Let's Get Started:
- Bake your favorite sugar cookie recipe with your desired size of Butterfly cookie cutters. Once baked, cool them completely.
Decorating the Cookies:
- Roll some white sugar paste about 1/3 inch thick.
- Place plastic wrap over the paste and cut with cookie cutter. Using plastic wrap over the paste will give you a beveled edge that looks much nicer than the usual square edges.
- Use piping gel or sugar syrup to adhere the paste to the cookies.
- Run your finger around edges to smooth the sides.
- Use your corn flour pouch to buff the surface of the cookies. This will give you a nice, smooth surface.
- Let the finished fondant topped cookies dry for about an hour.
Now, give your cookies a color wash. You can do this in two ways:
- First Option: Dry powder colors - which gives the cookie a lighter base.
- Second Option: Gel colors mixed with vodka or lemon extract.
- Use brush strokes from the outer edges to the center of the cookie.
- You can add the first color, leave to dry for a few minutes, then add a second color to add more depth. Uneven color patches look nicer on the finished cookie.
Adding the butterfly body:
- Use Satin Ice Black fondant with CMC (added so that the fondant dries harder, and won't be squashed when stacked).
- Roll into sausage shaped pieces tapering towards one end, as shown below.
- Make an indent for the head with the knife and eyes with a pin. Add some lines for the body if you choose.
Adding the black details on the wings:
- Print a few butterfly designs for inspiration. You can be organic and creative in your design of the wings, but it is important to maintain symmetry between both sides.
- Ensure the color wash is dried on the cookie.
- Create the outline of the butterfly's wings. Top two and bottom two.
- You can make the black outline as thin or thick as you desire, beginning with a black line in the center of the body may help achieve symmetry.
- Once you have the divisions made, start adding the veins of the wings.
- You can see the graduation of lines from the 3rd to the 5th images.
- Lastly I added some yellow dots to create highlights.
Enjoy!