Cookie Decorating Essentials (WFMW)

After sharing the graduation cake I decorated over the weekend, I promised to share a few tips for decorating cookies with royal icing. I’m certainly not an expert, but I’ve decorated my share of cookies over the past few years, and I’ve found a few simple essentials that work for me. I wouldn’t decorate a single cookie without them!

It may be hard to believe, but piping details is my favorite part about cookie decorating.  It can be a challenge at times, but I really enjoy the complex cookies that need a lot of intricate piping.

To go along with the graduation cake last weekend, I decorated shield-shaped cookies with the school’s coat of arms. While they weren’t perfect (I can see about 30 mistakes in the cookie pictured on the right!), I was pleased with how they turned out… And, I know that my next batch of intricate cookies will be even easier having done these.  Practice makes perfect… Well, closer to perfect!

So, without further ado, let’s get to my essentials for cookie decorating. Don’t worry, they aren’t costly… In fact, you probably already have most of them lying around your kitchen.  The key is to make sure you have everything on hand and ready to go before you start decorating.  So, don’t wait until you already have icing smeared on your nose and elbow (not that that’s ever happened to me) to start getting organized!

1. Wet Paper Towel – Have a wet paper towel on hand. As you would expect, it’s handy for cleaning up icing from your fingers or anything else that may get smeared with icing.  But, I find it’s particularly helpful for cleaning your pastry tip as you work (especially if you’re using a small tip, like the #1 tip I used for these cookies).  A messy pastry tip will not give you good results.
2. Toothpick – Speaking of pastry tips, a toothpick comes in handy, too.  If you set your pastry bag down for a little while, you may find that the icing in the tip dries up just a bit and clogs the tip.  Having a toothpick on hand will help you unclog the tip, if necessary. Toothpicks can also be handy for fixing small imperfections on a cookie.
3. Practice Plate – I find that the first things I pipe are often the worst… I need to get in a groove.  So, I never start piping a new design directly on a cookie.  I always practice on a small plate first.  It saves a lot of cookies.  The plate also comes in handy for making sure your tips are working properly.  And, if you run out of practice space, you just rinse of the plate and start again.
4. Bench Scraper – These things are not just for scraping dough and scooping up veggies from your cutting board… Grab your bench scraper as you are filling your pastry bags. It’s the perfect way to push the icing down into the bag.  Just lay the bag flat on the counter and smooth the icing down towards the tip using the scraper.
5. Soapy Water – I think the worst part about decorating cookies is cleaning up. So, make it easier on yourself by keeping a glass of warm soapy water on hand.  When you’re done with a tip, just drop it in the soapy water until you’re done. The water will soften up the royal icing making it a lot easier to clean the tip out when the time comes.

These are my favorites for decorating cookies. But, I’d love to know… What are your favorite tips and tricks for cookie decorating?