Marbled Ornament Cookies Decorating Tutorial
Decorating Instructions: Once you’ve made your icings, baked your cookies, and let them cool to room temperature, they’re ready to be decorated. Let's start with the royal icing. The consistency of icing is key for easy decorating. To check the consistency, drag the tip of a butter knife through the surface of your icing, letting the knife go approximately an inch deep, and slowly count to 10. If the surface of the icing smoothes over in approximately 10 seconds, then your icing is ready to use. If it takes longer, the icing is too thick. Slowly add more water. If your icing surface smoothes over in less than 5-10 seconds, it is too runny. Mix your icing longer or slowly add more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it. Once your icing is ready, follow these simple steps to decorate your cookies: 1. Once you have your cookies baked and icing made, it’s time to begin by piping your outline. Use a piping bag fitted with a coupler and #2 tip. 2. Let the outline dry for a few minutes to create a solid border. You’ll be able to see the border somewhat when the icing dries, so alternately you could fill or flood your cookie in right after piping the outline. 3. Once you’ve filled the whole cookie in, shake it gently left to right on your work surface, to help smooth the icing out. 4. Add your second (or more) layer or color of icing. Work as quickly as you can before the icing sets. 5. Take a toothpick and drag it through the icing. In this case, I drew S-like shapes. Follow the arrows shown in the photos as you drag your toothpick. Each combination of colors creates another look. Just by changing the way you set up your lines and drag the toothpick, completely different designs emerge. 6. Once the marbled icing has had time to set (at least 15 minutes), pipe the grey icing at the top of the ornament. Let that set and pipe a few line details.
Happy decorating!