People ask me all the time about the lettering and painting on my cookies. I use a combination of royal icing effects and colors, and handpainted details.
One of the most important things to me when I'm painting my cookies is my palette. I like using a "wet" palette. Since painting a cookie with food coloring is very much like watercolor painting, striking the right color consistency is key for me. Food colors dry very quickly, and working on a dry surface means you constantly have to re-wet your colors.
A wet palette is not wet-wet, instead the surface is cool and damp. This keeps the colors from drying out and crusting up. Since the colors don't dry as quickly this way, I can keep a small pool of slightly diluted color on my palette while I work with a set, which keeps my color consistent.
Making a wet palette is very easy, and you'll probably already have most of the supplies on hand to make one!
You'll need:
- A non-porous plate or surface (this means water can't soak into it). I like using a ceramic plate, but you can even use a styrofoam plate. You'll also want to use something white or light-colored.
- A paper towel cut into a square about the size of your plate.
- A piece of parchment paper cut about the same size as the paper towel.
- Water.
That's really all you need!
You'll want to position the paper towel on your plate and get it wet. I like to wet it, and then pour off any excess water into the sink. The towel should be soaked, but there shouldn't be pools of water on the plate. Then top the towel with the parchment paper, and press down with your hand until the parchment paper sticks to the towel.
That's it! Can you believe it? It's that easy. The parchment paper is slightly water-permeable. You might see a bead or two of water on top. The paper will stay cool and moist for several hours. When you need to, you can peel off the parchment and add some more water to your towel. I'll even spray it with a water bottle.
And cleanup couldn't be easier - just throw the parchment and towel away!
Happy painting!
~Jenn, EastAuroraCookie
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Special thanks to Jenn for "taking the leap" and posting one of her tutorials! I think she did a great job, don't you? If you didn't know, any member can post a tutorial to the blog as long as it conforms to these basic blog posting rules. I edit all blog posts, but usually quite minimally. So if you've got something unique to share, please take the leap as well!]
Comments (18)