Monday, May 7, 2012

Tutorial: Writing in Cursive

Monday, May 7, 2012
 I've been a little MIA.

Things have been going on and it's been a little crazy and stressful.  But I'm still here.  And I haven't forgotten about my blog.  :)

Needless to say with all the action and adventure going on over here I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on new cookies.  So I thought I would post something I prepared a while back but never got around to posting.

Writing in cursive on cookies.  I know it's not the most exciting topic and tutorial but important none the less.  There will be SO many occasions when a client asks you to write someone's name on a cookie

place cards


or "Celebrate"

 Notes From A Kitchen

or "May The Force Be With You".  Ok, maybe not the last one.

That would be a pretty big cookie to fit all that on it anyway.  An awesome cookie.  But a big cookie.

A big cookie, of pure Star Wars awesomeness...*sigh*

Anyway, there are a few things to keep in mind when writing on a cookie in cursive:
1.  Write in your own handwriting.  Even if you don't have the most beautiful handwriting in the world.  Because nothing trips you up more than trying to mimic someone elses penmenship.  Seriously.  Try it on paper.  If it doesn't look natural on paper, it wont look natural on a cookie.

2.  Get your piping tip as close to the cookie as possible.  When your constantly changing the direction of your piping bag, closer is better.  Don't drag your tip on the cookie.  That's still a no no.  You'll get wonky lines.  But keeping the tip far from the cookie (like you would while outlining) will give you no control.  You'll chuck a few icing bags across the room for sure.

3.  Test out the scale.  I mean if you have a KK, this is an easy step.  If your like me however, and a KK isn't in your budget, then you'll have to do it the old fashioned way.:
  Get a peice of paper, trace the cookie cutter of the cookie your using.



  Do this a couple times for scale practice.  Then write whatever it is your writing in the space you will have to use.



  This will help you determine where to start your word, how big to make your letters, how much room your going to have etc...

  Then place a piece of wax paper over your test sketches.  Here's where you check your piping tip.  What should you use?  1?  2?.... I like a 1.5 myself....but every project will have a different scale and you will have to adjust the tip size accordingly.  Do a couple practice piping runs on your wax paper.  Find the tip that will work for your project.



4.  Make sure you use the right consistency.  If it's too thin your pretty "r" is going to look like your uncle Marshall's profile, big nose and all.  If it's too thick, the peaks left behind on your cookie is going to stab a poor unsuspecting mouth roof.  No bueno.  

5.  Don't try to write perfectly straight and level.  Unless your just awesome like that.  I'm not.  So I write everything slightly tilted and angled.  Takes the pressure off of it looking symmetrical and perfect.  Perfect is boring anyway.

Tutorial: Simple Sugar Border
Last but not least, if you wanna see the action LIVE then hop on over and check out the VIDEO!

And please excuse me, when I made said VIDEO I was functioning on 2 hours of sleep....I think.  I had made 8 dozen cookies in less than 24 hours.  And considering I'm not accustomed to working at factory speeds any more....be sure delirium was setting in... which would only make me slightly weirder than normal. 


derek's birthday

I probably wont be around much for the rest of the week.  I have some things I need to take care of early this week (like today if possible).  By Wednesday I'll just be gone for the rest of the week.  Maybe I'll gt a post up before then.  Or maybe Thursday or something....  Anyway, what I'm saying is that I'll be back.  When the hubbub dies down a little and things get back to normal!  :)

Hope everyone has an awesome week!

May the Force be with you.....ok I couldn't help it.



28 comments:

Cookie Friend (Diane) said...

Thanks for the tutorial. I think writing on cookies is one of the biggest challenges for most of us in the cookie decorating world.

Cindy~Cookie Cheers said...

Great tips Ali!
Never thought of practicing with
which tip to use beforehand.

Sandie said...

I always find this the hardest!

Sandie said...

I always find this the hardest!

Sandie said...

I always find this the hardest!

Unknown said...

Perfect, your handwriting is always spot on and now I know why.
Beautiful cookies Ali.

Paula said...

I hope things settle down and get back to *normal* for you soon. Lovely cookies and great tutorial.

Anonymous said...

Thank you, thank you, thank you. I wanted to read a post like that for a long time. My royal icing writing is never very good. I will take your advice and start practicing. I also need to check my consistency. I usually write on the cookie at the end of my cookie decorating session when the icing consistency has deteriorated and thinned. If I wait the next day and adjust consistency before doing it should be better. Julie

Unknown said...

I love your style, Ali! Thanks for the tips on writing on a cookie. That's probably one of those "hardest things to do well on a cookie". :) ♥

Kris said...

Thank you so much for posting this! I love your tip about practicing with the wax paper on top of the shape too. I usually print because I don't have neat cursive, but I will try your tips! Thanks again for all your input at Spring Fling as well. Kris www.socutecookies.com

Anonymous said...

Thank you for thinking of us when obviously a lot is going on n your "real" life. Hope it all goes smoothly & you get some "you" time too.

Lisa said...

Love to see how everyone does it! Thanks for sharing :)

Yamina (Miss Cuit) said...

This tutorial arrives just in time! Thank you for your great advices. I'll have to try this!!

Alison said...

Thanks everyone! I'm glad this was helpful! Yeah hopefully by next week everything will start to settle down around here. Only temporarily tho I'm sure!! hahaha!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the tutorial but I have had a silly question that I have been wanting to ask for a while! Some of your cookies look almost 3D'ish..... I dont even know if that made sense? Like one of the cupcake cookies in the tutorial, the "frosting" really pops out! Do you use a different consistency of icing or go over it twice?

SweetSugarBelle said...

I shall miss you terribly Homeslice! But I will be practicing while you're gonneth! At the FARCE be with you!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful cookies. For me, writing on cookies is not so bad, due to all the years of cake decorating I've done. Sometimes though, getting the right tip and consistency is more of a challenge. I always want to grab a "3" out of habit....then remember that it's a cookie, not a sheet cake!

carrolls.cookies said...

I appreciate the tips and tricks to writing. I have practiced on paper but have never traced over it with the wax paper. This is definitely on my "to do" list. Enjoy your getaway. See y'all when you get back!

D&T Designs said...

{sigh} Another "why didn't I think of that?" moment. My penmanship with icing is horrid and I'm always looking for ways to improve. Usually I give the cookies to my 12YO cause she's far better at it than I am... both with writing and spacing. (Imagine my relief when I learned the tip about transfers). Thanks so much for sharing this tip. Can't wait to put it into practice!!

Unknown said...

You're awesome. Great post. Being able to write cursive on a cookie is no easy task and it helps that your hand writing is fab. For me, it's a challenge for sure.

Unknown said...

I always love your writing!! Love the topsy'turvy cakes!

paula o said...

Hope all is well with you. I'm a big fan of yours- you haven't posted in awhile- hoping all is o.k.
Love your work! I aspire to be able to decorate like you! Sending Good thoughts your way

LMC76 said...

I just discovered your blog today and I just wanted to let you know I love it! I can't wait to decorate more cookies!!

Kooky cutters said...

What consistency royal icing do you use when writing on cookies? We use 11 second icing to flood and 20 sec icing for piping...but the writing is always a mess!

Unknown said...

What consistency royal icing do you use when writing on cookies?

Unknown said...

what consistency royal icing do you use when writing on cookies?

Unknown said...

What consistency royal icing do you use when writing on cookies?

Alison said...

I have a post and a video on icing consistency. You can use the search bar to find the post or just head over to the you tube page. It will be in the playlist labeled basic tequniques. I hope this helps

 

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