Cookie Inspirations from Julia's "Heart's Desire" Class

Wonderful work!!! Tell me, how did you cut around your fondant pieces so uniformly? From their edges, it looks like you cut around the stenciled design with a custom cutter? And your royal icing stenciling is so clean!! Very well done!

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement!  It was great timing for me to take your in-depth class and complete some cookies to show and share!

Yes, in conjunction with your class I worked on designing and 3D printing a fondant cutter so that I wouldn't have to scissor or knife cut all of those outline details.  Still have some tweeks to make so the 3D design and printing is still a learning journey.

Also in my cookie decorating learning journey I started out with glaze icing stenciling and have only recently come to the conclusion that royal icing is the only way to go because of how creamy it is and still holds its shape - giving the "cleanest" looking result.

@EAC posted:

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement!  It was great timing for me to take your in-depth class and complete some cookies to show and share!

Yes, in conjunction with your class I worked on designing and 3D printing a fondant cutter so that I wouldn't have to scissor or knife cut all of those outline details.  Still have some tweeks to make so the 3D design and printing is still a learning journey.

Also in my cookie decorating learning journey I started out with glaze icing stenciling and have only recently come to the conclusion that royal icing is the only way to go because of how creamy it is and still holds its shape - giving the "cleanest" looking result.

I need that cutter! 😉 Sadly, a few years ago, I approached my stencil/cutter partner with the idea of creating key cutters for the stenciled appliqués that I most often make, and they declined. They're now only interested in making the very simplest of stencils and cutters . . . and I'm not sure I want to get into making my own cutters with everything else I have on my plate.

@Julia M. Usher posted:

I need that cutter! 😉 Sadly, a few years ago, I approached my stencil/cutter partner with the idea of creating key cutters for the stenciled apliqués that I most often make, and they declined. They're now only interested in making the very simplest of stencils and cutters . . . and I'm not sure I want to get into making my own cutters with everything else I have on my plate.

For me, the use of small fondant/modeling chocolate transfers assumes the use of a custom cutter to be able to produce a consistent and repeatable quality.  I cannot rely on my scissor/knife cutting skills to produce the desired clean shapes.  There is a reason why I use cookie cutters to cut cookie dough(!)    A fondant cutter presents some of its own challenges because of the much-smaller scale with complications of a  less forgiving media and a dependency on cutting surface.  We can talk @Julia M. Usher!

@EAC posted:

For me, the use of small fondant/modeling chocolate transfers assumes the use of a custom cutter to be able to produce a consistent and repeatable quality.  I cannot rely on my scissor/knife cutting skills to produce the desired clean shapes.  There is a reason why I use cookie cutters to cut cookie dough(!)    A fondant cutter presents some of its own challenges because of the much-smaller scale with complications of a  less forgiving media and a dependency on cutting surface.  We can talk @Julia M. Usher!

Right - the small scale can be complicating with 3-D cutters especially.

How did I miss these @EAC?! Gorgeous hearts with beautiful stenciling a la Julia . She has inspired me time and time again with her ingenuity, decorating skills, and teaching videos!

I love the colors you chose. The brown and blue combination is always classy. Awesome work ❤️❤️❤️ Hugs...

@EAC posted:

Thank you for the kind words of encouragement!  It was great timing for me to take your in-depth class and complete some cookies to show and share!

Yes, in conjunction with your class I worked on designing and 3D printing a fondant cutter so that I wouldn't have to scissor or knife cut all of those outline details.  Still have some tweeks to make so the 3D design and printing is still a learning journey.

Also in my cookie decorating learning journey I started out with glaze icing stenciling and have only recently come to the conclusion that royal icing is the only way to go because of how creamy it is and still holds its shape - giving the "cleanest" looking result.

Great idea!!! Cutting around those appliques by hand takes me forever. LOL