Royal Icing For Jewel Heart Cookies Recipes

HEART COOKIES DECORATED WITH ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Cream 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer. Add white sugar and lemon zest and mix well. Mix in eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Mix in 1/2 of the flour until combined. Mix in remaining flour until dough comes together.
• Shape dough with your hands into a thick rectangle. Press flat and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Dust a work surface with flour and roll out dough into a thin circle. Cut out heart shapes and arrange cut-out cookies on the prepared baking sheets.
• Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove hearts from baking sheets carefully and transfer to wire racks. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• Beat egg whites in a bowl until frothy. Beat in confectioners' sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until stiff peaks form. Add lemon juice to thin out the mixture. Add more lemon juice for runnier icing. Divide icing into small bowls and color with red food coloring in different shades of red or pink, keeping a portion of the icing white. Cover with a damp kitchen towel at all times so it won't dry out.
• Decorate as you like using different techniques. For the flood technique, use runny royal icing in a piping bag with a small round #2 tip and pipe a line around the edge of the cookies. Fill in the center, evenly distributing the icing with a scriber tool.
• For hearts, add dots of a different color onto the wet icing and drag the scriber tool downwards through the dots. For lips, add an oval shape onto the wet icing and shape the oval into lips with the scriber tool.
• For feathers or patterns, pipe a line around the edge, then add stripes in different colors. Drag the scriber tool down through the stripes. For a marbled effect, pipe lines of different colors across a base layer, then drag the scriber tool up and down through the lines. Allow the icing to set completely.

JEWEL HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat 1 cup granulated sugar with butter until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and vanilla; mix until well combined. With mixer on low, slowly add flour mixture; mix until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto work surface and divide into quarters. Form each quarter into a 5-inch disk. Wrap each disk with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator. Let chill until firm, about 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, place lychees in the bowl of a food processor; process until very smooth. Transfer to a medium saucepan along with raspberry jam and prosecco. Cook, stirring occasionally, over medium-high heat until jam mixture has reduced and thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool. Transfer cooled jam mixture to a disposable pastry bag fitted with a medium petal decorating tip (such as a Wilton No. 104).
• Line 2 baking sheets with nonstick baking mats and set aside. Place a piece of parchment paper over the heart-shaped template and trace; cut out heart shape. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one piece of dough to 1/4-inch thick. Using a 5-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 2 heart shapes; transfer to prepared baking sheet.
• Place parchment paper template over one of the cut out hearts and, using the sides of a metal ruler or the back of a knife, score lines to divide the heart into 7 sections (see template). Using an offset spatula, gently press down on the sections of the heart cookie that are to be filled with jam (see template). Repeat process with remaining pieces of dough. Outline indented areas with jam mixture. Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly to cover area. Transfer cookies to refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Transfer cookies to oven and bake until edges are golden brown, 10 to 11 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
• Divide royal icing evenly between two bowls. Using a toothpick, add two drops pink-rose gel coloring to one bowl of icing; stir until well combined. If icing is not pink enough, add a few more drops of food coloring until you have created a light-pink color. In the remaining bowl of icing, add 3 or 4 drops of pink-rose gel food coloring using a toothpick; stir until well combined. Using a toothpick, add 1 drop of sky-blue gel food coloring; stir until well combined. Keep adding drops of blue food coloring until icing is a raspberry color. Transfer each bowl of icing to a disposable pastry bag fitted with a round tip (such as Wilton No. 3).
• Cut out pieces of parchment paper about the same size and shape as the jam-filled areas of the cookie; spray each piece with nonstick vegetable cooking spray and cover jam areas. Using the light-pink royal icing, outline the pink areas of the cookie (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Sprinkle with pink pastel sanding sugar to cover.
• Using the raspberry royal icing, outline the raspberry areas of the cookie (see template). Draw several zigzags across entire surface of the outlined area. If necessary, use a toothpick to spread evenly. Sprinkle with raspberry sanding sugar to cover. Peel parchment off jam-filled areas and let cookies dry completely.

SUGAR COOKIES WITH ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt onto a piece of parchment paper or into a medium bowl; set aside. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in the flour mixture in 2 batches until just incorporated. Divide between 2 pieces of plastic wrap; shape into disks. Wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour. (The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.)
• Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Working with 1 disk at a time, roll out the dough on a floured surface, dusting with flour as needed, until about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out shapes with 2-to-4-inch cookie cutters; arrange 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. (If the dough becomes too soft as you work, return to the refrigerator until firm.) Gather the scraps and refrigerate until firm; reroll once to cut out more cookies. Chill the cutouts 30 minutes.
• Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Bake, switching the pans halfway through, until the cookies are slightly puffed and just golden, 13 to 15 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely before icing.
• Whisk one 1-pound box confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons meringue powder in a large bowl. Add 5 tablespoons water and beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until soft glossy peaks form, adding up to 1 more tablespoon water if necessary. Cover the bowl with a damp paper towel and plastic wrap until ready to use to prevent the icing from drying out.

ROYAL ICING FOR JEWEL HEART COOKIES

Steps:

• Place confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and water into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on low speed for 10 minutes. Use immediately, or store in an airtight container up to 2 days (icing hardens quickly when exposed to air). Beat well with a rubber spatula before using.

PERFECT AND DELICIOUS ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Whip water and meringue powder on high speed in a large bowl using an electric mixer until fluffy and soft peaks form, 7 to 10 minutes. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, corn syrup, shortening, and vanilla extract while mixing on low speed. Increase speed back to high and beat until well-combined and smooth, about 3 minutes.