Amanda’s Relay for Life Shortbread Cookies
by admin on May 10, 2011
Amanda loves fashion, comic books (Batman is her favourite), London (she lived there for a brief period) Martha Stewart (loves, loves, loves her!) and hunting for vintage/retro designs in clothing, jewelery and decor. Her passion however is baking and decorating and back in July of 2009, this former Design student quit her job and began selling her cookies, cupcakes and cakes full time. Her blog
Cupcakes and Corsets combines an eclectic mix of her baking delectables with her finds and favorites in both food and fashions. Almost from the early beginnings of her blog, Amanda has held giveaways from
baked goods to the latest in
what to wear while baking. She regularly features her latest finds in
creative designers and much to her own surprise and delight in July of 2009, her own Chocolate Cherry Truffles were featured on the
Front Page of Etsy and in August of 2010 her
Puffle Cupcakes were featured on Cupcakes Take the Cake. Amongst the much in demand
baked goods on her site readers will find Amanda’s latest fashion likes on her
What to Wear Wednesday feature but don’t stop there! Browsing through her busy
Etsy shop and her
Flickr page makes for a lovely way to spend some time and gain some inspiration for bakers and anyone who appreciates attention to detail when it comes to decorating cookies, cupcakes and cakes. When her rented baking space was sold, Amanda found another place to keep her business operating and while she one day hopes to attend Culinary School she is currently looking for a position in a bakery where she can further hone her decorating skills. Amanda’s clients overwhelming state the pleasure they experienced when dealing with her, they love that she takes care to include *that little extra something* to make their order just that much more special and her meticulous packaging ensures that their baked treasures large or small, arrive safe and sound, ready to be enjoyed. I’m delighted that Amanda has arrived here today, to share her story and recipe with us. You can follow her on Twitter @thefancylady
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Hello Kittens ! I’m so excited to bring you this tutorial it is also my first tutorial ever lol. I think this site is fantastic and these cookies today I’m making were donated to a relay for life event to auction off as a gift basket. I’ve only know one person close to me who has had cancer , she is one of my good friends since the 6th grade. It happened last year she was only 24 at the time so when my other friend told me about this I was shocked and scared. She had thyroid cancer and she immediately informed me she was already scheduled for surgery to remove her thyroid and that she didn’t want anyone to be sad and for everyone to stay positive . She stayed positive the whole time she had the surgery and them chemo after and I’m happy to say there is no more sign of cancer. It just goes to show no matter how old you are you should never think something like that can’t happen to you and you should go to the doctor when you think you may have a problem.
Onto a lighter note its cookie time! Today were making relay for life ribbon shortbread cookies!
Shortbread Cookie Recipe
2 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 tablespoon of Vanilla bean paste
This vanilla bean paste is my favorite and a must have for bakers its a cheaper yet still gourmet way of adding vanilla bean to your baked goods I use it in cupcakes frosting and cookies its so yummy!
Let your butter sit and get a little soft you don’t want it to soft just enough to mix. Beat butter till blended then add sugar and mix well. Mix in vanilla paste, then add flour in 3 parts . If your dough feels to soft you can stick it in the fridge for a few or the freezer for less time.
Pre heat your oven to 375 degrees
Then roll out your dough you can roll it out to whatever thickness you like and use your ribbon cookie cutter to cut out your cookies. Put cookies on the pan and then I like to pop them in the freezer for 15 min this helps to keep your cookies from spreading. Bake cookies for 10-15 depending on your oven mine takes longer 15 min till a light brown color.
Let cool for a few hours before frosting
Mix your royal icing I use the
wilton recipe for this sorry I don’t have pictures of the frosting .
Color your icing using violet just a little bit to get that lavender colors, then outline the cookies using a stiff consistency not flood . I let them dry for a half hour to an hour before filling them .
Take your lavender icing and make it a flood
consistency i use corn syrup instead of water I like the way it comes out that way but everyone has their own way they like . Then make another flood
consistency in a darker violet color.
Flood your cookies and
immediately add your violet polka dots while still wet. I used a 2 inch tip but you can use a 3 inch if you want them bigger . Let your cookies dry overnight.
The next day use a medium consistency icing not to hard not to soft outline your cookie in the darker violet color then dust a purple sanding sugar over your outline. I like to let them dry overnight before putting them in bags.
This was the finished platter below all ready to be bagged up.
I wish I had better photos for you it was a rainy day when I did the tutorial photos and I don’t have a light box. If you have any questions please feel free to leave them in the comments and I will answer them. I’m sure I left out some things as I’m new to the whole tutorial thing. lol
This vanilla bean paste is my favorite and a must have for bakers its a cheaper yet still gourmet way of adding vanilla bean to your baked goods I use it in cupcakes frosting and cookies its so yummy!
The next day use a medium consistency icing not to hard not to soft outline your cookie in the darker violet color then dust a purple sanding sugar over your outline. I like to let them dry overnight before putting them in bags.
This was the finished platter below all ready to be bagged up.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I love the vanilla paste…so delicious in whipped cream, meringues and ice cream! Beautiful cookies!
Those look great! I love your Cupcakes & Corsets blog – lots of eye candy!