Naturally Beautiful Cookie Decorating the Simply Sensational Way

I have been waiting quite a while for the right moment to post
this story. That’s because my editor at Wiley doesn’t want me to talk much about my upcoming book, Simply
Sensational Cookies, until it’s actually out there for peeps to buy. It won’t be
available for another few weeks (though it can be pre-ordered), so at the moment, I can’t share as much with you as I’d
like.  I am able to share the method used to roll out the daisy cookies above and other rolled cookies in the book in my how-to video,  however. You may never roll out cookies with flour ever again!

But yesterday, my very first hot-off-the-presses copy arrived on my doorstep. My hands were shaking as I ripped open the box
and took a look. While this might seem an exaggeration, I felt a bit like I did
when I first held my newborn son in my arms—thrilled, amazed, exhilarated, gratified,
overwhelmed!

Modestly, I have to tell you I think the book is quite beautiful.
The photographers, Diane Cu and Todd Porter, created some utterly glorious images,
and the designer at Wiley made the most of them when she laid out the book. I’m
sorry that I’m not allowed post any of the pics from the book to give you a
sneak-peek now. So please note that all the images posted here are ones I’ve shot myself while creating my recipes; they are NOT ones that will appear in Simply Sensational Cookies.
(However all the cookies shown are in the book.)

Even the frostings and sprinkling sugar shown are tinted with botanical colorants, mainly from fruit juices, edible flowers, and fresh or dried berries. Yes, the garnishing sugar shown gets its color from fairly hard to find woodland violets, but readily available unsprayed purple pansies will work equally well. These pics only hint at what the book decorating chapter features–not only  the traditional expected
recipes, but a generous assortment of recipes for “au naturel” colored
sugars,
homemade sprinkles, buttercreams, and icings to assist those seeking a
more healthful, “greener” decorating way.  In many cases, these
contribute not only great visual appeal, but a burst of flavor and aroma
that artificially colored garnishes
never do.

Two events, both health-related, made me decide to reduce my
dependence on the little bottles of liquid and paste synthetic food colors I’d always
used. Ten years ago my first grandchild was born, followed fairly soon after
by my second.  From the time my grandkids
could stir a dough and hold a cutter we routinely baked and decorated cookies together,
and it made me nervous to see them scarfing down the gaudy, dye-loaded commercial
sprinkles and frostings. As the Center for Science in the Public Interest has
aptly pointed out, food dyes are added solely for cosmetic reasons, and since there is some
scientific evidence that they cause allergic reactions or hyperactivity in certain
people, I simply didn’t want to take the risks.

The second major incident was that I personally developed an allergy to the red and orange azo family of dyes typically used in
lipsticks. Whenever I applied over-the-counter versions, my lips burned and stung and
then the next day they peeled as though I had a bad sunburn—yikes!

 Eventually I
found a tolerable substitute product that is petrochemical free, but since
most of the F D & C approved red and orange food colors are also petrochemical-based
azo formulations, I decided that neither I nor my family should eat them. Better safe than sorry, IMHO, though, I
certainly am not trying to make any decisions for you or your own family.
 

Pictures are often worth a thousand words, so I’m hopeful that
these images will convince you that it’s entirely possible to avoid most
synthetic food dyes and still turn out decorated cookies that look as good as they taste. (A story on commercial brands of botanical
food colors available is here.) Over the past year, I’ve posted a few recipes on my site,
including the “au naturel” buttercream frostings shown above on the cupcakes here; the vibrantly hued raspberry buttercream from the book shown at the bottom left here; and the violet
decorating sugar here.

But for the full range of  tips, ideas and recipes I’ve come up with, please do take a peak at the very substantial decorating chapter in Simply Sensational Cookies. I truly
think that you’ll find it worth the wait.