Elephant Baby Shower Cookies for Two Peas & Their Pod
Congratulations to Maria and Josh of Two Peas and Their Pod who are expecting their very own sweet pea very soon!
It’s a very exciting time for these two talented bloggers, and thoughtful Marla {Family Fresh Cooking} and Lisa {With Style and Grace} wanted to make it extra special with a surprise virtual baby shower! They organized a host of wonderful food bloggers (see list below), to come together and surpise Maria and Josh with on-line sweets, savouries and crafts, in honor of the soon-to-be-here baby boy.
Surprise!
Maria and Josh, hope you like these cookies I made for you and your soon-to-arrive bundle of joy. I’m so happy for you both and send you well wishes and hugs.
With this virtual shower may you and your new baby feel the warm welcome that is being expressed by all of us in celebration of his arrival.
Virtual Baby Shower for Two Peas & Their Pod
Drinks
Simple Bites – Lemon Balm infused Lemonade
Ingredients, Inc. – Healthy Fruit Punch
Food for My Family – Lemongrass Soda
Heather’s Dish – Mixed Fruit Punch
She Wears Many Hats – Mini Pistachio Smoothies
Appetizers/Savory Bites
With Style and Grace – Truffle Popcorn
Family Fresh Cooking – Baby Peas & Cheese Frittata
Barbara Bakes – Creamy Orange Fruit Dip and Fruit
Aggie’s Kitchen – Pasta Salad with Balsamic Basil Vinaigrette
Reluctant Entertainer – Nutella Berry Bruschetta
Dessert
Dorie Greenspan – French Lemon Cream Tart
TidyMom – Blue and Chocolate Cake Balls
i am baker – Baby Pea Baby Shower Cake
Brown Eyed Baker – Pavlova
Picky Palate – Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Sandwich
What’s Gaby Cooking – Coconut Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing
Cookin’ Canuck – Nutella & Cream Cheese Swirled Blondies
Kevin and Amanda – Baby Blue Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookie Cups
Sweetopia – Decorated Sugar Cookies
Mountain Mama Cooks – Lavender Shortbread Cookies
Sweetapolita – Little Pea Sugar Cookie Pops
Bake at 350 – Petit Fours with fondant pea pods
RecipeGirl – Baby Button Cookies
RecipeBoy – Mud Cups with Gummy Worms
Add a Pinch – Blackberry Tartlets
Dine and Dish – Oven Baked Cinnamon Apples
Crafts
Wenderly – Handmade Sweet Pea Cards
Our Best Bites – How To: Make a Diaper Cake Centerpiece
If you’d like to make the decorated elephant cookies, here’s how to make them:
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Welcome Baby Printables
Designed by the lovely Kim at The TomKat Studio, these ones are available for free. You can find them here. A big thanks to Kim for making them; they’re so adorable and I can’t wait to see the collection she creates around them!
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Sugar Cookie Dough
You can find the recipe for the dough here. The cookie cutter can be found here.
One tip for cutting out the elephant shapes; dip the cutter in flour first so that the dough slides out better, especially with a slim shape like the elephant trunk. I use a silicon pastry brush to dust off the excess flour.
Royal Icing
You can find my favorite royal icing recipe here. The consistency of icing is key for easy decorating. Click here to see a YouTube video on finding the right icing thickness.
Decorating Steps
What you’ll need:
- Piping Tip #2
- Piping Bag
- Couplers
- Small fondant rolling pin
- Fondant and heart punch cutter (*Optional – Heart can be piped with icing)
- Gel paste colors
Step One:
Outline the elephant shape with royal icing. For detailed decorating tips, this tutorial may be helpful for you.
Step Two:
With the same icing, flood, or fill in your shape.
Step Three:
Let the base dry for at least 6-12 hours.
Step Four:
Add the ear by outlining and filling in right away.
Step Five:
Add a small black dot of icing for the eye. Let the ear and eye dry for a minimum of 6-12 hours.
Step Six:
Roll out your white fondant to about 2mm thick, and punch out a heart shape.
Step Seven:
Adhere fondant heart to ear with a dab of icing.
Done!
Sweet thanks to Niner of We Choose Organic for editing and re-sizing my photos; she did an awesome job with them, as the lighting was pretty bad (an on-going struggle for me with food photography… still learning!).
And if you haven’t had the pleasure of viewing the delicious food and recipes the ‘Two Peas’ make, head on over and enjoy. You’ll be there for quite a while!
Have fun!
xo,
Marian
p.s. If you’d like to never miss a post, and/or receive more tips on decorating, click on this button below to sign up for free:
@ Tammy: Thanks so much for sharing!
@ Jaimie: There’s a post in the tutorial section about freezing cookies. I’m not really a fan of freezing decorated ones, but if you read the comments in the ‘freezing decorated cookies’ post, you’ll see that many people have had success with it.
I love your blog! I love your work and I love your youtube channel!!
Is the best, cute and sweet work I’ve ever seen..
And I caon’t explain all I’m feeling because my english isn’t so good..
But I’m in love… <3
WOW! Your work is AMAZING! and i love the design of your site! I really like these cute cookies!
LOVE your work. It’s all beautiful!!
I’m looking for a little guidance on the cookie cutting. How thick do you usually cut them? I always run into trouble with them coming apart trying to pick them up after cutting them & they lose their shape. Can you help?
Your work is LOVELY!!
I’m hoping you can give some guidance on the cookie cutting. How thick do you usually cut them? I always run into trouble with them coming apart trying to pick them up after cutting them & they lose their shape. Can you help?
@ Bianca: I have a post here on preventing cookies from spreading (from baking):
http://sweetopia.net/2011/04/top-8-tips-on-preventing-cookies-from-spreading/
and in terms of them spreading while you’re cutting the dough out:
a) make sure the dough is very cold/chilled while you’re working with it. Put it back in the fridge periodically if you need to.
b) pull the excess pieces of dough away from the cookie shape before you lift it up
c) use a barbecue spatula (dipped in flour) to pick the cookie shapes up
c) the thickness of my cookies vary depending on my mood (LOL); but a) b) and c) will help you no matter what thickness you use.
Happy decorating!
Thanks Marian! I’ll check it out & keep practicing
I envy your clean & pretty your elephant cuts!!
HI Marian…. By any chance can you tell me what color food gels you used for the elephant? What shade of blue and what shade of green?? Thanks for you help!!!
Hi Pam; Americolor electric green and sky blue.
Where did you get that adorable elephant cookie cutter? I’ve seen different ones online but I really love the shape of yours. Thanks!
Hi @ Shannon: There’s a link to it under the title, Sugar Cookies or above the picture of undecorated elephants. Have fun!
these are absolutely the cutest things I’ve ever seen? Do you by chance sell and ship your cookies? I would love to have these for a baby shower and don’t think I could pull it off my self. I would be looking for about 8 doz. Send me an email if this is something you’re interested in!! Thanks!
Aw, thanks @ Michele! I don’t do orders, but these talented people on my page do:
http://sweetopia.net/cookie-decorator-directory/
@ marian: Thanks for the info!! If you ever change your mind I would be the first to buy
. I just came across your page and love everything!
Marian, what is the exact sugar cookie recipe you use? They seem just perfect. I’ve been experimenting with a couple and would like to try yours. Thanks, Becky
Thanks @ Michele!
HI @ rebecca: Absolutely! The elephants are sugar cookies and all my recipes are in the recipe section (see tab at the top of the blog). Have fun baking!
Marian, thanks so much. I’m trying this recipe tomorrow. Getting ready for my new grandson’s baby shower. You have an awesone website. Becky
Hi, Marian!
Do you have more pics of baby cookies? I need some inspiration for rocking horses, onesies, and carriages. I love your stuff and I consider you tops in decorating!
Thanks, Debbie
Hi, i love your cookies and a truely inspirational job! Im throwing a baby shower for my best friend and the theme is a yellow and silver baby elephant. Ive been searching for the same baby elephant cookie cutter but cant seem to find it. I live in Toronto and was wondering if you have an idea where i get it from. Thank you for your time.
Marian, where did you get the heart shaped punch for the elephant cookies. I’ve searched everywhere I can think. Thanks, Becky
@ Becky: Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=heart+plunger+cutter
@ Debbie: ABsolutely:
http://sweetopia.net/2011/06/baby-shower-decorated-cookies/
http://sweetopia.net/2009/03/baby-cookies-for-carter/
http://sweetopia.net/2009/06/baby-shower-cookies/
@ Komal: Here it is: http://www.coppergifts.com/cookie-cutters/pc/showsearchresults.asp?pageStyle=H&resultCnt=36&keyword=elephant&type=1&submit.x=28&submit.y=13
Hi Marian,
Love your website, lots of inspiration!
I made the elephant cookies but the cuts (or edges) don’t look as “clean” as yours. NOt sure if is because I didn’t make them 1cm thick…
Any suggestions? Also, how far from the corner do you normally ice?
These cookies are the cutest! I’ve got some baked and ready to decorate, but I’m having some trouble with the bags. I’ve bought 2 different sizes…one is too small and one is too big! What size are the bags that you show in the picture? I want mine to look as perfect as yours with the cute printable!
Thanks a million!
Hi @ Leslie: I bought those here: http://www.creativebag.com/ (It’s in Canada, not sure where you are).
HI @ Damary: If you watch my videos you can see how I generally ice my cookies.