Roses are red....how to make rolled fondant roses

Sometimes after I finish decorating a cake I have bits of fondant left over. Making rolled mini roses is the perfect way to keep it from going to waste. These are really easy to make and are a great way to save money, no more need to  buy pre-made decorations  When you're in a rush and need to spruce up a dessert, these mini roses will come in handy :)  



Just a few simple items and you're on your way. You'll need:

~ Mini Rolled Fondant Roses~

Coloured fondant

Icing sugar for dusting

Rolling pin

Step 1: 

Take a small amount, approximately a pea size amount of coloured fondant and roll into a ball.  

Step 2:

Then roll the ball into a log shape.

Step 3:

Flatten the log shape fondant with rolling pin, Don't make it too flat. You can flatten with your fingers if you don't have a rolling pin, works just as well.

Step 4:

Start rolling up flatten fondant, all the way till the end. Press the ends in lightly and that's all. The more fondant you use the bigger the rose, depends on what size you prefer.

 

So simple and so pretty.....Ta-da!!

Doesn't matter what colour you make them, they're all great. With Valentine's day right around the corner, these mini roses would be a pretty addition to any cookies and cupcakes. Made them from scratch or just spruce up some store bought ones either way your loved ones will be so impressed. What a great way to show someone how much they mean to you .

 Store the mini fondant roses in  plastic baggies or an airtight container in a cool, dry place. They last for very long time. 

I've used these mini rolled fondant roses to decorate cookies.... 

cupcakes......and

Aren't they so cute?

cake pops!! 

As you can see I use the mini roses often :)

Having rolled mini fondant ready to use anytime I need them is a good thing. They are my 'go to' decoration and I think they add a perfect touch!! 

Happy rose making :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Your never too old to play with Legos

A very special little boy named Matteo is turning 6!! Matteo's mom and my friend, Brandee is throwing him a Lego themed birthday party. I saw pictures of these adorable Lego heads and pieces on The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle  awhile back and was waiting to find a reason to make them, When Brandee asked me to make them I was more than happy too!! I had so much fun making them and I think any one would have fun eating them! 


Recently I posted a sugar cookie recipe, I used 2-1/2 batches of sugar cookie dough to make 28 Lego heads and 105 Lego pieces. I had mentioned that I had a tip for rolling out sugar cookies and today I would like to share it with you. I used cereal bags that I wash and dry after I'm done enjoying the cereal. I cut down along the side all the way to the bottom, then cut the bottom flap off and your left with a long rectangle plastic sheet that are useful for a lot of things, especially rolling out cookie dough.

Cut, clean cereal bags ready to use. They're sturdy, easy to clean and you can use them over and over.

 You never have to use extra flour, or powered sugar to roll out sugar cookies, so your cookie dough never gets tough from extra added flour and there is no fuss cleaning the counter. 

All ready to roll out cookies. 

Plastic recycled cereal bag make rolling out sugar cookie dough easy, and mess free!! And it's good for the environment :)

Ready to cut into shapes. You can roll out the dough and put into fridge to chill if desired. 

You can pick up rolled out sheets of cookie dough and easily transfer to fridge if needed.

I had to show you that you can actually pick up and carry the rolled out dough without it ripping or falling apart, not that I recommend walking around with sheets of rolled out cookie dough but I just wanted to show how durable these sheets are!! Try it out for yourself, you'll be so glad you did!!! Next time someone finishes a bag of cereal, remember, don't throw out the plastic bags. Do the environment some good and up-cycle the cereal baggies into cookie cutting helpers.

To make the Lego head's I printed the template from Knitty Bitties Blog. You can draw your own Lego head if you want but the template is perfect and time saving. When you have to cut each individual Lego head by hand use any time-saving steps you can, you'll be happy you did. The Sweet Adventure of  Sugarbelle suggested tracing the Lego heads on something sturdy and durable so you can use again. I used a yogurt lid and made 2 sets, now I have them whenever I need them. 

You'll need: Scissors, Lego head template, plastic disposable lid and permanent sharpie.

Trace Lego head printout on plastic lid using permanent sharpie:)

Cut out the  Lego head. Keep paper template for later.

Roll out the sugar cookie dough to 1/4' inch thickness. Using plastic template cut Lego head out with a sharp paring knife.

Once all the Lego heads were cut out and baked all that was left were the Lego pieces. For this step I rolled out sugar cookie dough in longer rectangle shapes. Then with a ruler I cut straight lines till I was left with a perfect rectangle. I used the ruler to mark 1' inch wide notches and 2' inch long notched. I cut 1 inch long strips and then again width wise. I had perfect 1'x2' inch lego pieces.

I made marks on both sides of dough then matched up marks and cut straight lines.

I chilled the dough 15 minutes in freezer before lifting cut Lego pieces onto the cookie sheets. I wanted to make sure the edges were straight and kept there shape, chilling the dough ensured this.  

Once all the pieces and heads were baked it was time to decorated them. I used my royal icing, you can find it here. Matteo favorite colour is orange, so I made the lego pieces, orange, green, blue, and red and Lego head were yellow. 

 ~ Lego Heads ~

~ Lego pieces ~

I started by outlining the Lego head in black royal icing.

Let the black outline dry 8 hours to overnight before filling in with yellow royal icing to stop black colour from bleeding into the yellow. Draw eyes and mouth on paper template, once yellow face icing is dry (8 hour at least), use a sharp pin to make holes to mark where you would like your icing to be.   

Make the desired colours for the Lego pieces, draw a rectangle using coloured icing and fill in centers. Let iced rectangle pieces dry 30 mintues before make the dot on top. Let cookies dry overnight.

Once your done icing and drying and icing and drying your Lego pieces the final products are adorable. 

All done : )

Aren't they so cute?

Lego pieces you can eat, yes please!

Any child would be sure to enjoy them. Not just the kids, I'm sure the adults will find the Lego heads and piece bring back fond memories of their childhood. I know that I always had a great time playing with Lego, still do. The only thing I don't enjoy about Lego is stepping on them other than that I say your never too old to play with Lego!! 

Sugar Cookie Recipe

  Today, I want to share with you the what I think is the best sugar cookie recipe ever!! I have made a lot of sugar cookies and I have tried a lot of different sugar cookie recipes and beside my mom's recipe, none compare to these. My mom's version of sugar cookie are delicious, soft, fluffy and they're not too sweet. Kind of more little a sugar cookie meets tea biscuit. Like usual she doesn't have a recipe written down but one day I will write it down and share it with you all.  For a non-sweet sugar cookies her's are the best but because they are so light and fluffy, they don't work will for decorating

My mom's sugar Cookies, so light and fluffy.
They melt in your mouth!

So what's the best sugar cookie recipe you ask?  Alton Brown, Food Network,  has the best sugar cookie recipe ever, you can find it here. I did adapt it to my own liking but for the most part it's the same and it's is the BEST!!! They're soft, delicious, buttery, easy to make, keep there shape and yes, they have baking powder in them. Like I said I have tried many sugar cookie recipes; one's with extra butter, little to no flour, no baking powder, berry sugar, icing sugar, etc....They all weren't great :(  They tasted bland, took to long, or require too many ingredient I didn't have. These are so simple to make, his recipe calls for chill time but I made some alteration and skip that part altogether. I make and bake them! 

Decorated and ready for someone special <3

~Purple Power~

  

  I actually tried a new sugar cookie recipe recently, but I wish I hadn't because I ended not being able to use them in the end. The recipe required a lot of butter, almost no baking powder, actual I think it said to leave out totally. It also require a lot of chilling time (2+hours). The recipe called for vanilla bean but I didn't have any so I just used vanilla and I'm so glad I did because they were weren't great, unfortunately I would say in my opinion, they were the worst sugar cookies I ever made!! I would have been very upset if I had used expensive vanilla bean on this recipe. They were definitely buttery but to the point of overkill, even after chilling for the required time the cookies spread and the overall taste was bad. I had a few people sample them just to make sure I wasn't biased and they agreed. Two Thumb Down!!!

  That's when I said no more testing!!! I'm sticking with what I know. And I decided that they are too good not to share with you all.  Once you try this recipe, (gently adapted from Alton Brown's Sugar Cookies) you'll be tossing out the old ones. I did!!! 
Smiley Face

~Sugar Cookie~ 

                                             

     Ingredients: 

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2-3  teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a bowl whisk flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. 


In the bowl of mixer or in a large bowl place sugar, then butter. Beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and continue beating till well combined. I scrape down  the sides to make sure all ingredients are well incorporated. Beat till light and fluffy.

Add flour mixture, set mixer on low when you first add flour, then increase speed. Beat until mixture pulls away from sides of the bowl and form cookie chunks. Don't worry about over beating, make sure ingredients are well combined. Gather the cookie dough into a ball, set aside. Chill dough 1 hour if desired.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Prepare your work surface. Sprinkle work surface with a light dusting of flour or icing sugar.(see tip here) Roll out dough to 1/4 thickness. Cut into desired shapes, place at least 1-inch apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake 7-9 minutes or until cookies are lightly brown around the edges. Rotate cookies sheet halfway through baking. 

Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes then transfer to wire rack. Eat, decorate, or store in airtight container for 1 week, in fridge for 2 week and I have kept them in freezer for up to 1 month.  
Smiley Face

 Like I mentioned earlier this recipe calls for baking powder. It makes these sugar cookies light and airy but it is important to make sure your baking powder is fresh always. You can do a simple test to see if your baking powder is still active.

Baking Powder Freshness Test:

You need: 

Baking Powder

Small dish of cold water 

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of

baking powder on the water.

It should start fizzing

right away.

It will continue fizzing till

all the baking powder

is dissolve. If your baking powder fizzes it's fresh and ready to use. 

Step by Step: Sugar Cookie Instructions:

Ingredients:

Unsalted Butter
Egg
Pure Vanilla
All-Purpose Flour
Baking Powder
Salt

Combine sugar and unsalted butter in mixer bowl.
I always add the sugar first so the butter doesn't stick to the bottom.

Beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla. Continue beating.

Beat until mixture is light and thoroughly combine. Stop and scrape down sides if needed. 













Add the flour mixture. Start mixer on low, then turn up speed.  *Important step otherwise you and your kitchen will be covered in flour dust.*

Beat until all flour is incorporated and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. The dough might seem crumbly, don't worry. 

Remove from mixer stand and gather the dough 
with your hands, lightly knead it
and bring the cookie dough into a ball.  

The best sugar cookie dough!! Ready to roll out and bake! 

Time to pull out the cookie cutter. Get the kids involved, they'll love it, and start making sugar cookies in all sizes and shapes. You can try this recipe if you want or use your favorite one. Just have a good time, that's all that counts! Happy Baking.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a sweet day. 

Smiley Face