This Latte and Donuts cookies decorating tutorial is courtesy of our contributor Samantha of The Smarter Cookie…One of my favorite ways to present my cookies is to use them to tell a story, or perhaps take the place of a greeting card. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, cookies are a great way to send your loved ones a sweet treat with a message attached. In this case, the cookies can be the message! Pair this “I love you a latte, I donut know what I’d do without you” set with a corresponding gift card, and your loving pun comes to edible life! The latte cutter was custom made from Whisked Away Cutters, while the donut was simply a circle with a smaller circle cut out of the middle before baking.
Latte and Donuts Cookies – What You’ll Need:
- Brown 20-second icing
- Red 20-second icing
- White 20-second icing
- White piping icing
- Sprinkles of your choice – I found the heart shaped sprinkles in a Valentine’s Day combo container
I Love You a Latte Cookie
You’ll want to start with the “cardboard sleeve” portion of the latte cup. Outline and then fill it in with the brown icing. I very rarely use tips anymore; I simply cut the hole to my desired size. If using tips, you could use a PME 1.5 tip or a Wilton 2 tip for this portion.
Smooth out the icing with either an offset spatula, boo boo stick, toothpick, or scribe tool. I prefer the scribe tool as it’s easy to clean and can be helpful in popping any pesky air bubbles that are created.
Let this portion dry. If you’re in a very humid climate, you’ll want to let it dry for 8+ hours or overnight to avoid bleeding. If not, you can handle it once the top layer “crusts over”, in about 30 minutes.
Once the brown icing dries, you can then outline and fill the “cup” portion above and below the sleeve. I chose red to create a Valentine’s Day theme, but you could use any color to represent the coffee cup! Again, a PME 1.5 tip or a Wilton 2 tip would work well for this portion. Before moving onto the white lid, you will want to make sure the red icing is thoroughly dry to avoid bleeding – especially because white tends to absorb its neighboring color. If you’re in a humid climate, you may want to use a dehydrator to help speed up the drying process!
When your red icing is dry, you can outline and fill the “lid” with the white icing. Again, smooth out the icing and let it dry till it crusts over.
Next you’re going to outline the lid, so you’ll want to use a stiffer white piping icing. Again, I don’t use tips but if you prefer to use them, a PME 1.5 or a Wilton 1 tip would work best. Slowly outline the outside of the lid, then create a middle line to show where the lid tapers in. Finally, pipe a slightly curved top line to give the top of the lid a rounded effect.
I Donut Know What I’d Do Without You Cookie
I used both red and white icing for these cookies to coincide with Valentine’s Day, but again feel free to make chocolate, strawberry, or whatever corresponding color you desire! Also feel free to use different sprinkles!
Begin by piping a squiggly outline around the outside edge of the circle and around the inside “hole” of the donut with your red, or white, 20-second icing. Don’t worry about being neat here! You’re replicating icing on a donut which is never perfect!
Smooth out the icing to an even layer and pop any air bubbles.
Before the icing begins to dry and set, take a handful of sprinkles and carefully drop them onto the wet icing. Again, don’t worry about being neat or having perfect placement – sprinkles are meant to be all over the place!
Let your cookies dry overnight and place both sets in a decorative cookie box, tin, or platter for a super fun and sweet way to tell your Valentine you love him/her!
We’d like to send a big THANK YOU to Samantha of The Smarter Cookie for this cookie decorating tutorial. You’re going to love her cookie designs as we hope to share more of hers here!