Royal Icing Spiral Candy

I'm not quite sure what to call this creation; spiral candy seems pretty descriptive. Basically, I was looking for an alternative to hard candy that will eventually become sticky when used to decorate gingerbread houses or cookies; royal icing will stay rock hard. You'll need stiff consistency royal icing in any colors you like, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a glue stick, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. You can use tips in any size depending on how large you want your "candies" to be (I used #10 and #3). Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the larger tip just above and at a right angle to the center of the nail. Rotate the nail while steadily piping a spiral. When you get to the end (the size you want), stop pressure and pull the tip away. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap down the end to neaten it and taper it into the spiral.

 Allow the icing to firm up for a few minutes, then pipe a spiral with the smaller tip and a contrasting color. When the icing is firm, peel away the parchment and use them to decorate anything you like. Alternately, pipe them in brown with a white spiral and, Voila! Cinnamon buns!

Royal Icing Starlight Mint

I know it seems odd to pipe Starlight Mints; it's not like they're hard to come by! However, if you use them to decorate gingerbread houses, cupcakes, or whatever, they'll get really sticky. All you'll need to pipe a rock-hard, non-sticky version of them is white stiff consistency royal icing, a round #12 tip, parchment paper squares, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar, and a red (or any color) food-safe marker like the AmeriColor Gourmet Writer. Start by holding the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to a parchment square. Squeeze out a dollop of icing…

 …and tap it into a flat, rounded disc with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch. Allow it to harden completely.

 At this point you can do whatever you want with the food-safe markers; you might try using two or more colors. To pipe the classic striped design, draw backwards "S" shapes that are wider at the outer edge.