MONDO ROYAL ICING COOKIE

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1 - Prepare your sugar cookie recipe and bake heart cookies as per instructions on the Mondo cookie cutter packaging. .

Step 2 - Prepare your Mondo royal icing mix according to the instructions on the box. Place equal amounts of icing in four seperate bowls. Keep one bowl of medium consistency icing aside for piping the lace work. Colour one bowl of your icing with Chefmaster Bakers Rose. One bowl col-our with Chefmaster Forrest Green and the last bowl keep white. Add a few drops of water at a time to the three bowls of icing and mix until you reach the thick honey consistency.

Step 3 - Using your toothpick scratch an outline around the inner edge of the heat cookie and then scratch a line half way across. The top will be piped pink and the bottom, green and white.

Pipe an outline with the No1 tip using the pink icing and following the outline as a

guide. Then flood the cookie with icing using a No 2 tip. Use your toothpick to pop any air bubbles that may occur during flooding your cookie with icing. This will prevent any holes from appearing in your icing when it dries.

Use a damp paintbrush to tidy up any icing that is untidy or piped outside the lines. Allow the icing to set for 10 minutes.

Step 4 - Using the No1 tip, outline the bottom area of the heart cookie with the green icing.

Then flood the cookie using a No2 tip. Use your toothpick to pop any air bubbles that may occur. Use a damp paintbrush to tidy up any icing that is untidy or piped outside the lines. While the icing is still wet, randomly pipe dots using the white soft icing, to create a polka dot effect. Allow to dry for 1 hour.

Step 5 - Lace piping. Using the medium consistency white icing with a No1 tip, pipe a straight line across either side of the pink and green icing. Then pipe small dots in between the two lines across the cookie. Then pipe a series of small scallops across either side of the line. Pipe a small dot in the middle. Pipe a mini "Fleur De Lis" between every scallop and add some micro dot details.

Step 6 - Using the same icing and piping tip, pipe a small trio of dots around the edge of the heart cookie to create a gorgeous petite border. Allow to dry for 24 hours before storing.

TIPS FOR GREAT LOOKING COOKIES:

Royal Icing Mixing - Mix your icing on the lowest speed of your mixer. If you mix your icing too fast this will incorporate too many air bubbles and holes will form

in your icing when drying spoiling the look of your cookie.

Royal Icing Storage - Cover your royal icing in cling wrap to avoid it setting up a crust before you get a chance to pipe it. Royal Icing can be stored in an air tight container at room temperature for a maximum of four days. It will need to have a good mix with a spoon before use, you do not have to put it back in the mixer.

Colouring - Add only a couple of drops of Chefmaster food colour gel at a time to your icing. Adding too much at once to get a strong colour may affect the taste of your icing and possibly cause it to seper-ate. As it's a concentrated food colour gel you do not need a lot. Allow the colour to develop over a few hours if you want a stronger colour, it will get darker over time. If you are after a pastel col-our add the colouring to your icing with the very tip of a toothpick.

Consistency - 20 second icing is like thick honey. Drag a butter knife through your icing and count to 20. When the surface of your icing becomes smooth at the count of 15 or just over your ready to pipe. Add a few drops of water if it's still too thick, or if it's too thin add a little pure icing sugar to thicken it up.

Posture - If your hands are a little shaky, rest your elbow on your work surface to and use your spare hand to guide your piping hand to help steady your piping.

Practice - Do 5 minutes of piping practice before you start your project, it helps to get your hands into the flow of piping.

Piping Bags - Seal the end of your piping bag with a rubber band so your icing doesn't leak and make a mess everywhere. It also decreases the pressure on your hand while piping your icing.

Piping - Rest your piping tips under a damp towel while not being used. This prevents them from drying out and clogging.

Clean Your Piping Tips - Always ensure your tip is clean when beginning to pipe, this helps keep your piping looking neat.