When Two Loves Collide

Baking

20 Apr

Since the start of the lockdown, all of us gained extra time in our hands. I would like to spend mine in improving my creative skills. I love baking and one thing that I am not good at is using royal icing in decorating cookies. I normally use ready-to-roll fondant. Since I love following recipes, I saw a lot of videos on using royal icing, particularly the flooding technique. It looks intricate and requires a steady hand. But I am challenged. I want to learn the part too. So, I thought I’ll find time to practice. And what a better way to experiment is to use my favourite fabric as theme. My two loves combined. Hence, I decided to make Marimekko cookies.

“My two loves became one.”

*Designer Maija Isola's Unikko print (1964)*

I have admired MARIMEKKO for a long time. Its bold and vibrant prints have inspired me and influenced my love for color. I read that this Finnish label began in 1951. They started with dresses and their designs represented a modern and free lifestyle for women. I love all of their prints, but I have been a fan of the iconic Unikko (poppy) that came out in 1964. You won’t miss it - that gorgeous red and bright pink poppies. Gorgeous.

“This cookie tasted like fruity Christmas.”

*Ingredients for Molasses Spice Cookies*

So I thought I would make a tasty cookie this time, because I normally make vanilla and chocolate. I chose Molasses Spice. (I could have chosen Anzac cookies but it was too late already to go out to get the ingredients. It could have been perfect Anzac cookie and poppy together.) It needs cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, ginger and molasses. What I got in the pantry is Pomegranate Molasses. So I got excited that my cookie will have a fruity taste plus the Christmas-y flavour. I don’t have the pumpkin pie spice though, so I just doubled up the cinnamon after googling for substitutions. I don’t know how it is going to turn out so I had taken a video the entire time. Just so I can correct my mistakes when I make them again.

*Make red, black and orange royal icing in flood consistency*

I also roughly drew the shape of the poppy. The cookbook has a template but I don’t have time to go out and resize it. So, I drew on a white sheet of paper first and cut it, then trace on baking paper. Then, baking paper on the cookie dough, and traced it with a sharp knife.

“The key is to dry every layer completely.”

*Dry completely before adding color layers*

I was hopeful I can do it. It took me a LOT of time decorating. But I didn’t noticed, I was enjoying every step. For this particular project, you have to totally dry the red layer first, then the black one, last is the orange bit.

Check out the video below on how to decorate these babies.

There you have it. My sort of ‘fan art’! Hope it is a good enough first effort. I wish this inspires you to extend your baking projects into a mashup of your interests. Until next project.