Sweetopolita posted these cookies just before Christmas and my daughter and I became obsessed with trying to make our own versions. They're so simple and classic, yet cute and whimsical. I love making Christmas cookies, but I always like to make them unique and unpredictable; these gilded gingerbread reindeer head cookies definitely fit the bill.
As you can see from the close-up above, I'm still experimenting with luster dust. I wanted the sparkle of Rosie's (from Sweetopolita), and actually achieved it on some. But, it was also my first time working with a Gold gel color and I got a little heavy-handed. The color was still gorgeous, but I think it made the luster dust harder to see just because it was such an intense color.
Decorating these cookies is pretty straight-forward. I began with the flooding the outline of the reindeer in white (using an Ateco #2 tip) and followed up with the antlers in Gold (using an Ateco #1.5 tip). After letting them sit for about two hours, I went back and added additional white icing to the reindeer's noses to hold the pink Sixlet noses in place. The next day, I drew on the eyelashes using a food marker (though this could be done with a very fine piping tip and black icing, too).
Here's a list of the materials I used:
- Royal icing: AmeriColor Gel Paste colors (Bright White and Gold)
- Luster dust (used on antlers): Wilton Luster Dust (Gold)
- Nose: Sixlets (Pink)
- Eyelashes: AmeriColor food marker (Black)
And, of course, the cookies and icing recipes: GINGERBREAD COOKIES and FAVORITE ROYAL ICING