I was watching Recipe for Success the other day on Food Tv and they followed a woman who opened a cookie decorating store. Anyway when they were showing her decorating the cookies, it looked like she just dipped them into frosting and used a spatula to smooth out. The extra just fell right back into the frosting bucket.
I know I can add more liquid but I am so scared about how I have read they will never dry or be wet in the center.
Is there a set amount of liquid that works to have frosting this consistency. I am just trying to avoid the extra step of the of piping the outer layer.
any one have any success with this?

I saw the show a few weeks ago. She uses royal icing which get hard. You want to use something that get hard, like Royal Icing for Decorated Cookies (under recipe section). How to say this, you know when you outline with stiff royal then fill in with a loose flow. You want the loose flow, so you can dunk, then scape like she did. Let dry then finish.

Hope this makes sense.

Good luck

When I worked in a bakery we used to dip our cookies in colored white chocolate. If you get the right wrist movement you don't even need a spatula to smooth. Just another option.

Funny, I watched the show and thought the same thing! Her cookies were SO beautiful I thought, Do you know how much time that is saving?

There are also some icings that you heat. It hardens as it cools.

I saw that show too! Her cookies were so cute but a lot of them looked sloppy. After the cookies were dunked and scraped she set them down and some of the cookies had icing that ran down the side of the cookie.

If you want to save on the outlining step my recommendation would be to get some squeeze bottles. I use them and the rock! You can outline & fill with the same thin consistancy.

Hope that helps

I'm new to this forum and I hope I do this correctly.

Anywho, I came up with the same technique at 1 o'clock one morning, while decorating cookies for a bridal shower. I use thick royal icing to outline. Then I thin it, alot, and use an uneven spatula (small one) and basically scrap it on. Put a little of the thin icing in the center, then with a smooth motion, glid over cookie and towards outline. Make SURE your outline is dry! It's hard to explain...ok, work icing out to hardened outline. If the outline is thick and dry enough, the spatula won't hurt it, it will stop the thin icing from over flowing. If I have confused you even more, I'm sorry. lol.

I do a similar thing with MMF that i add water to and heat. Works GREAT

I think it probably has to do with the icing not squirting out the back of the bag. That would be my guess.

yes, that is a pain. makes sense...thank you!
-chisl

Not peachez, but a squirt bottle is nice because the icing flows well. In a pastry bag, it can leak out the tip. The icing can be a bit thinner, like heavy cream and flow to the outline very easy.

I think almost everyone has a slight difference in their techniqe. The important thing is to find one that works for you and your cookie design. Some I dip, some I outline. I even saw one cookie maker that uses a paint brush to put on the base coat.

Also, you can get bottle that you can put a decorating tip on. It definitely helps with the mess, but I think that for some people, they can get better control with the bottles. Especially if you get the small ones for detail work, they are almost like holding a really fat marker or something! I like it for writing on the cookies. You can put a small round tip on it, like a 0 or 1, and write almost like holding a marker.

Basically just personal preference. They have the bottles at www.kitchengifts.com (the ones you can use tips on- they come with plastic tips on them but you can use whatever you want).

-Suz

Chisl-Sorry, I haven't been on it a while. I prefer the bottle to the icing bag because you can outline & fill with the same consistancy icing. It's a lot less messy than decorating with bags & you don't need to have stiff for outlining & then fill in. With the bottle, I feel that I have much more control. Try different ways and see what works best for you.

peachez - thank you for your tips! just curious - do you let the outline dry first or do you outline and then flood immediately? i think your method sounds great and i will be getting the squirt bottles for sure!
-chisl

I outline and flood immediately. It tends to look a lot more flawless that way. Check out some of my photos. One hint: when you outline don't go all the way to the edge of the cookie to prevent run over.

If you need any further help, let me know

peachez- do you use royal icing or buttercream icing in your bottles?
I thought it would be great for me to get the bottle to use as my writing tool, but I've never used royal icing ever... So I just wanted to see if bc would be the right consistency first...

peachez - thank you!!
i checked out your photos and i LOVE your work! cookies are flawless and your cakes are so great!!! you do a FANTASTIC job. thanks for your help!
-chisl

chisl~ thank you for the compliment!

redhare~ I've never used buttercream in the bottles...would probably work but I'm all for a quick clean-up & don't know how I'd get all the grease out so that it didn't ruin my royal icing in the future. It's a good idea though. If you try it, let me know how it works out.

FYI~ I've had the best luck with & religiously use antonia74's royal recipe for cookies. Here's the link: http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1983-Royal-Icing-for-Decorated-Cookies.html

one more question and then !!!
i just bought some squirt bottles at michaels. is this ok or are the special ones online better? just thought id save a little $$ but sometimes, in some things, the savings isn't worth the headache, ya know?!
-chisl

chisl,
the wilton ones from Michaels are exactly the same ones that I use. You can buy ones online that have a fine point tip but for anything like that I'd rather use a piping bag & a tip I already own. Try them out. For outlining & flooding I wouldn't trade my inexpensive bottles for anything.

Peachez -

Do you also decorate with the thinner consistency out of the squirt bottles?

I am new to royal icing and this seems to be the best method so far .. thanks for the information

I'm not a big fan of runny icing. I use a medium consistancy. I add just enough warm water to make the icing thin enough to use the bottles. To know if you are using the right amount add a little at a time & stir in completely. when you lift your knife out of the icing & let it fall back into the container of thinned icing does the line that you dropped disappear immediately or take a bit & then disappear. I prefer the consistancy that takes a second but does not instantly disappear. It's a easier to control & doesn't run off the side of the cookie.

thanks again peachez! hopefully i can make 'n post soon!

the icing we used at the bakery I worked at was called Vanilla Dip. You heat it up, add a little water, your food coloring, and then dip the cookie and scrape the excess off. It took a while to master, because you have to do it while it's pretty warm, and we used our hands, no spatula. The look was really smooth, though.

If you want a very smooth top on your cookie, just use powdered sugar and water. You'll have to play with the consistency a little. If it's too runny, add more powdered sugar (use a wire wisk to get it smooth). It should be about the consistency of syrup. Working in my bakery, I found the easiest and fastest way is with a finger! Pick up a cooled cookie, dip index finger in icing and smooth over cookie. After a while, you really get quick! If you want to add sprinkles or other decoration on top, do it before the icing sets up, because it sets within about a minute.