Forget-Me-Nots in Royal Icing

Forget-me-nots are the perfect flower to pipe if you don't have much icing to work with; each one is about the size of a dime. You can pipe them in royal icing, and after they've dried, use them to decorate small desserts; in this case, store-bought meringues. Here's what you'll need…

…a parchment paper square for each forget-me-not, a Styrofoam block, a flower nail, a glue stick, yellow royal icing in a bag fitted with a #2 round tip, green icing in a bag fitted with a small #65 leaf tip, and colors like white, pale pink and pale blue (if you want to be botanically accurate for the petals) in bags fitted with #101 petal tips (or #101s, if you really want them to be tiny). Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

Pipe the first petal. Hold the petal tip almost flat against the surface with the wide side of the tip at the center. Squeeze steadily while moving the tip in a narrow, upside down "U" motion. Wipe the tip clean between petals, if necessary.

 Pipe four more petals, slightly overlapping, for a total of five.

 Pipe a center dot with the yellow icing.

 Allow the forget-me-nots to dry (you can speed up the process by placing them under a desk lamp).

 One way to decorate with them is to pipe a few small leaves…

 …and then stick the flower into the leaves while they're still wet. The forget-me-not's scientific name Myosotis comes from the Greek words for "mouse's ear," which is in reference to the leaf. Bear that in mind as you're piping the leaves for guidance in their shape.