Royal Icing Black Bear

In 1954 the black bear was designated the official state animal of West Virginia, where it lives in all 55 counties. Piping black bears is similar to piping Teddy bears, but there are a few subtle differences. You'll need stiff consistency royal icing in black and brown (I used orange because it's what I had handy), parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, round tips #12 and #2, oval tips #55 and #57, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Attach the #12 tip to the bag of black icing. Hold it just above and at a right angle to the surface, squeeze until the icing covers an area about 1/2" across, then move the tip upwards while continuing to pipe steadily. After about 1", stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the peak to round it.

 Switch to the #57 tip and pipe the legs. Hold the tip against the base of the body and pipe a short squiggle, ending in an upturned foot.

 Switch to the #55 tip and pipe the arms. They should hang down, as bears' arms tend to do when they're standing there, staring hungrily at you.

 Use the #55 tip to pipe the ears; two short, quick dabs to the head. Tap the peaks to round them with a dusted fingertip, if need be.

 Wash out the #57 tip and attach it to the brown (or orange) icing bag. Pipe a small oblong mound for the muzzle.

 Switch the black bag to the #2 tip and pipe a tiny dot for the nose and two tiny dots for the eyes.

 These would be a perfect adornment for any cake involving honey, nuts, or berries; all things that bears love to eat. Of course, they also love to eat garbage, but that's another story.

Royal Icing Maple Leaf

Today's project is a leaf off the official state tree of West Virginia (and Vermont, Wisconsin, and New York): the sugar maple. I piped it in green, because that's what they are most of the year, but check out this link; you'll see all the colors of leaves borne by the same sugar maple in the fall! You could pipe piles of these leaves well in advance in every color and have a lot of fun decorating a cake with them for fall (or for any Canadian celebration). All you'll need to pipe maple leaves are stiff consistency royal icing, leaf tip #104, round tip #3, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, round toothpicks, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

Lie the #104 tip almost flat against the surface, and pipe two leaves in "V" formation. Note how the "ridge" in the middle of each leaf touches at the bottom to form that V. Dust your fingertips by touching them to the dusting pouch and pinch the ends of the leaves to taper them. 

 Pipe a third, larger leaf in the middle. With a dusted fingertip, tap the edges of it gently where it lies over the first two leaves to blend them all together somewhat.

 Work quickly so the icing won't have a chance to dry. Using a round toothpick, drag out a few points on each leaf. Lie just the pointy tip flat on the surface, press down to the parchment, and drag outwards.

 Wipe the toothpick clean on a paper towel after every few points.

 Switch to a round #3 tip and pipe the stem of the leaf. Allow the leaves to dry thoroughly (you might want to place them under a desk lamp to speed up this process) and then use them to decorate any dessert (particularly maple-flavored ones!).