Tonight's post is a little tricky because it requires the stiffest consistency royal icing imaginable to make all the little parts stand up correctly (otherwise they all flatten out and look like a pile of mush; that's what happened first. I would have posted a photo of my failure, but I destroyed the evidence). You'll need round tip #10, leaf tip #352, oval tip #57, a flower nail, a glue stick, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick.
Hold the #10 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Squeeze out a ball for the body, moving the tip upwards for just under half an inch as you go. Stop pressure and pull the tip away. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap down the peak that remains.
Switch to the #57 tip and pipe the neck and head. Hold the tip almost straight up, pipe so the icing anchors to the body, pull the tip upwards while piping, then stop pressure and pull the tip away after about half an inch. The head might just curve over like this, otherwise coax it gently with a dusted fingertip. If it stands up straight…
…consider making it the tail, which is the next step.
Switch to the #352 leaf tip to pipe the wings. Bury the tip in the body at a 45 degree angle, squeeze briefly while moving the tip outward, then stop pressure and pull the tip away. Coax the wings upward, if need be, with a dusted fingertip. This post is dedicated to my friends at
The Paper Crane in Half Moon Bay, one of the only reasons to visit Main Street.
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