so this lady wants me to make cookies for her sons wedding.
8 dozen!
So i am thinking….she said she wants them to be like kind of spread out on the table, and i told her they would have to be quite a few plates (i can usually fit 35 cookies on a plate or so)...but then she said or maybe a box for easier trasporting, but now i have no idea what to do. Do i just get a huge plate?? or 3 plates and then put them in the box?? frankly, if i am giving her plates of cookies, i think it should be up to HER how to transport them, but I figure i will ask you guys for suggestions.
I would suggest a tiny, tiny amount of food coloring. A tiny amount of yellow will give a creamy off-white, a tiny bit of brown will give a pale, pale tan. Or a little of each for an “antique” color. Most colors described as “off-white” are actually very pale yellow or tan or yellow-tan. Speaking as someone who works with fabric and clothing colors here—not as someone who does fondant!
hmm i tried adding brown and then i got scared and stopped becuase it wasn’t changing color and i was afraid it was going to turn tan. (more brwn than off white, or cream)
maybe i shold add some more?? Or should i start adding some yellow?
Another question….i find it easier to roll our dough directly onto the parchment, and then cut the cookies and peel away the excess. Seems easier than cutting them adn the MOVING the cookies to the pan. However, the problem i have is when rolling out the dough onto the parchment, the parchment slides all over the place making it very hard. i tried taping it down, but of course, tape doesn’t stick to parchment. Any ideas on how to oget the parchment to stop moving around??
I don’t have a problem with the parchment sliding around when I am rolling out the dough between sheets of parchment; but it might help if you wipe down your table and leave it a bit damp, them put the parchment sheet on it, sprinkle with flour, put the dough on it, flatten it a bit, maybe sprinkle a little flour on top, put the second sheet of parchment on then roll it, and transfer to a sheet pan and chill. then I just flip the parchment, peel off what was the bottom, cut the cookies while the dough is still cold and put them on a parchment lined baking sheet.
I would definitely give them to the client in boxes, lined with parchment and put parchment between the cookie layers so there’s no chance the decorations get marred. Depending on the size of the cookies, you’d be able to get all 8 dozen into a half sheet box. (Use a board on the bottom of the box so the box is sturdy, otherwise the box can flex and the cookies could slide around.)
If you have some chocolate fondant, you could mix a tiny bit of that into regular fondant to get an off white. I’ve found some brown colorings to have pink undertones to it and once, I was going for a khaki color and the next day, the colored fondant was a soft, but definite, pink!
Using two sheets to roll out cookie dough means that I can stack two on top of each other (they’re generally the same shape) - I go for a rectangle when I’m rolling it out but sometimes it doesn’t come out that evenly I find I use less flour that way and there’s very little mess. The rolling pin doesn’t stick to the parchment on top and I’m moving it around (like you would fondant) as I roll it out. I find it works better when I flip the whole thing over and peel off that bottom sheet when I’m cutting out cookies - the dough likes to stick to that bottom sheet of parchment.
There’s a board I remember from a copper cookie cutter site that was called the DoBord or maybe it was DoughBord - it had a lip on one side that helped it to stay in place on a counter, as well as a way to ensure an even thickness.
try it and see if it works for you. Good luck with the cookies!
thanks, but why do you then transfer your cookies?? i mean….i guess i am confused…typically i make the dough, chill it, then roll it out peel the excess (so i dont have to tranfer the cookies) and bake. Are you saying you make the dough, ROLL it, THEN chill it, THEN cut them out and transfer? I find that when i transfer cookies they lose their perfect shape…?
The dough doesn’t distort because it’s still cold when I’m cutting it and transferring it to the baking sheet. If it is a warm day (like last week was) I will put the sheet pans back in the walk in to firm up before baking because my kitchen can get very hot with all the ovens on. I’ve even put the sheets in the freezer for very intricate cookies just as extra insurance.
If I am cutting shapes, I am cutting with very little waste, which would put the cookies too close together during baking and they would probably fuse together! Very little waste means I’m not rerolling the scraps (I try to collect the scraps from three sheets of dough and combine them; if there is anything left from that, I don’t use it again because lots of rerolling can make the cookies tough).
Earlier when I said I stack two together; it’s because I’m working with full sheet pans full of dough; I make the dough, roll it out then chill it overnight and cut/bake the next day. To save on space in the walk in, I will put two (or sometimes three) sheets of dough on a pan. When I am cutting, I use one sheet at a time and the cut cookies go on a sheet pan and either go right into the oven or the cut cookies go back in the walk in until I have space in the oven or am all done with the amounts I need.
What kind of cookies are you making? (e.g., wedding cake cookies, or hearts or something else?) I am always on the lookout for good cookie cutters - my favorite place to buy them from is coppergifts.com and there’s another place in Nebraska (I think) called kitchengifts.com - but let us know if you have a favorite place too!
I make the dough, then wrap and chill in a disk about 1 inch thick, like I do for pie crust. Then I roll my cookies between two sheets of parchment and throw it in the freezer on a cookie sheet. Once it’s frozen then I cut the cookies on the frozen cookie sheet (peel off one sheet of parchment, flip, peel that sheet off, flip again, so the dough has been loosened from the parchment.) I use no flour at all on the parchment, so no added flour in the cookies, I roll a small amount of dough as well, so the dough stays frozen while cutting. They transfer easily because they are hard and do not lose their shape. A small amount of dough insures that it stays frozen while I am cutting/transferring.
Like Jeanne, I cut close together for minimum waste. I gather up the scraps and reroll once, I notice no difference in the rerolled versus the first rolled as far as toughness goes. Of course I handle the scraps gently, just laying them together and rerolling, I don’t knead them together or squeeze into a ball first then roll. You can re-use the parchment to roll your dough.
King Arthur used to sell those Dobords, they were expensive, if I remember about $60? I have those rolling pin rubber bands that elevate the rolling pin about the counter, that works great for me.
I find I use less flour that way and there’s very little mess. The rolling pin doesn’t stick to the parchment on top and I’m moving it around (like you would fondant) as I roll it out. I find it works better when I flip the whole thing over and peel off that bottom sheet when I’m cutting out cookies - the dough likes to stick to that bottom sheet of parchment.
