning cranked

down to 64 degrees, I'm keenly aware that I no longer live in Monterey, California

by the humidity we have here in the good-old South! Humidity has a negative

effect on the performance of royal icing and extends drying time... Not to mention

what humidity does to my mood! Secondly, while I told Inkedibles the date for

the bake sale was changed twice, it actually changed once more after they shipped

the images. Therefore, the images weren't used until two weeks after they arrived!

Thankfully, Inkedibles frosting sheets can be used a couple different

ways. And, thankfully, my new best friend there, Maria actually cares

about their customers enough to answer work e-mails on the weekend!

As soon as Maria received my S.O.S, she replied with the best news! She said that

while images can normally be set directly onto wet icing and look amazing, as

they do for Stefanie when she uses Inkedibles frosting sheets... Sometimes

conditions dictate that the images will work better if placed onto cookies

after icing is completely dry. To do this, I removed the image from the

backing and applied shortening or corn syrup to either the back of the image

or onto the icing where the image would lay. For me, it was easier to coat

the image and apply it to the cookie because it was less messy that way!

And, just as Susan and then Maria promised... It all worked out! Every image

laid perfectly flat and whether I used shortening or corn syrup, the images

became one with the dry icing. Oh, and if you're wondering how the flavor of

the Inkedibles frosting sheets compares to the taste of KopyKake, let me

just say that you'll know as soon as you open the package and the delicate

scent of real sugar escapes that Inkedibles frosting sheets are just that...

Pure, delicious-tasting frosting that compliments royal icing or any cake

frosting perfectly! After finally solving the tragedy of curling images...

All that was left was to quickly ice 300 cookies, set my

edibles images and finish drawing all of my bike cookies!

Believe me when I tell you, it was an exceedingly lonely,

very painful and sleepless sprint to the finish line!

In fact, I even missed the deadline!

Fortunately, my self-imposed deadline was to deliver the cookies the evening

before the bake sale. Although delivering them a few hours prior to the bake

sale wasn't ideal, it meant I could at least get them packaged and tagged!

My mom often tells me that when I see doves in my garden it's because she

is thinking of me and sending me peace... These two never left my kitchen

window view the whole time I packaged cookies that crazy morning!

Thanks, mom!

In the end... I made it!

And, thanks to Inkedibles and their Ink-credible frosting images, my cookies

looked just like the real Team Champion rider's Jersey hanging above them!

Although I am still out of work with a torn Achilles tendon, I heard from

many of my coworkers that the cookies I created were a huge hit. A few told

me they have them displayed at their desks because they look too cool to eat!

I told them what I tell everyone that tells me my cookies are too

cool or pretty to eat. Eat the cookies... I can always make more!

Because of the generosity of Dr. Constantinou and the hundreds of perfectly

printed edible images created by his team at Inkedibles and, the sugar that

was donated to me by Dixie Crystals to bake all those cookies, I'm thrilled

to share with you that the bake sale raised nearly $3,000 to support BIKE MS!

I hope that my overwhelmingly positive experience with Inkedibles customer

service and their products will make them your choice for printers, edible ink

and frosting sheets needed to create beautiful and delicious cookies and cakes

featuring edible images. Also, remember Inkedibles for everything you need to

create custom chocolates, airbrush designs and... They even have cookies

so please check them out here! And, if you would, please like them on Facebook

and, one more thing... I would love it if you would let Inkedibles know how you

feel about the wonderful support they provided me and, more importantly, to

the cause of finding a cure and achieving a world free of Multiple Sclerosis!

For more information about Team Champion riders click here

To donate to BIKE MS please click here