Royal Icing Cats

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the large number of requests I've gotten for cats. My apologies for not piping some sooner! They're quite similar to the bunny and the mouse, but with some subtle changes in shape. Start by sticking a parchment paper square to a flower nail with a dab from a glue stick. 

 Fill a piping bag with stiff consistency royal icing in any color you like, fit it with a round #12 tip, and pipe an egg about 1/2" long.

 Don't worry about the egg shape being perfectly smooth. If you vary your pressure about halfway through, you may wind up with an indentation that suggests hind legs. Pipe an egg-shaped body for each cat you plan to make and allow them to firm up for about 15 minutes.

 Switch the tip to a round #10 and pipe the head. Hold the tip at a 45 degree angle against the narrow end of the body, squeeze briefly while moving the tip away, stop pressure, then pull the tip away. A peak will probably remain, like this:

 Touch a fingertip to a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar and tap the tip down until the head is shaped like a ball.

 Next, gently pinch the sides of the ball with your dusted fingertips to create that classic "cat" shape.

 Switch the tip to a round #4 and pipe a tail. Start at the back and pipe around to the side, rotating the nail as you go to help you pipe smoothly.

 Switch to the oval #55 tip and pipe a couple of paws; they're just short bursts of icing. If you like, you can skip this step. Your cat will look like the hovercat.

 At this point I got bored with the orange and picked up the pink piping bag fitted with a round #1 tip to pipe a nose. Sorry; back to that oval tip #55.

 To pipe the ears, hold the oval tip against the head, squeeze, and pull away. The shape should have a point. If it doesn't, you can give it a gentle pinch with dusted fingertips.

Lastly, give the kitties some dots for eyes with a food-safe pen like an AmeriColor Gourmet Writer. Pipe a whole litter in all different colors! Or maybe dress them up with tiny royal icing bows.