decorator icing to decorate cutout cookies??

I only know of 1 decorator that uses buttercream to decorate cookies that look professional, here is the link to her cookies:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/43488478@N06/

She seems to use sanding sugar to make them less squishy she says she can wrap them but occasionally they get damaged (much more fragile the RI or glace icing).

As for the RI or the glace don't knock it till you try it if you have not used this icing and tasted it how could you know if it is bad? My husband loves my cookies, as do all my customers ;o).

If you are making cookies for your family you can certainly use the buttercream but if they are to sell and want a professional look nothing beats RI or glace for workability & durability (if you plan of wrapping & stacking?).

The decorated cookies I do are not dipped I don't know of any decorators that use this technique, to achieve detailed design you need to apply the icing using either a squeeze bottle or a piping bag. I see many requests for icing recipes the icing is not what make the cookie beautiful it is the decorator, proof is looking at Kim's cookies decorated in buttercream.

You can use Antonia's RI recipe I've seen many comments stating they had success with it, others swear by glace icing I personally don't use glace since it takes longer to dry and I am bothered with the milk content in it and worry it has a shorter shelf life (might be wrong but don't want to risk it). If you have a large order and have not decorated cookies before you might be in for a late night, have you considered decorating in fondant and accenting the cookies in RI? I know not everyone likes fondant but I've heard time & time again that it makes decorating cookies a breeze. You can cut out your base color with the cookie cutter and place it on the warm cookie that's all you need for it to melt a little and adhere to the cookie. The negative with the fondant is the heat everyone has been complaining about, the decoration on the cookies could very well melt which wouldn't happen with RI.

If you are making cookies for a paying customer I highly suggest a practice batch to familiarize yourself with the decorating process.

Best of luck!

Oh yes get practicing ASAP! I've heard of some people needing an extra day of drying time due to the extreme humidity these days so get cracking ;o).

I personally only use RI for me it gives the most professional clean look, since this is your first time keep it simple you can get more ambitious on your next round.

Let me know if you have any issues I'll try to help.

It sounds as though Montreal Confections has you all set with RI info. I just wanted to add that if you do use RI, you might want to put them under a fan to help speed the drying process. I use RI as well (Antonia74's recipe) and have excellent results with it and rave reviews. As her meringue powder has vanilla built in and ours in the U.S. does not, you can add flavorings. You want something water-based, no oil. I use the all-natural flavorings and extracts from Spices Etc. I started with the Coconut after reading that Cook's Illustrated rated it #1 and have used other flavors with great results in both the dough and the RI. It gives my cookies a new dimension and has increased my flavor options substantially. I have used, and liked, Coconut, Lime, Orange, Cherry, Lemon, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Two Fold Vanilla, Raspberry and I love, love, love their Clear Vanilla. It is perfect for when I need a flavoring in my RI that will not compete with the cookie flavor or when I am doing white or a light colored RI (no color tint as with normal vanilla).

If you ever want to check them out for the future, here is a link to the page on their all-natural flavorings and extracts:

www.spicesetc.com/category/Natural-Flavorings/a

As well, here are the codes for a first time order:
CC9 flat rate shipping of $4.95 for orders within the US only
AKT9 15% for US or international orders (discount taken before shipping costs)

Choose the one code that applies to you or what you want and enter it at the beginning of checkout and then continue on.

The Flat Rate shipping will be the first option for shipping under the billing information and the 15% off will show up when looking at the summary.

This is my trick for great tasting RI and I get a lot of compliments on it. Several others of my cookie friends use it and love it too. Best of luck on your order! Whether or not you use RI this time, I would recommend trying it in the future. It packages well, ships well and again, I get rave reviews on the flavor. Many of us are indebted to Antonia74 for sharing that recipe with us.

So glad to hear it all worked out ;o) cookies are my favorite thing to decorate.

Have a good one! Marlyn

Congrats Pam, can't wait to see your pics!!

Glad it worked out great for you.

So happy that it worked so wonderfully for you! I individually bag mine in cello bags and heat seal them, but I am not doing the large platters as you are. You might want to post the question in the Cookie Forum as I am sure there are a lot of people who do platters. Mine are most along the lines of individual favors. Again, so glad that it was such a success!

Grr, I wish I'd seen this yesterday!! I just placed my first order with Spices, Etc. last night because you've been saying such good things about their coconut extract. I can't wait to try it.

Pam I'm glad you had such good luck with the royal. I really like the taste of Toba's Glace as well but I agree that royal is much easier to work with.

If it is any consolation, I did not have the coupon code until after I initially ordered. The great news is that once you are on their e-mail list, you will get occasional e-mails with discount codes for reduced shipping, free shipping, free items when you spend a certain amount, etc. I would buy the extracts without all of that as they are that good, but it certainly helps out as well.

TracyLH, I miss seeing your cookies! Do you have a website?