Hey guess what? I’m still alive! I’m embarrassed by the huge lapse of time that has passed since I last wrote, and the longer it goes, the more embarrassing it is to get back to it. I was dreading this “Hey, remember me?” first post back, and then I got an email from Anne. First of all, can I just say that I love Anne? I think the first time I talked to her was maybe 3 years ago (ish?) and from the first time I talked to her, I loved her. She is such a sweet lady, and her cookies are ADORABLE!! If you haven’t seen her site yet, do yourself a favor and get on over there. We can wait for you to come back.
So anyway, back to Anne saving my blog— She sent me an email and was gracious enough to offer to share her fun new findings with my readers. I was so happy and relieved that she could take the burden of my first post back. Thank you Anne! You truly saved my sanity and my blog. I am honored to have you be my very first guest post ever. And so without further ado…. I give you Anne:
Hi, my name is Anne Yorks and I love decorating cookies. So much so, that I have a little cookie shop online called Flour Box Bakery. I do cookie stuff every day…and even if I’m not decorating, I’m still thinking about COOKIES!
But as much as I love to decorate, I hate to clean up icing bags. AND, I really don’t like mixing all those colors. It’s super time consuming. Thankfully, Karen has a solution to the messy piping bag problem. And, I think I have finally found a solution to making color mixing a little easier.
For a long time, I have used Wilton food colors. They are easily accessible and they have a nice selection of color choices. However, I have recently discovered the wonders of AmeriColor gel pastes. I think I will continue to use a few of my favorite Wilton colors, but I am starting to phase my stock to AmeriColor. Here’s why…no toothpicks! Just squeeze and voila! I don’t know that using a toothpick is so unbearable, but squeezing is just so much easier (for me). Plus, I like the quality of the AmeriColor gel pastes.
In order to take them for a test drive I made these…
A dozen flowers in TWELVE different shades of pink. For someone who does not enjoy mixing colors…this was actually a fun experiment. (By the way, I should mention these are chocolate roll-out cookies. I used the amazing and delicious recipe from Georganne of LilaLoa. It is the best. Ever!)
Here is my messy counter from mixing colors. I started with white royal icing (and it was 20-second consistency – an icing consistency I learned from Sugarbelle). I squeezed one little drop of pink food coloring into the white. I then made my first icing bag.
Then, I added a second drop of food coloring. I mixed it up and made my second shade of pink icing.
After that, I added a third drop of pink. I mixed it. I made my third bag of pink icing.
And so on until I had 12 shades of pink. Using the AmeriColor bottle made this process pain free.
The first pink was so pale it almost looked white.
But by the end…the pink was dramatic. I loved this little experiment and I was so thankful to have my AmeriColor gel paste to help me.
I should mention that I wrote this blog post on my own…without any prodding or bribing from Karen or AmeriColor. The opinions expressed here are mine and I think each cookie decorator does things a little differently. This is just my little experiment and my experience.
Happy decorating to you and I hope you’ll visit me next time on my blog at Flour Box Bakery online.
Thank you again Anne!! Your cookies are gorgeous! It makes me want to get in the kitchen and get baking. Hmmm…. I just may do that.
That’s awesome! Anne Rocks!
I love Anne’s blog – and Americolor! Nice post!
Thank you Anne. Miss you Karen…….
Oh how pretty!
What a fabulous idea and thanks for sharing…I loved it.
I do have one question that might be important…..how much frosting did you make to start the project?
I would imagine one drop in 2 cups would create a different tone compared to one drop in 1/2 cup.
Thanks for giving any consideration to answering this question.
Also, I’m assuming that it took 12 drops for the final?????
Lexy, this was one batch (one pound) of royal icing. It was approximately 12 drops in the end…plus as a took a little out to make each bag, the amount of remaining icing lessened…therefore the food coloring was being added to a lessening amount. If that makes sense. I did not add any other color except pink. I was pleasantly surprised with the results.
Very pretty! I’ve always used Wilton too, but I think I’ll try these. (I don’t like hassling with the toothpicks either!)
I’m new to the cookie decorating world and appreciate this post immensly. I did my research before beginning, however, and am pleased to say that I discovered the chocolate cookie recipe (and it IS awesome) and Sugarbelle’s icing already. For now, I’m stuck with the toothpick technique, because I have a brand new box of colors, but I will heed your advice, believe in your experimentation and the results, and when it’s time to replace my colors, I’ll go with your suggestion!! Thanks so much for this post. ~karen
These are gorgeous! I’m sooo glad to see this post today. I’m in the middle of making up some soft pink icing to decorate with tonight and I was just saying how nice it is to just squeeze the Americolor tube
My pink turned out too pale so I’m just gonna do what you did and add a couple more drops! Thank you Anne and Karen!
This is a wonderful experiment in the shades of the one color……it’s an “a-ha” moment to me that I hadn’t thought of. Thanks so much for the guesting post……and good to hear from you also, Karen!!!! You wouldn’t be a tad bit busy now, would you??????
Blessings, Donna B.
I too prefer AmeriColor gels but still maintain a stock of Wilton’s (standby). I find AmeriColor just so much easier to use and easier to mix. Great guest post Anne and welcome back Karen!!
I’m a enthusiastic novice cookie decorator and had a box full of gel paste (not Wilton) on my first try. I must have killed a whole tree with all of the toothpicks in the process. Adding a little more color and a little more and a little more made for a giant toothpick mess! My fingers were all stained and I was so frustrated that I got advice from the wonderful Cookies R Us Forum and ordered the color favorites in Americolor. I don’t ever want to use a toothpick for color again, especially when there is an easier, cleaner, faster way. Anne, your cookie color experiment was mind boggling! Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a color chart based on your research??? I guess it would be more like a color book! Like what one drop in a cup of icing looks like on a cookie, then 2, 3, to 12 just like you did. What a great reference book that would be.
Anne — These cookies are BEAUTIFUL!! I completely agree about Americolor AND about keeping my favorite Wilton. Like burgundy… I was so mad when I bought it and it turned out to be magenta, but now I use it all the time!
PS — Thanks for the sweet recipe mention!
You both are amazing and talented ladies and I love you both!! Thanks Anne for sharing the 12 shades of pink! I am going to try this soon:) Thanks for sharing!
great info! I have fallen in love with these gels, love not having to find a toothpick every time. And the leaking wilton jars, oh and the first time I used these gels I squeezed a little too hard, so soft squeeze a little goes a long way.
These are such beautiful cookies – I love every shade of pink! Thanks for sharing!
such a great post anne!!! i absolutely love all the shades of pink…they are soo pretty:) and i couldnt agree more with how easy americolor gels are. i used to use toothpicks with the wilton gels too and it was always such a mess:)
Tá mais não é só isso ta muito pouco !
Hi there… Can I ask how you made the white icing under your beautiful designs? It looks glossy and yummy!!!
Raechel,
I use royal icing (meringue powder, vanilla, water, and powdered sugar). Once the cookie is filled in I set it in front of a fan (or use a heat gun if I’m in a rush for the first layer to dry). That ‘quick dry’ is what gives the icing the glossy look.