Random Cookie Challenge: Summer Wedding

What do fingerprints, snowflakes, and cookiers have in common? Well, no two of each is the same, of course. Just like snowflakes and fingerprints, each cookier’s style is completely unique. We thought it would be fun to give our two resident cookiers an occasion and a general theme and give them free reign to each make a set of three cookies and see what they came up with. Our theme ended up being “summer wedding,” so Hillary and Sarah each went to the drawing board (Hillary figuratively, Sarah literally) to design a cookie set to fit the occasion. Here’s how our experiment turned out:

Supplies Used:

Flour Box Double Heart Cookie Cutter 4 5/8"

Rhode Island Plaque - Cookie Cutter

Love Script Cookie Cutter

Scales Pattern Stencil

Seashells Stencil

Wedding Dress Maker - 3 Piece Stencil

Hybrid Sparkle Pump - Super Pearl

Edible Art Decorative Paint - Metallic Glamorous Gold 15ml

Food Safe Brushes Set of 6 

Hillary

Hillary’s mind, as always, went straight to the beach. She designed an ocean-based set that relied on a hand-painted watercolor technique as the background. Although she is the queen of airbrushing, she decided that hand-painting would better give her the ocean-y look she was going for. She also scraped a seashells design across part of a naked cookie, highlighting the max effect you can make in a very simple way. Our hand-piped Love Script cutter fit right into her designs with a perfect sentiment for any wedding, and she finished off her designs with some hand painted Sweet Sticks gold (the water-activated paint palettes are the BEST) to tie the whole set together. Hillary’s cookie set just screams “beach wedding” in the best way possible.

Supplies Used:

Parchment Texture Sheets - Wood Planks

Deep V Heart Cookie Cutter

Water Activated Food Paint - Metallics

Countess Greatest Hits Cookie Cutters, 4 Piece Set

2 Piece Diamond Rings Stencil

Ateco 4 Piece Leaf Tube Set

Cookie Countess Gel Food Color 2oz - Sunshine Yellow

Sarah

Sarah’s mind, on the other hand, went immediately to sunflowers and colors inspired by late summer. She created a wood-plank design by using Intricut Edibles embossed parchment, which became the perfect backdrop for a sunflower and wedding date combination. A simple gold-splattered heart cookie features “we do” piped on with sunflowers placed in a charming way, and the Cookie Countess Mr & Mrs cutter finished the set, with a lovely airbrushed background of diamond rings and a sunflower icing transfer to tie the set together.

Both of these sets came out beautifully, but they couldn’t be more different! Hillary hates making icing colors, so she kept it minimalist, only having to make white and a sandy tan for her beachy set. Sarah also hates mixing icing colors, but she did have to make several deep summer colors for her more rustic designs. Hillary loves featuring stencils in an unexpected way, and Sarah gravitates towards florals. Both cookiers did grab for the edible glitter and edible gold paint, but even so, it didn’t build any similarity between the sets.

We had a lot of fun with this experiment, and it was so interesting to see how two people given the same basic idea can come up with such different results. It just goes to show that every cookier is unique and wonderful in their own way. Find what works for you and your cookie style and embrace it!