"My In-Laws are Moving to Florida" Cupcakes

In just a few more days, my beloved in-laws are beginning their next journey -- retirement -- in Florida. I know most people would celebrate their in-laws moving, but I actually like mine. I'm thrilled for them, but also sad. They're amazing people and wonderful role models for me, my husband, and our daughter, and dang it, I'm used to having them so close. Who are we going to play Cards Against Humanity with now? And okay, yes, I may also be a little jealous that they're going to be leaving the tundra of Minnesota for the beach.

With the big move coming soon, I wanted to make them some celebratory cupcakes and make them smile. I hope these beach-themed cupcakes do just that.

These were easy cupcakes to make -- just vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream tinted with Sky Blue AmeriColor gel. The tricker part was getting the frosting swirls to resemble ocean waves and graham cracker crumbs to mimic a sandy beach.

Strawberry fruit strips, miniature Teddy Grahams, and umbrella picks complete the "Hey, look at me, just laying on this beach without a care in the world" feeling.

And no baking experience is complete without my daughter further honing her skills. Here she is, practicing those frosting swirls while wearing a cape, beret, and an adorable facial expression.

Happy retirement, Kris and Ed! I can't wait to start getting all of those #retiredman tweets. I'll be dropping off the cupcakes soon...

Recipes used: VANILLA CAKE (coming soon) and FAVORITE VANILLA BUTTERCREAM

Dark Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I tried making chocolate sugar cookies for the first time several years ago, just to have something to change up the traditional sugar cookies I make for decorating. They tasted great right out of the oven -- like little brownies -- but they hardened quickly and didn't taste very chocolatey.

I've tested a few other recipes since then and had similar results. If they tasted great, they spread while baking. If they didn't spread, they didn't taste that great. And then I found this recipe. And I made many, many cookies, as evidenced by the small collection below.

I wanted to try a non-traditional color palette for these cookies -- something that would really pop against the deep chocolate color of the cookies (another major plus of this recipe). I decorated the cookies above using my FAVORITE ROYAL ICING recipe and four AmeriColor Soft Gel Paste colors -- Bright White, Royal Blue, Sky Blue, and (a very soft) Teal. I love the accent of the dark blue against the other shades -- it's almost like a Delft blue -- very rich and unexpected for holiday cookies. To get the fine detail, I used an Ateco #2 tip for the flooding and a #1.5 for the lines and dots.

There were so fun to make -- they are a deep chocolate flavor that holds it's shape while baking (see the snowflakes? You can't get much better than that) and makes for a striking backdrop for lighter shades of icing.

You can find the detailed recipe here: DARK CHOCOLATE SUGAR COOKIES

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies

I was going through Pinterest, like I do, when I saw these cookies from Baking a Moment. I immediately thought, "Wow, these are some of the prettiest cookies I've ever seen," followed quickly by "I need to try these".

I used another chocolate sugar cookie recipe because I'd already started making it when I saw these cookies; I just separated a bit of the dough and added Allie's recommended one (1) teaspoon of peppermint extract.

Decorating these cookies was really fun. I don't know how Allie kept hers so uniform, but even though mine alternated a bit in terms of number of lines, I don't think anyone other than me noticed.

There's something to be said for sticking to a simple color palette and common pattern. I love marbling as it is, but I've always focused on trying different pattern combinations. For these cookies, I followed Allie's lead and only changed the color of the dotted cookie borders (equal numbers red, pink, and white).

You can find the recipe here: CHOCOLATE PEPPERMINT COOKIES

Gilded Gingerbread Reindeer Cookies

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.

Close-up of the golden antlers and pink Sixlet noses — **Close-up of the golden antlers and pink Sixlet noses**

Still learning how to work with luster dust...

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.

Hand-drawn eyelashes make these cookies even more elegant

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

Winter Sugar Cookies

Anyone who knows me knows that I love making holiday cookies more than just about anything in the world. I think it's because these were some of the first cookies I made and it's fun to see how I've progressed over the years. Also, it's Minnesota and it's cold out and somehow decorating mittens, hats, and snowflakes feels so perfect on a wintery day.

Here are some of my favorites from the 2014 holiday season:

For the cookie recipe, see FAVORITE SUGAR COOKIES.