~ AROUND THE YEAR WITH COOKIE MOLDS ~

June

Weddings and Wedding Cakes

My Cookie Molds Books!

Tip: Molding Marzipan and Fondant

Recipe: Dark Chocolate Cookies with Molded Marzipan Topping

Tip: Guide to Buying Cookie Molds

Recipe: Easy Cookies for a Wedding Party

They Sneaked In! A Few More Choices for Weddings

June’s Cookie and Cake Topper Molds

My grandmother, Cora Brookfield, in her wedding dress

June on the Island

When June comes to San Juan Island, we are more than ready for summer. However, it is not always ready for us.

We pull summer clothes out of storage, but can't wear them yet. "Is it still this winter," I ask Aaron, "or has next winter come already?'

We joke about June-uary, but we wish it would warm up just a little. Everything is flowering now, especially the dandelions and California poppies, but we still wear jackets when we go out, even during the daytime. True, in a few weeks we will be grumbling that it's just so hot, but it's hard to imagine that now. It seems as if summer will never come.

Wedding announcements appear in the papers, though, and probably the brides and grooms are more comfortable in their finery than if it were hot. The cakes stand intact, I suppose, with no threat of the icing melting during the toasts.

I've been to large weddings—and was very impressed by the level or celebration, not to mention the organization that went into them. And I've been to more than a few small ones, including my own. The picture at the head of this month's issue is a treasured photo of mine—my own bouquet, picked the morning of my wedding by a friend with a garden. Since there were only two guests—our witnesses—there was no one to throw the bouquet at, so I kept it. Put it in a glass that I bought for my first apartment when I was nineteen years old, and photographed it before Aaron and I left for our Catalina honeymoon.

Large or small, weddings are among the most special days in a person's life. And they always have been, so the antique reproduction cookie molds we're looking at this month include plenty of examples of wedding cookies.

Can you really make molded cookies for a wedding? You can get beautiful molds, but do you have the time and energy to do this? I've made refreshments for a few friends' weddings, and I know it's something you make time for. But—and here's the big consideration—you don't have time and energy to spend on something that may not work, or that may turn out to be a lot more effort than you'd counted on.

So this month, I offer a couple of recipes that I consider to be about as no-fail as a recipe can possibly be. One is brought back from our Valentine's Day issue. You make ordinary rolled cookies, roll out marzipan that you've bought, mold and trim the marzipan, and top the cookie with that. You'd think marzipan would stick in the molds, but it doesn't.

Another is a cookie recipe that includes apple jelly in the ingredients—this makes a particularly easy dough because some of the jelly ingredients are dough stabilizers. Perfect if you want to make important cookies, like cookies for a wedding party, but you haven't done it before.

And we'll also look at some of the beautiful antique reproduction molds that are available for molded cookies. If you love molded cookies, you can't help loving antique reproduction molds. For a very reasonable price, you can own molds that otherwise, you wouldn't even be able to see. Now if you're a collector, mostly interested in the molds themselves as works of art, this is not your greatest interest. But if what you want is beautiful cookies, reproduction molds are one of the best things around.

And as always, a few molds sneaked in—not antique reproductions, but wedding cookie ideas that are just too good to miss. One is the inexpensive and easy cookie stamps. Another is cookie tartlets. And a third is custom made molds with bride and groom's names or initials.

Also check the February issue of this magazine for many more molds with designs that are suitable for wedding cookies, and for more recipes and tips to go with them. Also, my book Baking with Cookie Molds has a recipe for white chocolate wedding cookies.

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Cake Topper Molds

All cake topper molds are from House on the Hill. Fondant-topped cakes (above and below) are made by House on the Hill's Connie Meisinger. Above: Cornucopia of Roses Cake Topper. Roses and Garlands on cake sides are made from other House on the Hill molds.

After the bride, the star of a wedding is the cake. And there are beautiful molds, reproductions of antique carvings, that are large enough to decorate a cake top. I've used these molds for cookies, not for cakes, so I asked Connie Meisinger of House on the Hill to provide directions, which I've shared below.

Incidentally, the at least some of the cake topper molds also make wonderful cookies. Great gifts especially when you back them with a cake board (more or less like the cardboard round a pizza comes on) and wrap with shrink wrap. I have directions for this in my book Baking with Cookie Molds.

Star Cake Topper

Bouquet Ribbon Border Cake Topper

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Tip: Molding Marzipan and Fondant

Connie Meisinger, of House on the Hill, supplied this tip on how to mold marzipan and fondant. The company sells molds and marzipan, as well as edible gel coloring that you can knead into it. They also have a recipe for homemade marzipan.

Molded Marzipan

Brush selected clean dry mold with confectioner’s sugar.

For a simple molded marzipan treat, knead a ball of marzipan about the size you need to sit into the cavity of the mold until it is slightly warmed and malleable.

Press firmly into the sugar brushed mold. Gently remove marzipan from the mold and trim edges as desired with knife or cutter.

To place marzipan on top of a cake or bars or cookies:

On a surface sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar roll kneaded marzipan to a flat pancake shape.

Adjust the thickness based on the depth of the mold you are using.

Brush the top surface of the marzipan with confectioner’s sugar.

Brush the mold with confectioner’s sugar and press firmly onto the surface of the marzipan.

Gently lift mold off marzipan.

Cut shapes with a knife or a cutter and place on top of cake, cupcake or bar. You may adhere the marzipan with “frosting” glue to the top of the cake or cookie.

Ideas

Bake a pan of your favorite brownies. Use a cookie mold to shape the marzipan toppers. Cut brownie pieces the same shapes and top with marzipan.

Cut a dense cake into a strip the width of the [House on the Hill] Twining Vine Rolling Pin. Roll a long strip of marzipan with the rolling pin, trim edges and place on top of cake. You may make the cake strips 2 layers with a filling also.

Select a round mold the approximate diameter of a cupcake. Using a round cutter cut molded pieces of marzipan and place on top of cupcakes.

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Recipe: Dark Chocolate Cookies with Molded Marzipan Topping

This isn't actually a molded cookie. It's molded marzipan on a cookie. It's good. And surprisingly easy. The mold pattern, "Wedding Symbols," includes hearts, flowers, and pomegranates, which were symbolic of brides at one time.

I like this recipe for some of the very intricate old-fashioned molds because marzipan comes out of the mold with more detail than you get in most cookies after they're baked.

4 ounces (115 grams) baking chocolate

1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter

1 large egg

3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons baking cocoa

2 tablespoons black coffee

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon chocolate extract

About 2 cups (280 grams) all-purpose flour

Chocolate frosting or chocolate spread (I used chocolate almond spread, but ice cream topping would also work)

Marzipan, either commercial or homemade

1. Warm the chocolate and butter together in a low oven or microwave until the chocolate is soft and the butter is melted. The chocolate may hold its shape when soft, so test with a spoon to avoid overcooking.

2. Stir the chocolate and butter together. Set aside.

3. Beat the egg in a large bowl until yolk and white are fully mixed.

4. Mix the sugar, salt, and cocoa. Sift to remove lumps.

5. Add the sugar mixture to the egg.

6. Add the coffee, vanilla extract, and chocolate extract to the egg mixture.

7. Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture.

8. Add flour slowly until the dough is solid enough to knead.

9. Knead in additional flour until the dough is the consistency of children's modeling clay.

10. Roll and form the marzipan toppings. See following section for directions

11. Roll the cookie dough to a uniform thickness. Cut rectangles or circles larger than your molded marzipan toppings.

12. Bake the cookies at 350°F (175°C) for ten to twelve minutes.

13. Cool the cookies and spread with frosting, spread, or topping to help stick the marzipan to the cookie.

14. Center a marzipan topping piece on each cookie and press very lightly.

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The Wedding Coach

The wedding coach is a centuries-old tradition, and an elegant image for a cookie mold, though few of us are likely to actually ride in one. But for a reception, wouldn't this design be perfect and unique?

This cookie was made with a percentage of graham flour, so it's flecked. If you want a paler cookie, use white flour.

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Tip: Guide to Buying Cookie Molds

Gene Wilson of HOBI Cookie Molds has put together a great reference page for cookie mold buyers. It lists types of cookie molds, along with their investment value, functionality, and sources. He discusses advantages and disadvantages of each type, and tells how they're made and what you can expect in the way of performance for each type. Here's a link.

Gene Wilson's Cookie Mold Guide

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Recipe: Easy Cookies for a Wedding Party

These cookies unmold easily and bake without losing detail.

1 cup (225 grams) unsalted butter

1 large egg

2/3 cup (160 milliliters) apple jelly

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon natural lemon flavoring

2/3 cup (135 grams) sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

About 5 cups (700 grams) all-purpose flour

1. Melt the butter and set aside.

2. Beat the egg in a large bowl until yolk and white are fully mixed.

3. Mix the jelly, vanilla extract, and lemon flavoring. Add to the egg and beat until well mixed..

4. Mix the sugar and salt. Add to the egg mixture and beat until well mixed.

5. Add the melted butter slowly and beat until well mixed..

6. Add flour slowly until the dough is solid enough to knead.

7. Knead in additional flour until the dough is the consistency of children's modeling clay.

8. Roll the cookie dough to a uniform thickness. Mold per the instructions for your cookie molds.

9. Bake the cookies at 325°F (163°C) for ten to twelve minutes.

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The Bridal Arch

Here's a beautiful cookie with symbols of the bride and groom and the vows they exchange. It's a springerle mold, which means you mold the cookie first, then cut it out. If you have only round cookie cutters, you can still cut an oval—see my April issue for my directions.

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