Sooo, even with a holiday to-do list already busting at the seams, inspiration struck last week when I stumbled on this kinda amazing, albeit ambiguously simple, novelty gingerbread cookie-cutting set. I've made my share of spice-cookie architecture and smiling ginger-boys and girls, but this was something new, something special - and I loved it... but I could so totally do something better...
So I did.
Starting with a silhouette of Oscar's handsome pop, Ruger, and utilizing some very gracious design/engineer friend-consult, I fashioned, step-by-step, my very own custom Ridgeback cookie cutters...
Now, molding tin dog silhouettes to a perfectionist's specs isn't exactly a walk in the park, but lest you think it's all smooth sailing once you've got a bonafide "dough-stamp" - working with raw gingerbread (I'll posit any cookie dough) is, let's just say, rather tricky. *Consider that your molds - dependent on THREE cookies to amicably interlock - have a lean margin for variance in cookie thicknesses; consider that gingerbread rises ever so slightly (and completely uncontrollably) while baking; consider that your icing, depending on how you make it and how thickly you spread it, adds it's own hair to two-hair's thickness; then consider that gingerbread, as a sculptural material, could honestly care less about what you're up to... Add that all up and you've got a recipe for trial and error. Lucky for me, I'm one patient amateur baker...
Many delicious prototypes and test runs later, I had a small pack of "perfect" gingerbread dogs, which I guarded FIERCELY until all photography and special gifting was complete. And now - project documentation buttoned up and posted - I just have a half dozen or so extra reasons to go out for a run or find a treadmill every day for the next month...
*For those curious, the gingerbread recipe I followed was from trusty MarthaStewart.com, as was that for the Royal Icing. And if you're wondering about the icing color, which is actually a bit brighter in person, behold - Neon Food Coloring (yeah, they make that now!).
OMG! Totally amazing Natalya!! And even more so is the restraint Oscar Dog posses when sitting in front of those tasty looking morsels!! Hope he sampled at least a few!!
Posted by: Holly Buttura | December 28, 2012 at 09:51 AM
This is too adorable. How fun to make three dimensional cookies & to color them so brightly!
Posted by: Linn @ The Home Project | December 28, 2012 at 02:30 PM
happend to cross this post on Notcot.org today and I have to say I love your work and Oscar. Keep up the great work. ^ ^
Posted by: Mark Villarreal | December 28, 2012 at 04:47 PM
Many thanks all! We had a ton of fun with this project - and yes, Oscar for sure got one of those cookies as a reward - the pink one, to be exact! (I couldn't really do much with it after it had Beast drool all over it...)...
xo
N+O
Posted by: Natalya | December 28, 2012 at 05:45 PM