Baby Love!

 I "LOVE" doing baby cookies!

So when I got the request for these baby shower cookies, I jumped at it!

 I love it when a customer give me "free reign" over the order and there are no "specific" guidelines.  With this order, my instructions were, "just a general baby theme in pastels".

Yay!  I get to play!

 I love doing specific themes too, don't get me wrong...but when given the chance to just "get creative" on my own...it's really fun!

I decided to just dig out all of my baby cookie cutters and "have at it"!

I did some pink and blue baby bottles first.

 Second, I moved on to the rubber duckies.

I LOVE baby duckies!

I added a little flower to their wings just to "jazz things up" a bit.

 The baby carriages were fun.

They were a little tricky though.

I had never attempted this cookie design before.

But I think they turned out ok.

Once again, I added a little flower to the side of the carriage, as I did with the duckies.

 Onesies!

I love doing onesies for baby occasions!

They're so cute!

 Next came the baby footprints.

These are the cookies I felt least inspired on.

I just wasn't sure how to get creative with them.

I ended up adding a little flower on the top right to match the duckies and carriages.

Funny thing was, I got more compliments on these than any other baby cookie!  Ha!

So much for my lack of inspiration, LOL!

Halfway through this order, I was thinking it would be nice to include a special cookie for the guest of honor...the mom-to-be!

I decided to do a silhouette of an expectant mommy!

It really wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be and I was pretty happy with how it turned out for a first attempt.

My icing was a little thicker than it should have been, hence the bumpiness in the silhouette.

But hey, live and learn, right? ;)

I am excited to give these to my client for the shower!

I hope the guests enjoy eating them as much as I enjoyed making them!

Luck 'O The Irish To Ya!

 Although St. Patty's Day doesn't bring in many orders, I still like to bake for ALL of the holidays!

 I had a little extra dough from another project, and so I baked  up some minis.

I didn't go all out decorating them.

Since these were just for my family, I went with a simple dusting of sanding sugar.

It probably seems crazy, even though I LOVE to decorate cookies...my whole family (me included) actually prefer them plain, with no icing...and just a dusting of sugar.

Although not as "fancy"...there is nothing like the taste of a simple sugar covered sugar cookie!

YUMMY!

My oldest son nearly took down the whole platter in one sitting while doing his homework!

We hope you had a very Happy St. Patty's Day!

 

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

 March is Dr. Seuss' birth month!

So in celebration, I decided to join the ranks of my other baking friends, and create some Dr. Seuss inspired cookies.

Please be kind and remember, I am an amateur baker...haha!

"Thing 1 and Thing 2" were a lot of fun to create!

 And we can't neglect "The Cat In The Hat"!

 "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish"...

 Normally I "flood" the entire cookie with icing before piping the design.

But with these, I left them "naked" (bare cookie) and just piped the design right on without flooding.

 The icing surface isn't the smoothest...I purposely left it a little thicker so it would be easier to work with.  When piping intricate designs, a thicker icing is easier to control.

 I think they turned out half decent for a first attempt at Dr. Seuss!

They were a perfect addition to our Dr. Seuss unit in my daycare & preschool.

My kiddos really enjoyed them!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Sweet & Salty...

 I started my "confection journey" by chance.

I had always wanted to take cake decorating classes.

So I signed up for the Wilton Basics at our local craft store.

I started making a few cakes...practicing, reading blogs, checking out baking Facebook pages...

And then...

 I discovered the art of decorated cookies!

And so I started practicing and fell in love with the art of cookie decorating.

When I decided to "name myself"...

I thought, "Do I incorporate the word cake or cookie?"
I didn't want to be "locked in" to any one type of dessert, treat, or confection!

So...I came up with "Sweet Ivy Confections".

I figured by calling it "confections"...I was free to do cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, cake truffles, cookies, cookie pops, candy, or ANY OTHER treat or dessert I wanted!  Ha!

Today's post is not only a "sweet treat"...but also salty!

My youngest son was complaining  wanting a sweet bedtime snack and yet nothing sounded good to him.  You know how that goes...when there's NOTHING in the house to eat...

Me: "How about Oreos?"

Him: No.

Me: "How about some sherbert?"

Him: No.

...and so on...

So...I found that I had some extra chocolate in the frig from my last cake pop order, so I dipped these pretzel braids halfway into the chocolate and gave them some springtime sprinkles.

Voila.

The kid was happy.

Ha!

#Pure Michigan...More State Cookie Love!

So, what's the best way for an amateur cookie decorator to get in some more practice?

Keep extra cookies and icing on hand, at ALL times!

Every time I make cookies for a special occasion or an order that comes in, I always take the extra dough and cut out a variety of shapes that I find interesting, fun, or for an upcoming season or holiday...

...then I freeze them!

Yes, you CAN freeze your baked cookies!

I always have royal icing or glaze leftover as well.

So, when I don't have any special occasions or orders to fill, and I get the urge to decorate...

I can just pull my pre-baked cookies out of the freezer and practice away!

I had cut out some of my state (Michigan) cookies last time I baked.

So I thought it would be fun to play around with them.

I did our state's "Pure Michigan" campaign and added the commercial phrase:
"Your trip begins at michigan.org".

And then for fun, I just added "Da Yoopers" to our Upper Peninsula.

They're not perfect, as my icing was a little thin and I struggled a bit with it being runny.

But alas, they were fun.

Have you ever made your state's cookie?

Leave me a comment and tell me where you're from and if you have state cookies, I'd love to see them.

Follow me on Facebook, and post a picture of your creation on my page!

My Facebook link is in the sidebar!

I can't wait to see!

Do You Know Loren? (The Baking Sheet)...Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies

Do you like the taste of salted caramel?

Do you know Loren of The Baking Sheet?

Well, if not...you are about to become acquainted with her!

She has shared the most AMAZING salted caramel cookie recipe with us!

And lucky for you...I'm going to point you in the right direction of it!

I made these today...and granted, mine are not as pretty as Loren's...

But they TASTE fabulous!

You have GOT to try these!

They are a nice thick butter cookie, topped with this lovely pool of homemade caramel, and the sea salt on top makes for the perfect blend of sweet and salty!

And the best part of all...they are super easy to make!

Now before you make these, go check out Loren's baking page "The Baking Sheet" on Facebook.  She also has a blog.  She does beautiful work!  She is one of my baking idols.
So go check her out and follow her page.
And then...go try this recipe.
You will NOT be disappointed! 
You can find the recipe here. 
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Be sure to thank Loren for sharing it!
Happy baking!

Valentine Cookies...And An "AHA" Moment

Ever since I first started dabbling in cookie decorating a couple years ago, royal icing has mystified me.  I look at my "cookie idols" work, and wonder what it is that they do to make their royal icing so perfect.

I get bubbles, air pockets, cracks...too thick, too thin, too fluffy.

And then just when I think I have it down, I'll flood my cookies and wake up the next day to check the drying process, and they are all funky looking!

I've been told over-mixing, humidity, all kinds of things can contribute to bad royal icing experiences.

Another thing that has always troubled me about royal icing, is the taste.

I have tried many recipes, and I've never found one I truly loved.

I've experimented with a variety of flavor extracts as well...vanilla, almond, butter, etc.

But I've never found a really YUMMY royal icing.

I decided it was time to make a change.

Inspired by the lovely Pam over at Cookie Crazy , I decided I would take a leap of faith and try glaze.  If you are not a cookie decorator, you must know, that most cookiers either decorate with glaze OR royal icing, not both.  Most cookiers are LOYAL to an extreme of one or the other.  If their medium is royal icing, they stick with it...if their medium is glaze, they stick with it.  Decorating with the other is foreign ground!

There are a FEW, and ONLY a few, who do both.

Well, I made up a batch of glaze and flooded some cookies.  My husband tasted the glazed cookies and declared them to be SUPERIOR to royal icing.  Well, after I flooded those first glazed cookies, I attempted some detail work (piping some writing and designs).  Let me tell you, this was NOT a success.  For me, glaze is VERY difficult to pipe with for intricate details.

So, I got to thinking.  I loved the taste of glaze.  I loved how it wasn't as "crunchy" as royal icing.  I loved the shine and sheen of glaze.  But I could NOT pipe intricate details with it.  It just wasn't happening for me.

So, I thought, why not use both!

Glaze AND royal icing!

By flooding the cookies with glaze, we'd get the yummy taste and softer texture.

By using royal icing for the detail work, like lettering and small designs, I could get the "control" I needed with a stiff batch of it.

And so, that is what I now do.

I flood with glaze...thus giving me the great taste, softer texture, shine, and sheen.

And most of all glaze gives me the SAME CONSISTENCY EVERY SINGLE TIME!

I don't have to wonder, will there be air bubbles, will it crack...

And then I do my intricate details with royal icing!

By using royal icing JUST for intricate details I only have to make one consistency.

I always use the original stiff icing, and it gives me great control when piping letters, flowers, and any other small detail work.

Since I started doing this, I have been a much happier cookier!

No more worries about flooded royal icing cookies.

Glaze brings a smooth, sheen every single time!

And with piping my detail work in royal icing, I know I'll have the control I need with my pastry bag.

I hope you enjoy these Valentine cookies.

I did these with this method.

Flooded with glaze and piped the details with royal.

I am enjoying combining the two means of icing on all of my cookies now!

It has made me a lot less stressed out!

Haha!

I hope you have a very Happy Valentine's Day!
xoxoxo
Melody