Cookie Cornucopia

Photo provided courtesy of © 2008 Wilton Industries, Inc.

Want to make this cornucopia of cookies?

All you need are the correct shape of cutters, some royal icing, paste color, some decorating tips, disposable decorating bags, and of course your time and creative talent.

• Apple cookie - using a disposable decorating bag, outline the cookie with stiff royal icing tinted red. Fill in the apple with colored and thinned royal icing. (To thin, add warm water a teaspoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached.) Repeat this same procedure with green tinted royal icing for the apple stem. See how easy it is to make spectacular and colorful cookies.
• Acorn cookie - do same procedure as you did for apple using brown tinted royal icing. With stiff consistency buttercreme or royal icing and a star tip, decorate the top of the acorn.
• Pumpkin cookie - Use orange-tinted royal icing and a #12 tip, pipe lines on the pumpkin. Complete pumpkin stem with same procedure used in making apple stem.
• Grapes - using a leaf-shaped cookie, outline grape leaves on stem end of the cookie with stiff green-tinted royal icing; fill in with thinned royal icing. Using dark blue or purple tinted royal icing and wide plain tip, pipe ball "grapes" over remaining cookie.
• Leaves - Tint royal icing to color wanted for leaves such as orange, gold, yellow or red. Using tinted stiff royal icing and small round tip, outline leaves. Fill in with thinned royal icing. Use a toothpick dipped in contrasting color, draw lines to show veins of leaves. Use the other end of toothpick pull color slightly away from line you just made. When dry, there will be more of a feathering effect to leaves. Allow cookies to dry overnight.

Another way to obtain vibrant colored icing on cookies is with fondant. Simply purchase ready to use fondant in the color you want or in white and you can knead in the color of your choice. Roll out fondant and use same cutter that you used for your cookie shape to cut out the shape in the fondant. Frost the cookie very lightly with thinned buttercreme icing to adhere fondant to cookie. You can do this with any cutters for other holiday seasons.