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How the Wood Type Cookie Project turned out

post #1 of 11
10/8/12 at 9:11am
Thread Starter 
Well, the Annual Los Angeles Printers' Fair was this past Saturday, and all 183 "regular" cookies sold (with the result that I was fully reimbursed for the cost of the ingredients), and my dairy-allergic fellow docent bought the entire batch of dairy-free/vegan cookies (for over 3 times the cost of the ingredients).

Cutting and assembly:
Image
Wood Type Cookie Project by Tracker-Backer, on Flickr

Ready for the oven:
Image
Wood Type Cookie Project by Tracker-Backer, on Flickr
(The edges of the foil are turned up in an attempt to confine spread and shield the edges from overcooking)

Out of the oven:
Image
Wood Type Cookie Project by Tracker-Backer, on Flickr

Sorting and Counting:
Image
Wood Type Cookie Project by Tracker-Backer, on Flickr
All 183 "regular" cookies

This had to be the most labor-intensive baking project I've ever undertaken, and I made it very clear that if wood type cookies come back next year, I'm not doing all of them by myself!
James H. H. Lampert
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James H. H. Lampert
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post #2 of 11
10/8/12 at 10:53am
What a lot of careful work. Those people were lucky to get these.

Now that we can see what you are trying to do...You might try lowering your oven temperature by 25F to avoid over-dark edges. Or roll your base sheet a little thicker.

May I suggest that next year, you bake the cookies without the prepainted colour? You can then make modelling chocolate toppers for the letters that will make the whole blocks look perfect.
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post #3 of 11
10/8/12 at 11:14am
Thread Starter 
Well, for the first test batch, I used CakeMate "Classic Writing Icing" to "ink" the cookies after baking:

Image
Wood Type Cookies, Mk. 1 by Tracker-Backer, on Flickr

but that took bloody forever, even with the comparatively simple "integral sign" cutter I used before I bought the set of alphabet cutters. It also made them a bit too sweet, and meant a significant drying time before they could be stacked.

I'm not sure how "modeling chocolate toppers" would make a difference, unless they replace not only the cookie-paint, but the second layer of dough as well.

The thought has occurred to me that with some sort of candy letters mounted on rice krispie treat bases, I could even make these things "type-high," not that they'd survive being locked up into a chase like an actual type forme, hung on a press, and printed.

Not shown: the dairy-free batch. In order to make them vegan, as well as dairy-free, I used a flour-based cookie-paint for that one batch. So long as it didn't clump, that actually seemed to bake a little better than the egg-tempera, although it was harder to apply smoothly.
James H. H. Lampert
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James H. H. Lampert
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post #4 of 11
10/8/12 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene

What a lot of careful work. Those people were lucky to get these.


I still don't know what the food booth ended up charging for them. I did make it very clear to them that they needed to charge more than the 10 cents apiece reimbursement I was dinging the museum for.

And if you didn't understand my "what do you think you are, a museum docent" comment in another thread, maybe you do now. icon_biggrin.gif

On tap for this week: a cake for my parents' 55th wedding anniversary. With an edible image of a "SPEED LIMIT 55" sign, altered in GIMP to look like somebody had spray-painted "WHAT" over "SPEED."
James H. H. Lampert
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James H. H. Lampert
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post #5 of 11
10/8/12 at 12:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by hbquikcomjamesl

Well, for the first test batch, I used CakeMate "Classic Writing Icing" to "ink" the cookies before baking:



Before baking? did I read that right? Most icings WILL soften during baking. The only exception I have used is a meringue that sets fast as soon as the dough goes into the oven and then stays in place. You would pipe the letters--decorative, but they wouldn't look like type.

Quote:
Originally Posted by hbquikcomjamesl

I'm not sure how "modeling chocolate toppers" would make a difference, unless they replace not only the cookie-paint, but the second layer of dough as well.

The thought has occurred to me that with some sort of candy letters mounted on rice krispie treat bases, I could even make these things "type-high"



Well modelling chocolate is exactly that: pliable candy that can be rolled out and cut with your letter cutters. It will sit just as well on baked cookie dough as on rice krispies treat. It can replace the second layer of cookie when rolled that thick, or it can replace the inking on the letter, when rolled thinner and added after baking.

I personally would bake 2 layer cookies and add the candy highlight.
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post #6 of 11
10/8/12 at 1:15pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene

Quote:
Originally Posted by hbquikcomjamesl

Well, for the first test batch, I used CakeMate "Classic Writing Icing" to "ink" the cookies before baking:



Before baking? did I read that right?



You read it right; I just wrote it wrong. (OOPS! Corrected!) Frosting is after baking; cookie-paint is before baking!
James H. H. Lampert
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James H. H. Lampert
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post #7 of 11
10/9/12 at 11:24am
Thread Starter 
Actually, I think the biggest pain-in-the-butt out of the whole process was the cookie cutters: the parts that cut out the counters of the A, B, D, O, P, Q, and R don't go all the way down, and so for every last one of those letters, I had to bottom-out those lines with a toothpick, then dig out the counters.
James H. H. Lampert
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James H. H. Lampert
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post #8 of 11
10/9/12 at 12:01pm
Wow! that is so much work. I hope they were appreciated!

Hero of the month:   Amina Tyler

 

 

The Christian right is neither.

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Hero of the month:   Amina Tyler

 

 

The Christian right is neither.

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post #9 of 11
10/9/12 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
They were definitely appreciated.
James H. H. Lampert
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James H. H. Lampert
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post #10 of 11
10/9/12 at 5:52pm
James, you did a beautiful job with this project!
website www.BakingFix.com
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website www.BakingFix.com
blog www.BakingFix.com/thefix
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/MimiFix
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post #11 of 11
10/10/12 at 4:57am
Definitely better outcome than expected icon_smile.gifthumbs_up.gif
Paula
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Paula
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