Dipping v. outlining-and-filling

So, first of all, the invitation ornaments. With their phone number blanked out--I don't just have weird spots like that on my cookies, I swear. :-)

In other news...recently, one of our suppliers showed us a recipe and a technique for dipping cookies instead of outlining and flooding. Now, I still prefer the outlining and flooding technique because, in general, it produces a sharper, cleaner look to the edge of the cookie.

These little suckers were dipped in the red, rather than using the outline and fill technique. See those bottom edges there? They make me cringe. And they make me worry at night when I'm trying to go to sleep. I kid you not. Cookie anxiety--it's a real problem, people, and the only solution is to raise awareness and find a cure. :-)

So far, the cure consists of practice and experimenting with this stuff. It's awful--I mean as far as a product to work with. It tastes fine. I swear. Please keep buying my cookies. :-)

But when it gets mixed up (it uses a special kind of sugar), the consistency is kind of like a thick, gloppy glue. And then you have to heat it and thin it down to a dipping consistency. So, more high maintenance than a simple royal icing. And if the consistency isn't juuuuust right--drips. Drips all over the place.

HOWEVER, we're learning as we go! Take a look at these trees--not bad, right? They were dipped!

We learned that the simpler the shape, the more successful we are at getting the icing to stay on the cookie. And sprinkles on top of wet icing? Not a good idea--pushes the icing right off the side. I'm sure there's some scientific explanation, but I'm going to go with, "sprinkles are heavy." We have to let the base dry, then put on sprinkles with royal icing afterward.

The bottom line is...well, our bottom line. We have to have sure that we can supply the product being demanded of us and make a profit doing so. And once we get a few people who can master the technique, this is a much more efficient way of getting the base color on the cookies. It goes on faster and dries to the touch quicker than royal icing, allowing us to get through more in less time. And when we have 500+ cookies going out a week, efficiency is our friend, so long as we can balance that with pretty.

Because I refuse to send out not-pretty cookies.