*** This was originally published on the site, Frosting for the Cause, which no longer exists. This post is special to me because of my Tante Kathe (story below), so I’ve placed it here on a separate page of Sweetopia.
I’m not used to writing something that isn’t light-hearted and fun… Writing something which brings back memories that stir up painful feelings of loss.
There are many fond memories too of course, but when asked to remember someone who suffered from cancer, I remember my great Aunt Kathe; Tante Kathe to my brothers and I.
She was there from the beginning, when I was born, as a young child when she lived next door, and then when she was a frequent visitor or we were frequent drop-ins to her home as I grew up. She was family, a fixture in my life.
A woman who was strong, proud and resourceful. Kind, beautiful and sensitive.
My Tante Kathe also had a wonderful sense of humour. I’ll never forget finally finding out, that it was she who had dressed up and disguised herself in mom’s furry cap, as Hans Muff, with Santa Claus (Hans Muff is a whole other story I won’t go into here), and come to visit us on Christmas eve.
So seeing her in the hospital during her final days with us on earth, ravaged by the cancer she had so valiantly fought for years, was a heart-wrenching thing.
It’s in her memory, and in the hope that the pain she experienced will not continue to cause suffering in others, that I pledge my donation, and in her memory that I made these cookies.
Besides sharing here on Frosting for the Cause, in an effort to to help raise awareness about cancer, together with Cook for the Cure and Kitchen Aid, I am hosting a giveaway for two raspberry, Artisan Kitchen Aid Mixers. You can read more about it and enter the giveaway here.
If you’d like to help make a difference, and would like to make these for a fundraiser or gathering of your own, here are the instructions:
How to Make these Cookies:
To make these cookies, you’ll need:
Light Gingerbread Cookie Recipe
Yield: Approx. 25 cookies. (Depends on cookie size and shape).
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup light butter, softened
- 1 cup packed brown splenda sugar
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup golden syrup
- 4 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy.
- Slowly mix in egg, molasses and golden syrup.
- Combine the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
- Cover and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
- Between two sheets of parchment paper or on a floured surface, roll out your dough to approximately 1/8-in. thickness.
- Cut with lightly floured cookie cutters and place about one inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes, or until edges are firm and the center is no longer wet.
- Once cookies are cooled, have fun decorating cookies!
Martha Stewart’s Royal Icing Recipe
Yield: Makes about 2 1/2 cups
Ingredients:
- 2 large egg whites, or more to thin icing
- 4 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, or more to thicken icing
- 1 lemon, juiced
- food gel colors of your choice (I used black, white, red and pink)
Directions:
- Beat the whites until stiff but not dry. Add sugar and lemon juice; beat for 1 minute more. If icing is too thick, add more egg whites; if it is too thin, add more sugar. The icing may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
*
For Decorating, You’ll Need:
- small fondant rolling pin
- raspberry disco dust
- PME pearl lustre spray
- piping bags, couplers, #’s 2 & 3 piping tips
- white sanding sugar
- gum paste and Jem strip cutter, 7mm (*Optional – can be cut by hand)
- #’s 7 and 10 piping tips and gumpaste colored grey (a touch of black gel paste)
Gingerbread Girl Cookies
For the gingerbread girls, I outlined the cookie with a #3 piping tip, and sprinkled sanding sugar on top. Finish her off with a little heart piped with a #2 tip. I sprinkled one of them with raspberry disco dust, the others were made using pink icing.
Cancer Ribbon Cookies
The cancer ribbon cookies were decorated using a #2 piping tip. Pipe the outline and fill the border in right away. The consistency of icing is key here. For a video on finding the right consistency, click HERE.
Kitchen Aid Mixer Cookies
Step 1. Outline your kitchen aid mixer shape. Please excuse the darkness of the photo in #1 and #2 below; I used my Kopykake projector to outline, and turned out the lights to see the lines a bit better.
Step 2. Flood the mixer with your desired icing color.
Step 3. Sprinkle disco dust on the wet icing. When the icing is dry, gingerly shake off the excess disco dust, and use a paintbrush to gently wipe away the extra on the cookie.
Step 4. Flood the mixer bowl, and grey parts of the mixer.
Step 5. Roll out grey gum paste to about 2mm thick. Cut out circles with the openings of tip #’s 2, 7 and 10. Adhere these “buttons” to the mixer cookie with royal icing.
Step 6. Roll out white gum paste and punch out strips with your Jem cutter. Trim to the size of your kitchen aid mixer. Attach it across the top part of the mixer with small dabs of royal icing.
Step 7. Lightly spray the mixer bowl with PME lustre spray, covering any part you don’t want sprayed, with paper.
I hope you enjoy making these for your loved ones or for “Frosting for the Cause”. A heartfelt thank you to Paula, who is the mastermind behind this site, and who has worked diligently and tirelessly on spreading the word, to help cure cancer. It’s an honour to be here.
xo,
Marian