Friday 13 June 2014

A Tale of Woe and Some New Winter Cookies

Decorated cookie of Elsa from Frozen's crown, photo by Honeycat Cookies

So I'm sitting here at 1am eating raw cookie dough.


I decided, very sensibly, to use the pyrolitic cleaning function of my oven overnight, and turn it on just before I went to bed so that it's not out of use during the day. I took the racks out and started fiddling with the dials, but couldn't work out how to get the cleaning cycle on.

But then I couldn't find the manual in the drawer where I keep all the instructions and always return them without fail. I have no idea how that happened. I tried to download the manual but to do that I had to find the model number, which my oven does not have, anywhere.

So to find the model number I had to find the manufacturer's 'plate', which meant downloading their diagram of how to find the number plate. As it turns out, my oven does have a plate, it's on the one edge of the door I didn't look at while I was lying on the floor wondering if I really should just go to bed.


Decorated cookies of Kristoff and Sven from Frozen, photo by Honeycat Cookies















So I had the number, I downloaded the manual, and I got the oven turned on (turns out I'd been trying to roast a ham), and then as the kitchen filled with smoke I remembered that it always smokes when it cleans and that will set the smoke alarms off and everyone else is in bed asleep.

I then tried to open the kitchen windows (they're big and high and I have to get up on a footstool to do this) but they've jammed shut because of all the rain we've had lately. So I had to open the backdoor, and then of course realised I can't go to bed because someone will come in and steal my cookie cutters, and there's no point stopping it now it's started smoking. 


Stylised icicle cookies for Frozen themed cookies set, by Honeycat Cookies

So after an hour I'm eating raw cookie dough because I'm peckish, listening to the burglars creeping up the stairs which turn out to be the cats messing about every time which becomes somehow disappointing, and wanting to go to sleep.

AND I scraped off a cookie for the very first time today, I tried to do a spider web like on these spider cookies I made last autumn, but it turns out I don't know how to do that anymore. Then I thought I'd see if I'd like it anymore when it was dry but that makes it much more difficult to scrape off, and makes no difference to how much I like it. I had to use a sharp knife to scrape and chip away at it, and then the microplane to file down the last corners remaining. I could perhaps have just cut and baked a new cookie, but then I wouldn't have had enough left for a 1am snack.

Anyway, I haven't forgotten I've promised you a cookie recipe (you can find my vanilla bean sugar cookie recipe here), but I also wanted to let you know two videos are now in the works, on Elsa and Anna, with a couple of new tricks for creating faces, so make sure you subscribe and don't miss out!

[Update: View the Elsa video here, and the Anna video here and read my post on a new way to create noses here!]

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff and Sven from Frozen, decorated cookies by Honeycat Cookies

14 comments:

  1. That tale would be more woeful if I wasn't super busy having a laugh...

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  2. Omg Lucy you had me in stitches!

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  3. I am amazed that was the first time you ever scraped a cookie - I cannot count the number of cookies I have scraped in the past two years :) Your frozen cookies are beautiful and I hope you now have a nice, clean oven!

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    1. Thank you :-) I've fudged designs from time to time - gone over things, added extra details. Little hearts and flowers covering craters, that kind of thing. And I've often had an extra cookie or two 'just in case'. Plus I didn't actually know it could be done! And yes, the oven is now very clean :-)

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  4. Yep, BIG cookie scraper here too! Saved my butt on more than one occasion!

    I can't WAIT for your latest videos..I struggle so much with faces that I rarely, if ever, do character cookies. I am just all thumbs when it comes to those small details! Love your blog and this post had me cracking up!

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    1. I'm finding they get easier as I do them more (obviously) but part of it is that I actually enjoyed the film and like the faces of these characters. There's a lot I wouldn't enjoy at all!

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  5. They are beautiful! Your experience gave me a chuckle. What a long night for you!

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    1. Thank you :-) Saturday morning lie in made it all right again!

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  6. Thanks for making me laugh this morning, Lucy! I'm new to following your blog (although not your cookies...I've been a stalker of yours for quite some time!). :)

    Do you mind if I ask a question about your use of the caster sugar on the edges of these cookies? Did you also airbrush over them? And did you add the sugar after you'd flooded the entire base or did you go back and just add a bit of RI to those edges and then top with the sugar? It's such a beautiful effect and one of my new favorites!! Thank you so much for any insight you're willing to provide!

    Christine - Sugar Cravings :)

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    1. Welcome to the blog!
      What I did was flood the cookie, immediately spray it with pearl lustre from a can* (I don't have an airbrush), which works really well as it dries into the surface and won't rub off. Then before it had crusted, I sprinkled granulated (not caster, which is too fine) sugar across the side.
      Then as an afterthought, once it was all dry, I wanted to emphasise the silvery lustrous effect and brushed dry silver dust onto that area, and found the sugary bit picked it up very well.
      *(I use Dr Oetker cans of spray, and find the 'silver' actually gives a pearl sheen).
      Hope this helps! :-)

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    2. Oh Lucy that's genius!! I use my airbrush all the time but never thought of spraying while it's still wet. I'm definitely going to try that. Thank you so much for the insight into that beautiful sugar effect!!!! Have a wonderful day!

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