Royal Icing Calendula

The official flower of October is the calendula, a member of the daisy family which comes in colors ranging from yellow to orange. And, like the daisy, it's very easy to pipe. All you'll need is stiff consistency royal icing in a golden yellow or orange, round tip #5, petal tip #101, parchment paper squares, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Pipe the petals by moving your hand in a tight "U" formation, starting from the center, moving the tip out toward the edge, then back in again. Keep the narrow end of the petal tip facing outward and slightly upward off the surface, while moving the wide end along the surface. Usually I like to pipe four petals first in the 12-3-6-9 positions to keep the flower balanced; I didn't do that this time. I just made sure to rotate the nail steadily while keeping the petals basically the same length, and the end result was pretty even. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and gently tap the center flat.

 Repeat, piping a smaller flower on top of the first one. Try not to line the petals right on top of each other; attempt to stagger them. Again, flatten the center with a dusted fingertip when you are finished.

 Pipe a cluster of #5 dots in the center. You can pipe them in a deeper color to give the center some contrast. Look at actual photos of the many varieties of calendula for inspiration when piping this autumn bloom!

Royal Icing Trick or Treat Bucket

As I was putting this post together, it occurred to me that people outside of the USA might not know what a trick or treat bucket is. I'm not sure when these hollow plastic squashes painted with Jack o'lantern faces became de rigueur for collecting treats, but I can clearly remember them from the '70s. I found a few on eBay which were described as vintage (but didn't actually include a year). To pipe an approximation of this Halloween classic, you'll need stiff consistency royal icing in black and orange (or almost any color; they can be found in a variety of neon shades at stores like Target), round tips #12 and #5, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, flat toothpicks, parchment paper squares, a black food-safe marker like the AmeriColor Gourmet Writer, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Squeeze while moving the tip upwards about 3/4". Stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the icing down into a rounded shape with a slightly flattened top.

 Tap the narrow end of a flat toothpick against the dusting pouch and gently press it vertically  into the icing at intervals to give the pumpkin that sectioned look. Leave a gap, though, for painting in the face later.

Pipe a few handles with the #5 tip and black icing. These were left over from when I made royal icing cauldrons. They would have probably been cuter if piped with a #3 or #4 tip, but they would have been so much more breakable. Always pipe more than you need for this reason. Allow them to firm up completely before peeling them off the parchment. 

 Switch to the #5 tip on the orange icing and pipe a circular ring around the top of the pumpkin. Tap the ends gently with a dusted fingertip to blend them (this should be in the back or off to one of the sides; not in the front where the face is going to go).

 Press a handle into the icing while it's still wet. It should stand upright, no problem.

Lastly, when the icing is completely dry, draw in a tiny pumpkin face on the front with the food-safe marker. A perfect topper for cupcakes, petits fours, ANY pumpkin-flavored treat, etc.! 

Royal Icing Pumpkin

As a resident of Half Moon Bay (the Pumpkin Capital of California) I know there are probably countless ways to pipe pumpkins; anyway, here's how I did this one. You'll need stiff consistency royal icing in orange (or white) and brown, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a glue stick, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch. You'll also need round tip #12 and quatrefoil-shaped tip #83 (the only other time I've used this tip was to pipe chili peppers): 

Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a 45 degree angle to the surface. Pipe this shape while rotating the nail. It's basically a #8 without the intersection. Try to make the sides symmetrical, but if they aren't, that's OK; pumpkins rarely are in real life.

 Fill in the center and tap it slightly flat with a fingertip after touching it to the dusting pouch.

 Repeat two more times, or however many times it takes until you no longer need to fill in a center because the sides are touching each other. You might end up with just enough room to pipe a single center line to finish the pumpkin off.

 Attach the #83 tip to the brown icing, hold it against the surface, and pipe a stem. I prefer long stems on pumpkins, but long, freestanding lengths of royal icing are susceptible to breakage so this stem is only a few millimeters long. When you stop pressure and pull the tip away, you may want to flatten the end of the stem with a dusted fingertip.

 When the icing is firmed up, peel away the parchment and use this pumpkin to decorate any dessert. You can make it in any size by varying the size of the round tip and substituting another round tip for a proportionate stem (I'm not aware of the quatrefoil-shaped tip being available in more than one size). You could also use a large round tip to pipe this pumpkin directly onto a cupcake with buttercream icing.

Royal Icing Monster High Skullette Logo

My most-read post is still the Monster High cake from February! Is it any wonder; Monster High is the most freakishly fab phenomenon ever! For those who need some boning up on the subject, the official logo of Monster High is called a Skullette: 

I thought it would be fun to try piping Skullettes out of royal icing, which could then be used to decorate cupcakes, borders on larger cakes, etc. All you'll need are stiff consistency white royal icing, round tip #12, a glue stick, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a Styrofoam block, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of cornstarch and powdered sugar, and a black food-safe marker (like the AmeriColor Gourmet Writer). You'll also need some pre-made royal icing bows in hot pink, piped with an oval #57 tip. 

Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface and pipe an oval.

 Underneath the oval pipe a slightly curved line…

 …and then pipe a dab about 1/3 the width of the line.

 Liberally dust a fingertip by tapping it to the dusting pouch, and then tap it on the icing to blend it together and fill in the hole in the oval. Allow the icing to dry until the surface is very hard.

 Using the above logo as a guide, draw in the face with the food-safe marker.

 Lastly, glue a bow to the right side of the skull at an angle with a dot of icing. Fangtastic!

Royal Icing Spider Cupcake

Tonight's tiny little spider cupcake was inspired by the one that comes with the Monster High Coffin Bean playset:

It's made in a similar way to the royal icing blueberry muffin. Stick a parchment square to a flower nail with a dab from a glue stick, pipe a dollop of stiff consistency royal icing in any color with a #199 star tip, stop pressure and pull the tip away… 

 …then tap the peak flat with a fingertip after touching it to a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch.

 Pipe as many as you can on the same parchment square. When they're completely firmed up, peel away the parchment.

Now it's time for the spider part! Pipe a ball of stiff consistency royal icing in any color with a #12 round tip. 

 Allow it to firm up for a while, then pipe four legs on one side with a #3 round tip. Hold the tip against the surface, squeeze while pulling the tip away for a few millimeters, then stop pressure and pull the tip away. Repeat on the other side.

 Pipe the eyes with an oval #57 tip. Hold the tip slightly off the surface, squeeze out an oval-shaped dot of icing, stop pressure and pull the tip away. Tap down a peak, if it remains, with a dusted fingertip.

 When the eyes are dry, give them some pupils with a food-safe marker like AmeriColor Gourmet Writers. These would look really cute in a scene inside a "panoramic egg" eyeball!

Royal Icing Treat Bag

This tiny treat bag would probably not hold even one M&M, but it would look very cute on cupcakes or petits fours (in any color you like, of course). You'll need stiff consistency royal icing, round tips #8 and #5, a glue stick, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, parchment paper squares, food-safe markers like AmeriColor Gourmet Writers, 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. Alternately, you can pipe the icing on the squares directly on your countertop. 

 Hold the tip just above the surface and pipe a tight "U" shape.

 Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the surface and the sides flat into a rectangle.

 You might prefer to use an offset spatula; tap it against the dusting pouch, then against the sides of the rectangle. Allow the icing to firm up for an hour or so.

Pipe the handles with the #5 tip and allow them to dry. Always pipe more than you need to allow for breakage. These are actually leftover from when I made royal icing cauldrons. 

When the handles are firm enough to, um, handle, glue one on the bag with two dots of icing piped from the #5 tip. 

 Use the food-safe markers to decorate the bag any way you like!