Good Things by David

Cookies in the shapes of cupcakes for St. Patrick's Day are now yours.  All you need is a cupcake-shaped cookie cutter, baked & cooled cookies, and some tinted royal icing.  If you happen to have green nonpareils or some shamrock candies to attach to the cookies, even better.  As you probably already know, I like to keep cookie designs simple because it makes my job of creating dozens upon dozens much easier. Set in jadeite glass boxes, an array of cookies can be displayed for your family's St. Patrick's Day dinner. St. Patrick's Day Cupcake Cookies The colors of the Irish flag became the inspiration for the cupcakes pictured above.   Royal Icing Technique On a baked cookie, outline and flood the white "cupcake liner" using white royal icing and a #4 piping tip as shown.  Using orange royal icing and a #3 piping tip, outline and flood the swirled section of frosting as shown.  Outline and flood the section of leaf-green royal icing as shown using a #3 p...

If you're looking for some Christmas cookies that are very much of the holiday, but are also holiday neutral images, look no further.  Wreaths, snowflakes and snowmen can be made for any winter occasion.  They can be given as gifts to friends, family and neighbors no matter their religion, and they can be shipped anywhere in the country or across the pond if they're made thick enough and packed well.  Holiday Sugar Cookies Can you believe that I don't actually own a wreath cookie cutter?  How utterly embarrassing, I know.  This, by no means, should prevent one from cutting out beautiful wreaths as long as there are fluted rounds and/or plain round cookie cutters on hand.  These are a must for any baker of any baking skill level.  The snowflakes and snowmen cookies do require you to have cutters in those shapes, but they can be found just about anywhere baking supplies are sold.  Online is best these days! Christmas Wreath and Snowflake Sugar Cooki...

  It's Thanksgiving, a day to be thankful for what we have. I have my health, as does my husband. Our baby cat is healthy and happy. The house is warm and our plates are never empty. Mom, dad, my brothers, sisters-in-law, my niece and nephews are all healthy (they're  celebrating the holidays responsibly). Every day I am thankful for this. My family are never taken for granted.  Peace and love to you and your cherished ones. Happy Thanksgiving,  David

The easiest, quickest way to ice sugar cookies for St. Patrick's Day is to make them in shapes of four leaf clovers.  By keeping the designs simple, and by using only two shades of green, you're St. Paddy's day cookies can be made in no time at all.  As much as I would like to dedicate several days to make very intricate designs on my cookies, I always end up keeping them pretty straightforward. Let's jump right into the designs I made for the people of my town. Start by cutting out some cookie dough with a large 4-5" four-leaf clover cutter (you can use smaller cutters if you feel like it) and baking them until they are done. Make a double batch of my perfect royal icing and have gel food coloring in 'Kelly Green' and 'Leaf Green' at the ready.   Once the cookies have cooled completely, tint the royal icing in two shades of green and get it to the right flowing consistency for piping.  Whether you use squeeze bottles or pastry bags...

For those who are celebrating Hanukkah, the eight day holiday is a great time to eat traditional sweets of all kinds, but I personally think it's even better if you get to share a few of them with those who are dear to you.  This year, if you have a moment, bake and ice sugar cookies in the classic shapes of Hanukkah that we all know and love. Two dear friends of mine recently asked me if I would make special Hanukkah cookies for their family and friends.   I immediately set to work on assembling my tasty sugar cookie dough as a base, and several batches of that good royal icing recipe I created many years ago. Hanukkah cookie cutters were then taken out, and I began one of my favorite tasks of all time.  Baking! During the Festival of Lights, one candle on a menorah is lit for every night of the observance of this holiday.  Eight nights and eight days require a menorah with eight candles, plus an additional candle (in the middle of the candelabra) used fo...

Irish soda bread is essentially a very large scone, one that isn't sweet, but yet is tender, delicious and perfect with a cup of tea.  American-style soda bread adds a little bit more sugar, some caraway seeds and a good amount of plump, juicy raisins.  It was such a bread that I was looking forward to baking this weekend for St. Patrick's Day. After asking several people for their favorite versions of soda bread, I settled on the recipe by Cook's Illustrated, which can be found in their Baking Illustrated book.  Their recipe uses buttermilk, and I have to say that it makes all of the difference.  The bread is tender, the crumb is light.   This is the Baking Illustrated recipe!  Please note that I doubled the recipe in these photos, because I wanted to bake 2 breads.   3 cups lower-protein unbleached all-purpose flour 1 cup plain cake flour 1/4 cup sugar 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1-1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar 1-1/2 tea...

It's a very charming and special thing to have homemade ornaments strung throughout one's Christmas tree.  Whether they're crafted by the kids at school or are made by a very creative member of the family, handmade Christmas ornaments become keepsakes that eventually turn into family heirlooms.  A lot of us have such mementos in our homes. Homemade Christmas ornaments, however, can be of the edible variety. These types of ornaments are really meant to be enjoyed for a present-day Christmas season.  They're great if one is hosting a holiday party, as each guest can pluck whatever he or she wants.  A set of homemade candies, chocolates, and cookies, can make any Christmas tree extra special for the season.  It's a nice way to have something that's both sweet and decorative for a holiday party. For weeks I had been thinking about the types of royal icing cookies that I would make for a small, tabletop feather tree of mine.  I knew the shapes would be ...

'Tis the season to partake of fruitcake.  Fruitcakes have been around for millennia, and they have developed throughout the centuries based on what was available and what was allowed by religion.  Countries around the world are known for their own distinct versions of this holiday sweet.  Panforte in Italy, Birnebrot in Switzerland, Stollen in Germany, Le Cake in France, Bollo de Higo in Spain, Christmas Cake in Canada, Black Cakes from the Caribbean, and our very own American Fruitcake which is rich in nuts, candied fruits, brandy or other liqueurs. My very first memories of fruitcake were from the time I was around five years old.  My father's cousin, Rachel, and her son would bring us homemade fruitcake several weeks before Christmas, and although us kids never ate any, mom and dad loved having it.  I can still see my cousin Peter walking up our driveway holding that small loaf of baked-from-scratch fruitcake.  The thing that seemed odd to me, tho...