Royal Icing And Fleurs De Lis For Almond Brownie Coffins Food

HAUNTED-HOUSE CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Steps:

• Make the cookies: Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in whole egg, yolk, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in three additions. Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until cold and firm, about 2 hours (or up to 1 day).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove 1 disk of dough from refrigerator, and let stand until room temperature. Lightly dust two large sheets of parchment with cocoa powder, and roll out disk of dough between sheets to a 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a baking sheet, and freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove top parchment sheet, and place haunted-house template on dough. Using a craft knife, cut out house. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and templates.
• Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer parchment with cookies to wire racks, and let cool completely.
• Decorate the cookies: Place a large sheet of parchment on a baking sheet, and lightly butter parchment. Transfer cookie house and doors to parchment.
• For the windows, prepare an ice-water bath. Combine 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Continue to cook, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush, until syrup comes to a boil. Boil, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup turns medium amber. Immediately remove from heat, and place pan in ice bath. Working quickly, carefully pour some caramel into haunted-house windows, doorway, and door windows, filling each flush with top of cookie. Let stand until cool and hardened.
• For the roof, fill a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch plain tip (#802) with melted bittersweet chocolate. Starting at base of roof, pipe 1 line of chocolate along entire edge, then press shelled sunflower seeds into chocolate in a straight row, pointed edges down. Repeat with chocolate and remaining seeds, "tiling" both roofs, and slightly overlapping rows of seeds.
• Decorate the windows and doors: Cut remaining licorice laces to match dimensions of windows. Halve each lace lengthwise. Pipe thin lines of melted chocolate along window panes. Press licorice into chocolate. Pipe a thin line of chocolate over doorway, and press 4 shelled sunflower seeds into chocolate, centering the unshelled seed in middle. Let set.
• Make the chimney and spires: Cut 1 licorice lace diagonally into 1-inch pieces. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a fine plain tip (#1) with royal icing. Carefully flip house over. Make a vertical 1/2-inch cut in bottom half of licorice twist, then cut off 1 flap; insert a piece of licorice lace into top hole of licorice twist. Pipe a 1/2-inch-long vertical line of icing just below edge of top roof, and press flat end of licorice twist against house into icing. Pipe a horizontal line of icing just below top edge of lower roof. Press 1 end of each halved licorice lace into icing to form a row of spires. Let stand until set, about 10 minutes.
• Assemble the cookie house: Using a small offset spatula, spread a thick line of royal icing along the long, straight edge of haunted-house triangle stand. Gently press triangle against back of haunted-house cookie on left-hand side, supporting cookie between two large cans. Repeat with second triangle on right-hand side, and let stand until icing is set, about 30 minutes. Cookie house will keep at room temperature up to 1 week.
• Make the windows and doors: Cut remaining licorice laces to match dimensions of windows. Halve each lace lengthwise. Pipe thin lines of chocolate along window panes. Press licorice into chocolate. Pipe a thin line of chocolate over doorway, and press 4 shelled sunflower seeds into chocolate, centering the unshelled seed in middle. Let stand until set.
• Using a small offset spatula, spread a thick line of royal icing along long, straight edge of haunted-house triangle stand. Gently press triangle against back of haunted-house cookie on left-hand side, supporting cookie between 2 large cans. Repeat with second triangle on right-hand side, and let stand until icing is set, about 30 minutes. (Cookie will keep at room temperature for up to 1 week.)

ALMOND BROWNIE COFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square pan, and line it with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on 2 sides. Butter and flour parchment, tapping out excess.
• Combine flour and salt in a small bowl. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Sift cocoa powder on top of butter, and whisk to combine. Let cool 3 minutes. Gently whisk in vanilla and eggs, then stir in sugars and flour mixture until just combined. Fold in almonds, then spread batter evenly in prepared pan.
• Bake until the top is firm and set, about 30 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack, and let cool for 20 minutes. Remove brownies from pan using parchment overhang, and let cool on wire rack. (Brownies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days.)
• Using the large coffin template, cut out brownies. Dust marzipan lightly with cocoa powder, and mix until marbled dark brown. Roll out marzipan to 1/4-inch thickness. Using the small coffin template, cut out 1 marzipan coffin for each brownie. Gently press a coffin on top of each brownie.
• Fill a pastry bag fitted with the smallest plain round tip with royal icing. Decorate marzipan with small dots around the edges, and apply 1 fleur-de-lis to each coffin with a small offset spatula, securing each with a dot of royal icing.

ROYAL ICING FOR EDIBLE VALENTINES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg white until stiff but not dry, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and the lemon juice; beat 1 minute more. If the icing is too thick, add a couple drops of water; if icing is too thin, continue beating to achieve desired consistency.

ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Whisk the egg whites until lightly whipped. Add the icing sugar a few tbsps at a time, whisking continuously until all incorporated. Add the glucose and lemon juice.
• Continue whisking until the icing is thick enough to hold stiff peaks when you lift the beaters and is smooth and shiny.
• Use a palette knife to spread the icing over the top and sides of your marzipaned cake. For a snowy effect, make little dips and peaks with a teaspoon. Leave to firm up somewhere cool and dry (not the fridge) for 24 hrs before cutting the cake.

PERFECT ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Beat first three ingredients, then thin with a little water, if needed.
• Add almond, vanilla, and butter flavoring.
• Depending on how many colors you want, divide it between several bowls.
• To decorate on top of original layer of icing, thicken with powdered sugar until desired thickness.
• Decorating works best when used in the decorating bags with tips.
• Also, before spreading thin icing over cookies, try putting an outline of thick icing from a small decorating tip around the edge of the cookie.
• This way, the thin icing will not drip over the edge.