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Made by Manu: Nautical Cookie Platter

 

Three-dimensional (3-D) cookie projects are my favorite, but they need to be broken in pieces in order to eat the cookies, and very often I hear "they are too nice to be broken" on top of the usual "they are too nice to be eaten". That's why I thought I'd make a simple, yet still dimensional summer cookie platter for you. Here, mini cookies make up a beach hut, but they are laid flat, with depth and interest created by adding other cookie layers (such as a life preserver, a "Summer" sign, and flying seagulls) around and on top of the hut. The cookies sit loose, one next to the other, just calling out to be shared with a friend over tea or coffee while chatting and looking at the sea!

What you'll need for this project:
  • Cookie dough of your choice
  • Small (4 cm/1 1/2 in) round cookie cutter
  • Standard size pastry tip
  • Assorted templates (see document, attached below), for hand-cutting custom shapes
  • Sugarcraft knife or little sharp knife
  • White, red, and sky blue royal icing, piping consistency; Note: The red and sky blue are just for the two lines in Step 4, Point c.
  • White, red, and sky blue royal icing, flooding consistency
  • White, red, and sky blue royal icing, medium-stiff consistency
  • Tipless pastry bags, or pastry bags fitted with Wilton #1, #2, and #3 round tips or equivalents
  • Gold (or yellow ) food marker; Note: The one I used has two tips (a thin one on one end and a thick one on the other), and it is more warm gold-yellow than metallic gold.
  • Scribe tool or toothpick
  • Red gel food coloring
  • Tiny paint brush

Step 1: Cut and bake cookies

The nine (9) cookies in this project are mainly hand-cut. Just print the pdf document in the attachments below for my templates and their associated measurements. Here's a summary of the shapes you'll need to cut:

  • Hand-cut cookies: hut (1 pentagon cookie, cut in half), 3 seagulls, the roof (2 slender rectangular cookies), and the "Summer" sign (1 large, long rectangular cookie)
  • Cookie using standard cutters: 1 life preserver (a ring cut with the small round cookie cutter noted above and the wide end of a pastry tip for the hole in the center)

If you don't like hand-cutting cookies, there's good news! You should be able to adapt basic rectangular cookies to create the two parts of the hut, the roof, and the sign. But it really will only take a few minutes to cut the templates and then the cookies for this project.

To hand-cut: Roll out your chilled dough on a piece of parchment paper. I rolled my dough to a 0.4-cm thickness, which is a little thicker than 1/8 inch. But thickness isn't so critical for this project, as the pieces do not need to fit together in 3-D. Place the cut templates on top of the dough, and carefully cut around their edges with a sharp sugar craft knife (or equivalent). Remove the templates, but leave all the dough in place. To keep from messing up your nicely cut cookie shapes, firm up the dough by chilling it again; then remove the excess dough around the cut edges. The cookies can be lifted, on the parchment paper, and placed directly on your baking sheet(s) without risk of the cookies losing their shapes.

Once you have cut all of the pieces (again, a total of nine) as directed above, simply bake according to your recipe, and cool the cookies completely.

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Step 2: Ice and decorate roof, seagulls, and life preserver

a. Outline this group of six cookies with white piping-consistency royal icing, using a pastry bag fitted with a #1 tip (or equivalent). Remember to also outline eight different sections on the life preserver, which we'll later flood with red and white icing.

b. Flood the seagull cookies and every other section of the life preserver with white flooding-consistency royal icing, using a pastry bag fitted with a #3 tip (or equivalent). Let the icing dry.

c. Once again using a pastry bag fitted with a #3 tip, flood the two roof cookies with red flooding-consistency royal icing. Also fill the four remaining sections on the life preserver. Let the icing dry.

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d. Using a #2 tip (or equivalent) and white piping-consistency royal icing, pipe a line down the center of each roof cookie. Let the icing dry.

e. Also pipe white lines on the life preserver, along the seams between the red and the white sections. Again, let the icing dry.

f. Lastly, use the food marker to draw little stripes along the white lines so that they resemble ropes. Before you do this, be sure the icing is completely dry, ideally all the way through, or you will put dents in the lines.

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Step 3: Ice and decorate "Summer" sign

a. Using a #1 tip and white piping-consistency royal icing, outline the long, large rectangular cookie. Fill it with sky blue flooding-consistency royal icing using a #3 tip. Let the icing dry.

b. Again, be sure the icing is completely dry, and then draw the word "Summer", from top to bottom, with the food marker. This step is optional, but the drawing can be a useful piping guide in the next step. If you'd prefer to pipe freehand without this guide, that's fine too. The letters don't need to be perfect, as we want them to eventually look like rope.

c. Using a Wilton #2 tip, pipe over the letters drawn in the previous step with white piping-consistency royal icing. Again, let the icing dry completely, ideally all the way through.

d. Draw little stripes along the letters with the food marker, just as you did on the roof and life preserver, so that each letter looks like a piece of furled rope.

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Step 4: Ice and decorate beach hut

a. Outline and flood the two cookies (pentagon and large rectangle) that make up the hut, using white piping-consistency and flooding-consistency icings, as you did for the seagulls. Let the icing crust.

b. Using a Wilton #2 tip and white piping-consistency royal icing, pipe a line through the center of the bottom part of the hut (large rectangle). Now, using a #3 tip, pipe two more lines surrounding the white line, one with red piping-consistency icing and another, to the other side of the white line, with sky blue piping-consistency icing. Pipe a small loop in the center of each line for added interest.

c. Remove the excess icing at the edges of the cookie with a scribe tool (or toothpick), and let the icing dry all the way through.

d. Once again, draw little stripes along the white line with a food marker to give it a rope effect.

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e. Using the food marker, draw a little boat on the upper part of the hut (pentagon). I started by lightly sketching freehand with the thin end of the food marker. When I was satisfied with my sketch, I traced over the fine lines with the thicker end. As everything was going to get covered with royal icing, I wasn't so worried about making mistakes. You shouldn't be either!

f. Flood the boat hull with white medium-stiff consistency royal icing. The consistency of the icing should be stiff enough to hold a shape, but thin enough to work it with the scribe tool without leaving peaks. I prepared it by thinning the piping-consistency royal icing. Use a #1 tip for most of the flooding.

g. Then, with the help of a scribe tool or a toothpick, neaten up the edges and work the icing into the tight corners at the bow and stern.

h. Let the icing dry all the way through, as we will be drawing on it later.
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i. Repeat Steps f to h (above) for the sails. Use a light blue medium-stiff consistency royal icing for the smaller one, and the same white icing used on the hull for the big sail. Once the icing has dried for a few hours, you can start to add details.

j. Draw some horizontal lines on the big sail, and color the hull with the food marker.

k. Add some red stripes to the big sail with red gel food coloring and a tiny paint brush.

l. Last but not least, paint a little red flag at the top of the mast, and add some waves with the food marker.
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Optional: Royal icing sailboat transfers. If you don't feel comfortable drawing and flooding directly on the cookie, follow Steps e to i (above) on a piece of acetate or parchment paper. Once the sails and hull are dry, decorate them as previously described, remove them from the acetate (or parchment paper), and glue them on the cookie with thick royal icing. This will leave you with just two things to do directly on the cookie: drawing the mast and waves with a food marker, and painting a little red flag.

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Step 5: Assemble cookie platter

And now that we have decorated all the cookies . . .

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. . . let's assemble them and display them on a tray or dish. They are now ready to be eaten! [EDITOR'S NOTE: Well, I don't know about that! Even though they're not 3-D, I have to say they're still too nice to be eaten! ]

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Ciao, Manu

Manuela Pezzopane, affectionately called Manu by her friends and family, is a fan of everything handmade, and professes to have tried every possible hobby. However, it wasnโ€™t until the end of 2014, when an American friend invited her to a Christmas cookie exchange, that she first discovered decorated cookies. In 2015, after watching Julia M. Usher's videos and signing up on Cookie Connection, Manu finally attempted her own. Since then, cookie decorating has become Manuโ€™s passion โ€“ one that she continues to develop by actively participating in the challenges hosted by fellow Cookie Connection contributor Bakerloo Station. You can follow Manu on Facebook and Instagram, or email her at manubiscottidecorati@gmail.com.

Photo and cookie credits: Manuela Pezzopane

Note: Made by Manu is a Cookie Connection blog feature written by Manuela Pezzopane, where each month she shares the method behind a magical cookie of her own making. This article expresses the views of the author, and not necessarily those of this site, its owners, its administrators, or its employees. To read all of Manuela's past Made by Manu tutorials, click here. And to see all of Cookie Connection's tutorials, click here.

Attachments

Images (12)
  • Where We're Headed - Nautical Cookie Platter: Design, Cookies, and Photo by Manu
  • Templates and Measurements: Design by Manu
  • Step 1: Cut the Cookies: Design, Cookies, and Photos by Manu
  • Step 2A: Outline and Flood the Roof, Seagulls, and Life Preserver: Design, Cookies, and Photos by Manu
  • Step 2B: Decorate the Roof and Life Preserver: Design, Cookies, and Photos by Manu
  • Step 3: Outline, Flood, and Decorate the "Summer" Sign: Design, Cookies, and Photos by Manu
  • Step 4A: Outline, Flood, and Decorate the Hut Bottom: Design, Cookies, and Photos by Manu
  • Step 4B: Decorate the Hut Top: Design, Cookies, and Photos by Manu
  • Step 4C: Add Details to the Hut Top: Design, Cookies, and Photos by Manu
  • Step 4: Optional Royal Icing Transfer: Design, Transfers, and Photos by Manu
  • All of the Cookies, Ready to Be Arranged!: Design, Cookies, and Photo by Manu
  • Nautical Cookie Platter - All Done!: Design, Cookies, and Photo by Manu
Files (1)

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Comments (29)

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swissophie posted:

Brilliant in every way, dear Manu!!! From the idea to your very clear explanations, pictures, and execution! Just fabulous! It's so interesting to see how someone else puts an idea into form . Thanks for all the work you do to show us your splendid way โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ!!!

Thank you so much, Sonja! โค๏ธ

My way of flooding may look really weird from the pictures though! It is very difficult to take a good picture and to flood "inside" the cookie while watching through the screen of my phone which I hold with my left hand 

Cristi posted:

Hi, thank you for the tutorial, the cookies look wonderfully delicious. I wanted to know however, how do you keep the icing bags from drying out as you work? 

 

Hi, Cristi, thank you! I am not sure I understood your question. The icing may dry out on the tip and clog it. Is that what you meant? If this happens you may dip the tip in hot water or simply work with a damp towel next to you to cover the tip of your piping bags while you are not using them (@Evelindecora), or you may wrap your tips with a bit of plastic wrap (@Julia M. Usher). These are all tips and tricks I learned here reading through live chats, close-ups and the comments to the clips. I hope I answered your question.

Last edited by Manu biscotti decorati
Laegwen posted:

Beautiful set, reminds me that the sometimes less is truly more! You really have a great eye for compositions and colors

Thank you Leoni! After the cookie box I wanted to make something easy to make, thinking to the people who just started to decorate. The project is just about flooding and piping few lines, the boat could be sketched rather than piped and at the end the outcome doesn't look like a beginner project, even in case the cookies will spread in the oven. 

And I also wanted something made by mini cookies, because it is easier to flood little surfaces. Plus,  they could be eaten in small bites. Cookies are made to be eaten!

Sweet Prodigy - Christine posted:

Thank you for the tutorial Manu. It's so simple, yet the end results are amazing! And I love the colours! 

Thank you, Christine! Yes, as I said to Leoni it was thought for newbies. Something simple but that didn't look so basic once it was assembled. I am glad you had the same feeling. And for the colors I couldn't go wrong with reds and blues! โค๏ธ

Manu posted:
Sweet Prodigy - Christine posted:

Thank you for the tutorial Manu. It's so simple, yet the end results are amazing! And I love the colours! 

Thank you, Christine! Yes, as I said to Leoni it was thought for newbies. Something simple but that didn't look so basic once it was assembled. I am glad you had the same feeling. And for the colors I couldn't go wrong with reds and blues! โค๏ธ

The colours are perfect, and I love that even a beginner can look like a pro with this tutorial! 

Great tutorial Manu!! Can't believe I missed this when you had posted it.. but what a fun project for everyone to do . As always,  your directions are clear and easy to follow!! Thank you for taking the time with all the details and pictures โ™ก. I think you beautifully achieved your goal of presenting simple cookie shapes that fit well together to make a stunning final result!! 

Last edited by Cookies Fantastique
Cookies Fantastique by Carol posted:

Great tutorial Manu!! Can't believe I missed this when you had posted it.. but what a fun project for everyone to do . As always,  your directions are clear and easy to follow!! Thank you for taking the time with all the details and pictures โ™ก. I think you beautifully achieved your goal of presenting simple cookie shapes that fit well together to make a stunning final result!! 

Thank you Carol @Cookies Fantastique !

And it looks like I have missed your kind comment as well! I am glad you liked and it has been fun to make it. I have found out that reds and blue turn out really well in the photos. I was also lucky to have a grey tray for the cookies, some sea urchins and those cups that reminded me about fishers' nets. So at the end I was very happy with the outcome. I wonder if anybody will find it interesting to make.