Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE! Tonight's post is quick and easy; as you can imagine I'm writing this while cooking, baking, finishing wrapping, etc. (and trying to keep the cat out of the milk for Santa). To pipe a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree, tape a piece of parchment to a cookie sheet.

 Load a #8 round tip to a bag of stiff consistency brown icing. Pipe a candy-cane shaped line of icing.

 Pipe a few more branches; no more than 4 or so.

 They can vary, of course.

 Pipe clusters of #3 round tip short lines for bristles at the ends of the branches.

 Lastly, pipe a ball for a red ornament with a #8 round tip. Allow your trees to dry, then slide them off the parchment paper and plant them in cupcakes topped with a swirl of blue buttercream to represent Linus' blanket. Merry Christmas!

Royal Icing Bunny Slippers

Tonight's post is an homage to "A Christmas Story"; how many of you list that among your favorite holiday films? All you'll need to pipe tiny little bunny slippers just like Ralphie's are stiff consistency royal icing in pink, round tip #12, leaf tip #352, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, round toothpicks, and black food coloring, like AmeriColor's Soft Gel Paste. 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. Pipe out a couple of elongated "bean" shapes, curving slightly in the middle and with the ends wider than the center. Touch your fingertip to the dusting pouch and then finesse the icing into shape, if need be. Allow these shapes to firm up for a few minutes.

 Hold the tip at a 45 degree angle and just above and behind one of the ends. Squeeze out a ball of icing, then move the tip along for a few millimeters. Stop pressure and pull the tip away.

 Tap down the peaks with a dusted fingertip. Allow the icing to firm up for a few minutes.

 Hold the #352 tip against the head (with one of the pointy sides facing toward the front of the slipper) and pipe out an ear while moving the tip upward for about half an inch. Stop pressure and pull the tip away. Use a dusted fingertip to adjust the ears so they lop over.

 Pipe the eyes with #3 dots of white icing. Flatten them slightly with a dusted fingertip.

 When the white icing is firm, dab on pupils of black food coloring with the tip of a round toothpick that you've smashed against your countertop.

 Paint on a tiny triangular nose with the other pointy end of the toothpick. Sorry; tomorrow's tutorial won't be for a leg lamp or a Red Ryder BB Gun!

Royal Icing Kissing Ball

It's easy to pipe a fairly realistic-looking sprig of mistletoe, but you could also go the route of piping a mistletoe "kissing ball." All you'll need is stiff consistency royal icing in green, white and red, round tips #12 and #3, leaf tip #65, oval tip #55, a flower nail, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, 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. 

 Hold the #12 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface and pipe out a kiss-shaped dollop of icing about half an inch tall. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the peak to round it. Set it aside and allow it to dry.

 Switch to the #65 tip and start covering the icing with tiny, overlapping leaves.

 Continue until you can no longer see the base.

 Allow the icing to firm up a bit and pipe a scattering of white #3 dots for berries (you could also use red for holly berries).

 Pipe a bow with the #55 tip in any color you like (red or white are fairly traditional). I really have no directions for the bow; just pipe a couple of loops, a short shot of icing for the knot in the middle, and a couple of tails.

 Peel away the parchment when the icing is dry and use this to make any holiday dessert that much more festive. You could also use a dab of icing to hang this kissing ball over the door of your gingerbread house.

Royal Icing Puffball Hat

I'm not sure if I've given this post the best name; it's sort of inspired by Stan's hat on South Park. You'll need royal icing in at least two colors, star tip #199, star tip #14, 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. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #199 tip just above and at a right angle to the surface and start squeezing. Move the tip upwards about half an inch. Stop pressure and pull the tip away straight up. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and tap the peak to round it. Allow this shape (the knitted cap part) to firm up for a while.

 Use the #14 tip to pipe a cluster of tiny stars for the puffball.

 Pipe a slightly overlapping row of stars around the base of the hat while rotating the nail for the brim (or cuff; not sure what this part is called). You could make little skiers or boarders by piping hats directly onto cake pops.

Royal Icing Loopy Bow

Loopy fondant bows are easy to make, and loopy royal icing bows are even easier! All you'll need is stiff consistency royal icing in any color, oval tip #57, round tip #12, a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, and a Styrofoam block to rest the nail on. Start by taping a sheet of parchment paper to the cookie sheet. 

 Pipe dozens of 1/2" "teardrops" with the tip #57. Allow them to firm up for an hour or two.

They're ready for action when they can be removed easily from the paper by sliding an offset spatula underneath them. 

 

Stick a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick.

 Switch to the #12 tip and pipe a spiral of icing about 1/2" wide and a little over 1/2" tall.

 Quickly, before the icing has  chance to dry, stick as many loops into the icing as you can. Angle them in all different directions. Work from the base up. I was able to fit 6 loops around the base and then tucked in another 8 above.

 Peel away the parchment square when the icing is dry, and use this loopy bow to instantly add more height and festivity to any cupcake, Rice Krispy Treat, brownie, etc!

Royal Icing Gumdrop

Here's another royal icing version of a candy frequently found on gingerbread houses: gumdrops. I'd prefer to not use the real thing because they sure do get gummy, and quickly (in my damp climate, anyway). All you'll need is a round tip (I used #12), stiff consistency royal icing in any festive color, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, a Styrofoam block to rest the nail in, colored sprinkles, and a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 blend of powdered sugar and cornstarch. Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick.  

 Hold the tip just above and at a right angle to the surface. Squeeze out a dollop of icing while moving the tip straight up. After about half an inch, stop pressure and pull the tip away. Touch a fingertip to the dusting pouch and gently tap the icing into the iconic gumdrop shape if need be.

 While the icing is wet, sprinkle it with colored sugar. Use any color you like!

Another Royal Icing Poinsettia

This poinsettia is quite a bit different than the other day's poinsettia, which required a flower former cup. This one is a lot smaller and would be very cute on tiny desserts like petits fours. You'll need stiff consistency royal icing in red or white, a #352 leaf tip, a flower nail, parchment paper squares, a glue stick, a Styrofoam block, a dusting pouch filled with a 50/50 mix of powdered sugar and cornstarch, and yellow ball-shaped cake sprinkles (or be prepared to pipe yellow icing dots with a #2 or #3 round tip). Start by sticking a parchment square to the flower nail with a dab from the glue stick. 

 Hold the #352 tip at a 45 degree angle with one of the pointy ends of the V-shaped tip touching the surface and squeeze out a petal. Squeeze and as the icing fans out to create the wide base of the petal, stop pressure and pull the tip up and away. Rotate the nail and repeat 4 times for 5 petals.

 While the icing is wet, place a few yellow balls in the center, or pipe a few dots. Peel away the parchment when the icing is dry and instantly make any small dessert more festive!