The French call the sunflower tournesol, which literally means “turn with the sun!”
After spending the day at the arboretum picking out the perfect pumpkins and looking at the golden sunflowers I decided to bake up a batch of sugar cookies and paint them with sunflowers and sunflower leaves. Lately, my attention has turned toward edible painting on cakes and cookies. I use a one stroke method to paint most of my designs. One stroke painting is a decorative painting technique developed by Artist Donna Dewberry where double and multi-loading are used to achieve highlights, shadows and color changes in one stroke. Using her wonderful technique I have decided a way to paint with either edible dust or edible food paste.
I must warn you edible hand painting is quite addicting, but then cake decorating by nature is addicting!
Painted Fondant Sunflower Sugar Cookies:
Materials:
1-recipe Vanilla Sugar Cookies
Covered sugar cookies
Fondant, fondarific
Food paste: Wilton moss green or sugarflair, melon, wilton,white, chef rubber, brown, wilton, and ivory,wilton
Royal icing
Old gold lustre dust
Crisco
Corn starch
Everclear or lemon extract
Cooled boiled water
Royal icing, off peak consistency & Soft peak consistency
Equipment:
Cookie cutters, fancy square
Artist paintbrushes: #8 flat, and #10 flat
PME tip 50
Brush basin, or glass
paint palette
Royal Icing Recipe, with raw egg whites
907 grams/ 7 1/2-cup icing sugar, sifted 4 times
225 gram/ 5/8-cup egg whites
1/4-teaspoon cream of tartar, if NOT using copper
1/4 teaspoon egg white powder, not meringue powder
1-teaaspoons almond extract
Royal Icing with Meringue Powder:
80 grams/ 14 cup. plus 2 Tablespoons meringue powder, (NOT EGG WHITE POWDER)
236 grams/ 1-cup water
907 grams/ 7 1/2-cups icing sugar
2-teaspoon almond extract
In the bowl of a standing mixer pour warm water beat (by hand) to a soft peak consistency, sift icing sugar over the mixture, add lemon juice and almond extract. Beat on the lowest speed, with the paddle attachment to reach off-peak consistency. If the royal icing has not soften enough keep beating, on low, in 3 minute increments until off-peak consistency is achieved. Add the almond extract and beat, on low speed, for 30 to 60 seconds. Transfer to a container and cover with a damp cloth
Cover your cookies with fondant, allow the fondant to set overnight.
Next day pour cooled boiled water in either a glass or brush basin, place your colours in a paint palette, and have a dropper of Everclear (or lemon extract) close by.
Time to begin to paint.
It is best to allow your paint to set for 30 minutes prior to piping the decorative boarder; that way you will not accidentally smudge your paint.
You don’t have to pipe a border, however it takes your sugar cookie from nice to WOW!
Nice painted cookie
Or
Same cookie with the painted decorative boarder
Once you have your decorative border piped allow the royal icing to completely dry prior to painting the old gold.
Imagine how special the recipient of these Autumn Sunflower sugar cookies will be; knowing you hand painted them!
One stroke edible painting is a great project to teach your children!
Enjoy!
Voila!