Hi, everyone, thanks so much for joining me today. I am excited to be chatting with you all! This will be a unique chat insofar as I am both host/moderator and featured guest. Please bear with me if it takes longer to answer questions than usual as I am wearing many hats!

That said, let's start with the usual housekeeping notes for newbies to our chats . . . First, questions are answered in the order received, but they will not post to the public/viewable area of the chat until I read and answer them. We'll work through questions that were logged in advance first; then start working on questions asked live during the chat. Please be patient and do not re-post the same question. It may take some time to answer your question, depending on where it sits in the queue. But I will personally make sure every question gets answered before we're through!

Also, please ask just one question at a time. It's easier/quicker for me to answer that way, and easier for those reading the transcript later to follow the flow. THANKS! I'm going to start now with the questions logged in advance. There were many so it may take 15 or more minutes to get through those before I can start answering live questions.

Hi, Loosethreads! My best advice is to read/listen a lot from all sources (books, blogs, videos) and then PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Success with cookie decorating primarily boils down to having your icing at the right consistency for each task (flooding, outlining, stenciling, etc.), and until you get actual hands-on experience with handling icing, it can be tough to translate what you read into great results. But after some practice, getting the right consistency really does become second nature. As for starter classes, that's a good question. I know that in many areas of the US, Michaels and Hobby Lobby host the occasional beginning decorating class. Some cookie decorators also host classes in their home states (i.e., Hungry Hippopotamus, SweetAmbs, Oh, Sugar! Events, Glorious Treats . . .), some of which are geared for beginners. Likewise, many cookie conventions (like CookieCon) have beginner workshops and hands-on decorating time where you can be guided in the basics.

I think it's just you and me on this chat live right now, Loosethreads. But lots of questions to post in the queue.

What has been your most valuable investment in terms of cookie decorating?

Hi, Bel! Wow - that is a big question, and one that can be interpreted in many different ways. But relating back to my last answer, I'd say that my most valuable investment has been the time I've applied to practicing the craft - more valuable than any tool or gadget I could buy. I do 90-percent of my decorating with a simple parchment cone (cornet), and believe that you don't need all the latest gizmos to get good results. Though, that's not to say that I don't have my fair share of gizmos . . .

Thank you Julia, for being one of the chat guests! I know you have been involved in culinary areas for a long time, but how long have you been decorating  cookies and how did you become interested in cookie design? Also, I am just interested in what other projects you have going. You seem to be a very busy lady and I wonder what all you are juggling. By the way, I appreciate all you do for the cookie community. I don't know if I will be able to tune in during the chat, but will most definitely check all the questions and answers that day. I so enjoy all all the chat guests you presented so far. Glad you in the seat this time!

Thanks, Jamie. I've been "decorating" since I was a small child (Christmas cookie decorating was always a big event in our family). Though my decorating was hardly decorating then - more a random hodge podge of icing slathered on cookies. I really got into cookie decorating in a more serious/sophisticated way when I opened my bakery back in 1996; but even then, I mostly did cookies as a sideline to my wedding cake business. It wasn't until 2009, when I published my first book (a cookie book), that I turned to cookies almost 100-percent. I got a great reaction from the book, and the world of cookie decorating seemed to be taking off, so I decided to ride the wave (as long as it lasts) and invest more time in cookie decorating. This year, the vast majority of my time will be spent teaching advanced cookie decorating classes outside of the US. I have already had classes in Spain, Portugal and the US, and am headed to Italy in three days. I have another 4 or 5 such classes booked through the end of the year, and 3 or 4 into 2015. Around those classes, I am currently doing several things: feeding an active YouTube channel with video tutorials, maintaining and writing for this site, shooting an online decorating class with Craftsy, and pitching a third book and sweets-based TV show. I also have a few volunteer commitments, the biggest of which is serving as President of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. It's all too much for me right now, so I am actively working on trimming the workload and/or getting help.

Have u ever thought of having a similar event as Cookie'sCool here in the US?

Hi again, Bel! I'm not interested in organizing events, so I'm not actively thinking about creating new ones. BUT, I am VERY interested in attending events that others organize, both here in the US and abroad. In fact, I taught at the first CookieCon in 2012 (Salt Lake City) and just attended the most recent one in March as a sponsor. (It was the success of CookieCon that spurred All in One Events in Italy to launch Cookie'sCool, BTW.) I'll also be presenting at two more events (in addition to Cookie'sCool) between now and January 2015 - the first is at the end of August in Brazil, and the second is Cookie Cruise 2015, which takes off from Texas and cruises to Cozumel and back! I can't wait!

Hi Julia, my question may be very basic but I struggle to find clear answer for this one. I love working with royal icing and creating delicate transfers out of it (say using #0 or #1 PME tip). But my work is always  very brittle and breaks easily which is very frustrating. I have seen so much work done this way on the Internet and it always looks lot more stable than my work. I use classical combo of icing sugar, egg whites and a bit of lemon juice in my icing. Try to paddle it down to get rid of any bubbles if I am using standing mixer or just keep mixing by hand to avoid incorporating any bubbles...and still my transfers are very hard to handle. Is it just a natural thing of royal icing or I am missing something fundamental which would make my icing stronger when creating  transfers (no flooding areas, just lines)? Thank you. Kamila

No, not basic at all . . . pretty darn important. My answer is coming up.

Hi, Kamila! Royal icing (per your recipe) is inherently very brittle when it dries, so you have to be super careful in removing transfers no matter what. Some people strengthen their royal icing with gum tragacanth, but I have had no experience with this. Even without it (strengthening additives), I think you can do delicate transfers, IF you take the following precautions . . .

1. Pipe them on parchment paper and not acetate. (The latter is less flexible and makes it harder to remove the transfers without breakage).

2. Be sure the transfers are completely dry before attempting to remove them (I usually wait more than 24 hours).

3. Gently peel away the paper (if the transfers don't pop off on their own) rather than pulling on the transfer (the latter leads to more breakage).

Last but not least . . .

4. Make some extra!

Hi Julia, I'm sure this question as been asked before, but I'm pretty new to site and I didn't find the answer.  What am I doing wrong with my royal and glace icing that causes me to get white spots once it dries?  I think I follow the same steps every time I make my icing, but sometimes I get the spots and sometimes I don't.  Probably because it's darker, but I do notice it more on icing colors that are darker and almost always with my pink icing.  I've asked the question to other cookie decorators, but have never gotten a clear answer, only maybe try this or that.

Hi, Pam - You know, I don't have a sure-fire answer to your question, because I don't get white spotting on my cookies much, ever. However, I do sometimes get an unevenness of color (the colors sort of migrate and mottle as they dry), especially when working with loose icings under humid conditions. Perhaps this is also what you're experiencing, though I'm not sure?? Anyway, I find that the same tips used to avert cratering also help to reduce mottling of colors. The key is quick-setting the icing before the colors have time to migrate: so use as thick a flooding icing as possible, and a dehydrator to quick-set the color.

Oops, my cratering tips are coming up next, I think!

Pam, if you're on, I am also curious as to what brand food coloring you're using. I work with Chefmaster and find it pretty darn reliable in terms of color fastness.

Back to Kamila's earlier question about transfers . . .

I have a tutorial on my site, in which I made some VERY delicate piped grass, and I had less than 10- to 20-percent breakage by just applying the above techniques. Here's that link: https://www.juliausher.com/blog...ing_flower_transfers

The grass was made as transfers, BTW.

Hi - I am still have trouble battling the pits and cave ins on some of my icing details.  Any hints? I've tried a fan, a ceiling fan, a heat gun on low, and a low powered heating light.  I've heard dehydrators might be the way to go.  Would love any ideas!  Thanks

Ahh, here's the crater question. Thought I lost it for a sec.

Polka Dottie - Yes, I'd say dehydrators are the way to go. They won't completely eliminate craters, but they will do so the VAST majority of the time - and they do so without having to sit around waving a heat gun! Here are my best tips for avoiding craters: 1. Use as thick a flooding icing as possible (the thicker the icing, the faster it dries and the less time it has to cave in on itself). 2. Flood a few small (crater-prone) areas at a time and then dehydrate for a few minutes to quick-set the icing. (If you flood too many areas at once before hitting the dehydrator, some of the areas first flooded can start cratering and no dehydrator will reverse a crater that has started.) 3. Continue with flooding and dehydrating a few small areas at a time until the cookie is done.

Hi, Robin, I live in St. Louis, Missouri, which can be excessively humid in the summer and I work with this recipe on my site: https://www.juliausher.com/blog/more/royal_icing It's pretty standard, but I have good success with it. I think the answer has less to do with modifying the recipe and more to do with controlling the conditions under which you dry the icing. Again, the less humid the ambient conditions, the faster the icings will set, and the less chance there will be of cratering and colors bleeding. SO . . . run your A/C during hot/humid times and/or run a dehumidifier. Better yet, quick-dry your cookies in a dehydrator . . . are you sensing a recurring theme yet?!

Robin, continuing . . . If your icing recipe has corn syrup in it, I would, however, suggest removing it, as it can delay drying time.

Robin - re: modifying your cookie recipe. Again, I think the answer is less in recipe modifications and more in how you bake and store the cookies afterward to protect them from humidity. You might bake a few extra minutes to crisp the cookie; then once completely cooled, store them in airtight containers in a temperature-controlled (air-conditioned/dehumidified) environment. My publicly available cookie recipes are also on my site (just go to Cookie Recipes in the navigation line in the link above); I have many others published in my books and app, which are available for sale here: http://www.papertrell.com/apps...ers_Ultimate_Cookies They all do well in humid conditions, if stored as described above.

Hi, Robin, re: the Kopykake. No, I don't think it's necessary, and, in fact, I would caution against getting one right away for one primary reason: they make it too easy to copy others' work, and don't "force" one to cultivate his/her own style and decorating/design skills! Also, most people seem to be using them to do character cookies, which - strictly speaking - should not be made for sale without first purchasing a license from the source to copy the work. Character cookies are rife with copyright issues, so I avoid them. That all said, a Kopykake (or any other projection device, for that matter) can be helpful for lettering and visualizing the spacing or layout of a design on a cookie, and I sometimes use mine for that. But, again, there are other projection devices (and ways of transferring images to cookies). A Kopykake is one of the more expensive ways of doing this, which is another reason to hold off on the investment - unless you are certain you will need it (i.e., mass-producing lots of hand-lettered cookies, for instance.)

One last question in the advance queue; then I'll move into live questions. How is everyone doing out there?

Hi Julia, I absolutely love every one of your projects and I envy your imagination and skill.  I found your zoetrope cookie cake especially intriguing.  Can you see the dancing/movement effect just by watching the cake spin on the turntable or is the visual all in the video?  Does that make any sense?  I would love to try something like that for a fun centerpiece, but if it's only effective in video it wouldn't be as fun.  Thank you.

Hey, Rocking Horse. Thanks so much for the very kind words. The dancing effect is possible two ways:

1. By adjusting the turntable rotation, camera shutter speed, and number of photos taken per second just so to create the animated effect on video

2. By tricking the eye into seeing it move; this can be accomplished without video in real-time, but you would need a dark room, a strobe light, and the strobe synced in such a way with the turntable speed that it looks animated. There are tips about doing this in various places on YouTube.

OK, onto live questions! The first one is from Loosethreads.

I'll be shooting it in mid-August if all goes as planned, but . . .

it will not be a beginner course. They want more advanced classes.

They already have a great beginner course done by Autumn Carpenter. Have you seen it?

The link to Autumn's class is this: http://www.craftsy.com/class/d...ge=true&SSAID=862574

You can also access it from the home page of Cookie Connection (right hand side).

I love the taste of my cookie recipe, but it is inconsistent when it spreads.  It doesn't spread much, but if I eliminate the baking powder from the recipe, will that help?

Hi, Tracie, yes, eliminating leavening should help, though do so gradually. Sometimes when I remove all the leavening from my gingerbread recipe, the cookie dough bubbles up more in the oven - it's as if the trapped air/moisture in it has no where to do because the cookie doesn't expand as much as it normally would to accommodate moisture release.

"no where to do" = "no where to go"

Did you have something to add, Loosethreads? Your comment appears cut off.

Hungry Hippopotamus was actually the one that mentioned a digital projector. Here's the link to her chat (http://cookieconnection.juliau...-hungry-hippopotamus); she mentions a brand name in it (about midway through). I don't know the price of it . . .

Also, there are apps (like Camera Lucida) that allow you to import images and then project them onto something else. But it works best with an iPad.

You can also make graphite transfers on paper and move a design onto a cookie or cake that way - that's the low-tech, old-school way to go!

You're welcome, LT.

I don't have a question but I had issues with my cookies spotting and found the solution on Sweetopia sitehttp://sweetopia.net/2011/07/how-to-avoid-spots-on-icing/

Thanks, Cheryl.

I know you use gingerbread for many of your projects.  Is there another type of cookie you find more suitable for 3D cookie projects?

Tracie, I use my sugar cookie recipe a lot for small 3-D projects as well . . . it works fine in projects that aren't larger than about 7 or 8 inches and which are not weight-bearing . . .

. . . part of the reason I never show it in videos is because I haven't released that recipe for general free consumption. Some of my work is only available in my books, so that I can continue to drive sales of those items. (That's the practical, business side of me talking . . .)

Oh, thanks so much, Robin. It truly makes my day to hear this. I love what I do and I think this community loves what it does as well, so it's a real pleasure to be able to contribute to that joy in some small way.

Though I would be lying if I said it was easy to do. This site takes a lot of upkeep - it's almost a second full-time job for me. So I am trying to bring on new contributors every day . . .

. . . in fact, a great new voice will be announced next week, if I can get my act together in time to have that post ready!

Hola, Adri! Pregunta por mi? (Pardon my poor Spanish . . .)

Preguntas, chicas?

I'm out of questions, please keep 'em coming!

Ha! I fixed "fluente" before I saw your correction. Understood either way!

I'm selling cookies at a craft show this weekend.  I saw your top10 cookies for the occasion.  Any other ideas to impress the crowd?

Did you mean you looked at this week's Saturday Spotlight for inspiration?

If so, that's a great starting point, though I say that often times the cookies on this site are really advanced/elaborate . . .

Yes, I loved the tulips.

. . . so to price similar ones for a profit, you'd have to charge quite a bit. That said, I'd consider some simpler down-scaled (less expensive) designs to appeal to the average consumer.

Both books have the basic sugar cookie recipe, each just has different flavor variations of it. But the fundamental recipe is in both, along with a nice shortbread recipe that works nicely iced without any sugar on top.

I am not serving any customer orders right now (I haven't since I closed my bakery 8 or 9 years ago), so this allows me to stretch out lots of decorating (which I still do for photo and video shoots) over a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG period of time. I don't care how the cookies taste for these shoots, just how they look.

But when I had my shop, I had help for large orders. (Up to seven part-time employees at my busiest times; 1 to 2 full-time employees at the slow times). I would assembly-line everything and do relatively simpler, quicker designs.

Dough would also be made well in advance and frozen, but baked to order. I generally aimed to get cookies baked and decorated within 3 to 4 days to preserve maximum freshness.

I don't have an issue with advanced, I just need to make sure I find something creative and original that won't need to sell for $20 per cookie.  :-)

What I meant is that advanced cookies tend to be very elaborate and time consuming - thus to earn any money from them, you would probably have to charge an arm and a leg. I'd do a small amount of show stoppers for wow effect, but then have a lot of simpler cookies, beautifully done, that sell for a lot less. Depending on when the fair is (sorry, I forgot), I'd stick to seasonal ideas - and perhaps some cookies cutely packaged for Mothers' Day. Anything bundled as a pretty Mothers' Day gift is likely to do well at this time.

Sorry, I don't see the first part of your post, LT. Can you try again?

Still don't see it . . . moving onto the next question in the meantime.

I've seen advice that freezing dough is the best way to be prepared.  But I know people also freeze pre-baked cookies and even cookies that are already iced.  In your opinion, which is the best option?  Which keeps the best taste?

I only ever freeze the dough in advance. I find that the freezer has a staling effect on just about anything; it can be subtle, but I don't like it. Plus, frozen baked cookies take up so much room in the freezer; it's just not practical for me and never was in my shop either when I had a lot more freezer space. I know others freeze baked cookies, uniced and iced, but I just don't. And I'd never run the risk of freezing iced cookies. Sugar is hygroscopic (attracts moisture) and colors are more likely to bleed or mottle as they thaw. Some have had success thawing in closed containers, but - again - I never do it. I think cookies always look and taste best freshly made and iced. But that's me . . .

Bake on Day 1 and do all the top-coating on that day as well. Dry overnight on speed racks that are covered but which allow ample air circulation around the cookies. (You never want to lie parchment paper on top of cookies that might appear dry on top, but which are not all the way through, as the paper will buckle from the moisture in the cookies and so will the icing). Then all detailing done on Days 2 and 3 depending on the design. Dry again, ideally overnight. Package - as needed - on Day 3 or 4. Out the door.

Just extended the chat a few minutes to allow me to answer the remaining questions in the queue. Last call for new questions too!

Rough Google translation of Adri's quesion, for those of us who are not native Spanish speakers: In Argentina are starting to work a lot with decorated cookies ... ever shows Julia came to do?

Adri, if you are asking if I ever come to Argentina for cookie demonstrations, the answer is "I would love to, but I haven't received an invitation yet."

I will, however, be teaching in Brazil in August of this year and also in Chile in April of 2015. You can find the details of the first event on my website (under BOOK TOUR) and on the Events tab on my Facebook page. The second class won't be announced for another few months. We need to settle on the projects first.

I recently tried a sugar cookie recipe. It called for 2/12 cups of butter and 5 cups of flour...i found the dough to be well...greasy i guess would be a good description...when the cookies were baked and cooled they fell apart with the slightest touch...is there anything you can do to save the dough when this happens?

Hi, Cheryl, I'd try increasing the ratio of flour to fat, and also adding an egg if the recipe does not call for one. The latter makes rolled cookie dough less fragile.

It's the "commercial" name for a rack on wheels with many areas for fitting sheet trays. The whole rack can be cloaked so that bugs, dust, etc. don't land on the things on the sheet trays.

Image for speed racks here: https://www.google.com/search?...ack%252F%3B416%3B416 I had many in my shop, and still have two that I use for storage now. They're not super expensive and are very handy.

I use the Nesco, and I bought extra racks for it. not sure how many I have. I only ever use about 3 at a time, as that's as fast as I can decorate.

But I don't like it that much. If I were to buy a dehydrator all over again, I'd buy the more expensive Excalibur dehydrator - the racks slide in and out (vs. stacking); the racks are flatter; and there are more of them!

Adri, I would love to see that cake exposition some day soon!

No, I use both. I use the dehydrator just to quick-set the outer shell of icing (to prevent cratering, particularly in small areas and to dry with a sheen). The cookies are in it no more than 5 to 10 minutes. Then they go on larger sheet trays (on speed racks) for the icing to fully dry all the way through overnight.

Ok...I added extra flour but not the egg...had to toss it. with butter at over $% a pound here ...I will not be usiing that recipe again...Thanks so much for being with us today...Hope you got your kitchen back in order and get more sleep tonight..

You're welcome. I haven't started on the kitchen cleanup yet (ugh). I still have to shoot (still images) of all the projects that were shot in video format yesterday. I've got to get them done in the next two days before I skip town, so that is my pressing task today and tomorrow.

Hi Julia, just want to say a quick "Thank you!" before chat ends - although I'm a trained professional chef, we only spent about 2 hours on cookie making during 16 months of school, so most of what I  have learned has been through trial, error, and lots of reading.  I have learned so much from this site just since I joined this year!  Cookies are my main livelihood now, so it vital that I get things right!  So question - how long do painted cookies usually take to dry?  I just started painting  and am using airbrush ink with a fan to dry like always - but is 24 hours usual?  Seems it could be faster.

Hi, Barbara, Thanks for the kind words! I don't do a ton of painting myself, usually more a coloring-between-the-lines sort of thing with it. But I find that the type of paint you use and how thickly you apply it can drive the drying time quite a lot. For instance, straight-up gel can take a long time to dry. Gel that is thinned with extract or alcohol takes less time (can be immediate almost), and petals dusts thinned with extract take even less time (again, almost instantaneous).

My writing with frosting is horrendous. I would love to do some initial cookies for my cousin's shower. Are there any stencils or something that is small enough for a cookie or words I can transfer. I love the look of monograms but am afraid to tackle it.

Hi, Diane. I hate my handwriting, as well, even on paper! Designer Stencils has some alphabet stencils, but I've gotten most of my alphabet stencils from Stencil Planet (online). They have a wider range of fonts and sizes from which to choose.

OK, we're out of questions and over time. Thanks, everyone, for your great questions and lively participation. I really appreciate having had the chance to connect more directly here.

Thanks.  I'll check it out now.

Thanks Julia, I will try the petal dust then also.

Barbara, it dries the quickest, but with less sheen than gel coloring. So there are some trade-offs to consider. you can, of course, get sheen with extended luster dust though.

Thanks Julia.

Thanks again, everyone! Have a great rest of the weekend. I'm closing the chat now!