Cookies By Design - Tips/tricks Thread

Baking By Tscookies Updated 19 Oct 2014 , 2:47am by shanter

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sweetflowers Posted 6 Feb 2007 , 11:57pm
post #61 of 131

mitsel, I love your cookies too! But I notice on some you have like a black outline. Do you do that after you've painted the cookie and while it's still wet?

Also, where do you get your cutters? I love the ones you did for candyland. Please can you tell?

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mitsel8 Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 12:05am
post #62 of 131

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hijack this thread!
Thanks for all the nice compliments.
Those candyland cookies were so much fun!
I made templates for all of them except for the "ice cream cone," that one was just a cheap, plastic, cookie cutter from a set that a friend gave me.
I do use an outline sometimes. The black outline was done first, but I did "paint" inside the outlines. I also sometimes pipe the outline on after I do the background color, like in my Christmas tree cookies.

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cindy6250 Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 12:16am
post #63 of 131

mitsel8---Sorry I didn't explain myself very well. What I meant was the depth of the icing on the cookie (not consistancy). I was wondering if by painting you got a less think layer of icing.

Cindy

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mitsel8 Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 12:20am
post #64 of 131

cindy6250,
sorry, I misunderstood, I guess the layer is a bit thinner.

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cindy6250 Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 12:24am
post #65 of 131

Thanks for the information. I am decorating cookies this weekend and I am going to try the painting method and see how it works for me.

Cindy

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acookieobsession Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 12:08pm
post #66 of 131

When i put thinned royal on my cookies a drop of icing will fade back into the bowl within 6-8 seconds.

Do you think that would be a good consistency for painting?

Thanks

Julia

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mitsel8 Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 2:32pm
post #67 of 131

acookieobsession-
That sounds good. Unfortunately, I don't have any icing made up right now to look at it. I would just try it out till it works. If it spreads evenly and doesn't flow over the edge, it's just right.

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Tscookies Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 2:49pm
post #68 of 131

I've never thought about painting on the royal icing - do you need to outline the cookie first so it doesn't drip off the sides? I prefer the clean edges.

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bobwonderbuns Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 3:10pm
post #69 of 131

When I do my cookies, I thin the royal icing to a point where I can outline and flood with the same consistency and not have overrun and at the same time I don't see any line distinguishing the outline and the flooded part. That's also how I teach my students.

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mitsel8 Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 3:22pm
post #70 of 131

Tscookies-
I'll PM you with some more info.
I'm afraid this thread has gooten off track with all my yapping!

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acookieobsession Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 3:49pm
post #71 of 131

Ok thanks.


So then to get back to this issue at hand....What other tricks can you tell us?? Spill the beans girls, surely there is SOMETHING they are protecting with the privacy clause....

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Tscookies Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 3:52pm
post #72 of 131

I'd like to know how long - from start to finish - a 7 cookie bouquet takes to complete. Including baking, decorating and packaging. Is it possible to estimate this kind of time?

Also, how do they handle holidays (like Valentine's Day), when they go from a few $ to $40,000 in one month. I need to figure out how to produce in mass quantities, so I'm looking for tips/proven methods there.

Thanks!

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RoseCitySugarcraft Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 4:03pm
post #73 of 131

Tscookies,

From working @ CbD, I can tell you that baking was about 25 minutes, decorating took about 15 minutes or less (avg. time/cookie was less than 2 minutes), and packaging, with the buckets/quick-set cement/sticks all ready to go (I was a decorator, and they have dedicated packagers, so I only ever saw parts of the process), took about 10 minutes.

Holidays, depending on which one, either meant more hours worked, or a few more decorators hired to handle the workload.

HTH,

~ Scott

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karensue Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 4:19pm
post #74 of 131

Back to the "red" question--I add a little maroon to the Americolor Super Red and it deepens and make the red look richer.

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acookieobsession Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 4:44pm
post #75 of 131

Scott,

You knwo what I would really like to know? Hwo do they do the same day delivery? How does the icing set hard enough to be able to bake, ool, decorate, dry, and package all in time for it to be sent out later that day? Is that on of the benefits of painting the cookie with the thinner laye or icing?


Thanks

Julia

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RoseCitySugarcraft Posted 7 Feb 2007 , 5:06pm
post #76 of 131

Julia,

Well...I can answer some of this...

The baker arrives @ the shop very early in the morning, and looks at the orders to be delivered that day, and gets all the appropriate shapes cut n baked first thing. He's 90% done by 7:30am. They're put on covered cooling racks for the decorators when they come in. Decorators then take a look at the orders, and divide the work up into similar cookies/ colors so as not to have much, if any duplication of effort.

The drying time question is the difficult one, because their icing recipe is probably THE most-guarded secret of the company. I don't know how they get the soft inside of the icing, but crusted and set enough to hold its shape. Not having tried the crusting BC recipe from CC, I couldn't say if it's a close match, or not. Something worth investigating, at any rate.

They do not "paint" their icing onto the cookies. Background colors, if any, are spread with small, broad spats, akin to spreaders without the "teeth" on one side. That sets for a few minutes, then the other details are piped on.

Placed back onto cooling racks, the cookies wait to be assembled into bouquets and delivered.

Now they usually have 2 deliveries per day. One in the morning, with cookies done the day before. (sometimes, with breakage during decorating or packaging, cookies must be decorated "on-the-fly" first thing to complete those orders.) Then they have the afternoon delivery of cookies made that day.

I hope this helps answer some of what you're looking for. If there's anything else you can think of, PM me, and I'll do my best to provide further info.

~ Scott

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taniabanana Posted 8 Feb 2007 , 9:33am
post #77 of 131

Im really intersted in the cookie drill. is it a regular hand drill? Do they use stainless steel drill bits?

Any help would be great!

Thanks! thumbs_up.gif

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megamere Posted 8 Feb 2007 , 2:01pm
post #78 of 131

mitsel8,
Do you outline your cookies with the black then paint the inside? Can you paint without outlining? Also, what tip number do you use to outline your cookies? You do great work!

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mitsel8 Posted 8 Feb 2007 , 3:12pm
post #79 of 131

Scott-
Do you know what size tips they used for details and outlines?
Thanks for all this information! It's fun to hear about the mass production of cookies.

megamere-
I will PM you about the painting.
Thanks for the compliments!

Leslie

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crazycakeguy Posted 12 Feb 2007 , 6:05am
post #80 of 131

I am currently a baker at cookies by design and i can say that there is nonting secret about the frosting or any of the cookies. It is amazing to watch the girls decorate the cookies and i still dont get how they can make them so perfect all the time.

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RoseCitySugarcraft Posted 12 Feb 2007 , 6:47am
post #81 of 131
Quote:
Originally Posted by mitsel8

Scott-
Do you know what size tips they used for details and outlines?
Thanks for all this information! It's fun to hear about the mass production of cookies.

Leslie




Leslie,

I recall that most of their outlines are done with a no. 2 or no. 3 tip. and filling in the details is usually a no. 4 or larger, depending on the size of the area to be covered. I'm exhausted tonight, so I could be mis-remembering. If with tomorrow dawns some new brain cells, I'll edit this post with the correct info.

Scott

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mitsel8 Posted 12 Feb 2007 , 3:15pm
post #82 of 131

Thanks Scott!

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duggerdesign Posted 12 Feb 2007 , 5:52pm
post #83 of 131

My daughter received a basket of cookies from cookies by design and they were terrible. I thought I would never want a cookie on a stick again. Though around Christmas I was at a moms group and a lady spoke about making cookies on a stick. She had sample baskets that looked fabulous. I ended up making them and the recipes were awesome--especially the chocolate ones. She gave us some tips and recipes. If anyone wants the info I got from her just email me and I will send it to you. My email is [email protected] put "cookies on a stick" in the subject line.
Andrea

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duggerdesign Posted 12 Feb 2007 , 5:54pm
post #84 of 131

Oops. I forgot to let you know I use mostly fondant to decorate my cookies. I think they look more perfect and I like using fondant.
Andrea

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jstritt Posted 12 Feb 2007 , 9:48pm
post #85 of 131

the majority of the outlining is done with a #4 and writing with a #2. Background colors are painted on with a thinned royal with a pastry brush. We put a fan (on low speed as to not disturb the icing) on the cookies to dry them. The painting (no outline) is a thinner coat than flooding the cookie. The rest of the cookies is then decorated after the background dries (by piping outlines and filling with the icing - not painting).

The drill, as I recall, is a stationary drill with a regular drill bit (same size as cookie stick). It reminded me of a table saw, only a table drill.

We mixed colors by using gel paste colors, usually by teaspoons, using the color mixing chart CBD developed.

When the cookies were baked, the were baked for half the time then turned around in the oven for the remainder of the time (if that makes sense).

Oh, and we watched soap operas while we decorated!

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HeidiCrumbs Posted 13 Feb 2009 , 9:36pm
post #86 of 131

Thanks for the bump!! I can't wait to read all of the posts!

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bobwonderbuns Posted 14 Feb 2009 , 12:24am
post #87 of 131

I'm glad I found this thread, it confirmed and debunked some of the thoughts I had heard about how Cookies by Design does things. icon_biggrin.gif

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-Tubbs Posted 14 Feb 2009 , 4:54am
post #88 of 131

Can't really get my head around the drill thing. Anyone got any idea how that would work?

The icing certainly sounds like a meringue BC, which I am (finally) going to try tomorrow.

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Kos Posted 15 Feb 2009 , 12:43am
post #89 of 131

TubbsCookies--Can't really get my head around the drill thing. Anyone got any idea how that would work?

__________________________________

I tried to draw a picture of the cookie drill. The drill lays horizontal. On the "deck" there is a red line so you know how far you are drilling into the cookie. You slide the cookie forward and back and wha-la! thumbs_up.gif
LL

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cjshoemake Posted 15 Feb 2009 , 1:22am
post #90 of 131

why is there a drill being used? Why can't they just bake the cookies with the sticks in it? After the hole is drilled, what is stopping the cookie from turning around on the stick or falling off if it is accidentally tipped or something like that?

someone had mentioned quick drying cement for the assembly??? What do they use that for?

TIA

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