I do.
I do promise you that these cookies are easy to make.
Wedding season – filled with lovely lace & rich fabrics, pretty baubles, luscious flowers and decadent sweets of all kinds – it’s a season of exquisite inspiration, and for those of us fulfilling the wishes of brides, or hoping to wow our lovely ladies with a sweet gift we’ve made for a bridal shower or for the wedding itself, rising to the occasion can actually be a stressful situation. It’s a time in her life she will always remember and cherish, and we want to make her happy.
If you’re in charge of making cookie favours, (like I was, for a different reason though, which I’ll explain in a second), a sweet and simple option are these edible sugar lace cookies. And I do mean simple. They’re easy to make, even if at first glance they may seem impossible to create. I’ve adorned mine with a pale pink flower and an adorable ‘I do’ flag (made by Laurel of Go Against the Grain. I love them! You can find them here if you don’t have time to make them), but there are so many other possibilities with these cookies! I’ve got a few more ideas for you, which I’ll share at the end of this post.
Now if you’ve got to make let’s say 200 lace cookies, you may want to stay on the simple side in terms of design, but either way, I have a little secret for you on how to easily make the edible sugar lace itself. And it’s a technique you can use for anything – cakes, cupcakes, hot chocolate (you’ll see)… The potential is endless.
Speaking of possibilities, the reason why I made these was for a wedding cookie collaboration. Anne Yorks of The Flour Box Bakery (who incidentally is on my Decorating Directory here, if you’re here because you’d like to order some cookies), graciously challenged some cookie decorators to pick up a copy of the May 2012 edition of Brides magazine, and use anything from that magazine to inspire our cookies. The results are stunning! Here are all the other cookies and the decorators who participated below:
1. Hani of Haniela’s (pages 154 and 189) – Facebook Page
2. Marian of Sweetopia (page 79) – Facebook Page
3. Lorraine of Lorraine’s Cookies (page 267) – Facebook Page
4. Callye of Sugarbelle’s (page 267) – Facebook Page
5. Vicki of Sweet Tweets (pages 128-129) – Facebook Page
6. Linda of Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design (page 267) – Facebook Page
7. Debbie of Mt. Lookout Sweets (page 96) – Facebook Page
8. Kim of Kookie Kreations by Kim – Facebook Page
9. Samantha of Flour-De-Lis (page 80) – Facebook Page
10. Laura of Laura’s Cookies (Pages 142, 189, 267, and 286) – Facebook Page
11. Georganne of LilaLoa (page 105) – Facebook Page
12. Jill of Jill FCS – Funky Cookie Studio (pages 72-73) – Facebook Page
13. Anne of Flour Box Bakery (page 189) – Facebook Page
14. Liz of Arty McGoo (page 267) – Facebook Page
15. JoAnn of The Biscuit Box (page 79) – Facebook Page
I love each cookie decorators pretty creations! Thanks so much to Anne for organizing this and for inviting me!
It was easy to find inspiration in the lace and flowers everywhere in the magazine.
And my secret to the simplicity of making these cookies, one that you may already know about, is a confectionery icing called, SugarVeil.
What is SugarVeil?
SugarVeil is a confectionery icing which is like any royal icing; it can be piped, or used to flood cookies etc., but the absolutely unique (and amazing!) thing about it, is that it’s actually flexible and pliable while it’s drying, so that it can be manipulated into shapes just like a fabric would, for example. It may seem confusing, so let me show you what I mean in the tutorial below on these lace cookies instead:
*
How to Make SugarVeil Lace Cookies
What you’ll need
- SugarVeil Icing Mix
- SugarVeil Mat
- SugarVeil Spreader
*A wallpaper spreader works as well - Shortbread Recipe
- Cookie Cutters
- Royal Icing Recipe
- Piping Bag
- Coupler
- Piping Tip #3
Step One:
Make and bake the shortbread cookies.
Step Two: Make the SugarVeil icing according to the package instructions. You will need a mixer of some sort, even if it’s a $10.00 hand blender. Besides the SugarVeil powder, the only other ingredient is water. It’s recommended the icing sit for overnight, so I made the icing in the morning, and used it during the evening. (Same time frame).
Step Three: Make the royal icing and flood the cookies.
See here for videos on how I flood my cookies with royal icing. You can find lots of how-to’s in the the tutorial section above as well.
Step Four: While your cookies are drying, start working on the edible lace.
You’ll need:
- SugarVeil Lace Mat (of your choice), I used the following from SugarVeil.com for these cookies; SugarVeil Lace Mat, Flower Net Mat & Rose Mantila Mat
- Confectionery spreader (can be bought via SugarVeil.com or you can buy a wallpaper spreading tool)
a) Put a dollop of SugarVeil on the mat. If you have too much or too little you’ll be able to figure that out in the next steps. (Photo courtesy of SugarVeil).
b) Using the spreading tool, spread the SugarVeil out on the mat. You can move in any direction, as long as you distribute the SugarVeil over the whole mat. It helps to press down while you’re spreading too, that way the icing is forced into every little groove. (Photo courtesy of SugarVeil).
*Something to note… Above is a photo of the first time I tried SugarVeil a few months ago. Notice the fine bits of sugar in the holes. I forgot to do this one last (important) step:
c) Once you’ve spread your SugarVeil accross the whole mat, clean the edge of the spreader with a damp cloth, and do one last clean swipe of the whole mat. This will clean up all the edges. Here’s what my mats looked like this time (Sorry about photo lighting… took pics at night in my kitchen):
d) Once the SugarVeil has set, which can vary depending on room temperature humidity (anywhere between 2 hours to overnight), you’ll be able to easily peel the corners of the SugarVeil away from the mat. I let mine set for approximately 4 hours. Place the mat face down and use your fingers to start peeling away the lace from the mat, and then use your spreading tool to pin the lace down while you peel the mat away from the lace. Peel away approximately 3 inches or 8 cm at a time, reposition the spreader close to the mat again, and peel away. The key idea is to peel the mat away from the lace, and not the lace away from the mat.
Once you’ve peeled the mat away, you’re left with your edible lace!
You may be able to tell from the photos – the lace is pliable, and although it’s delicate, still fairly easy to work with.
Step Five: Besides manipulating it into ribbons or any number of shapes, you can cut out the pieces you need to suit your design. (Next photo is courtesy of SugarVeil).
Step Six: Place your edible lace onto the cookie and gently press onto the surface of the dry royal icing. (Make sure your royal icing has dried for at least a few hours. Drying time depends on humidity, but you should be able to press on the surface of the royal icing, without indentations happening). The SugarVeil lace easily adheres to the surface of the iced cookie.
Tuck the corners into the crevice where the icing and cookie meet…
or let the edges drape over the side. For some variation and height, I bunched up the lace a little on a few of the cookies.
Besides adding flowers, like the sweet little pink ones I have here, from Petra International, there are endless possiblities that SugarVeil provides. Imagine wedding dress cookies with sweet edible lace, or little lace bows! Add little edible pearls, isomalt jewels, airbrushed or luster dusted icing and a sprinkling of glittery disco dust. Just maybe not all of them at once. Or, maybe yes, whatever works!
Another version I played around with below, was made using some sugarpaste, dogwood flowers from this post here and this Coppergifts.com plaque cutter, but I preferred the soft, kind of shabby chic look with the pink flower instead.
You could also combine the lace with gumpaste medallions, like these which Susan Trianos has made on her tufted billow weave cake:
And not to digress too much, but don’t you just love those tufted billows?! I fell in love with them when I saw Mandie’s, {thejoyof} cake, pretty version on Facebook, and have since discovered that Susan Trianos began the trend of layering the ‘billows’ into a weave patten. I love it! I need to try a smaller version of it for cookies! If you’d like to give it a go btw, Susan has a DVD on it here (Which she so kindly express mailed to me the other day – woo hoo! Thanks, Susan! I’ve already watched it and can tell you that she’s thorough and excellent at teaching, it’s no wonder she’s an instructor at the Bonnie Gordon College!).
What I’d really love to try, is the billowing with the SugarVeil lace, with medallions or little roses in between.
Anyways, you get the idea. The sky’s the limit in terms of possible combinations!
I haven’t even mentioned tasting SugarVeil yet… Subtly sweet, a hint of marshmallow softness… Hard to describe, but really, not overly sweet and easy to bite into on top of the cookie.
And another idea, this time completely unrelated to decorating cookies, but so fun I just have to share it with you – Imagine dressing up hot chocolate with one of these SugarVeil lace designs… it slowly melts as you drink your hot chocolate. So charming! (Photo courtesy of SugarVeil).
For more techniques, you absolutely must see the SugarVeil YouTube channel here and the SugarVeil site here. Michele Hester, the talented creator of SugarVeil, shows you how to make the icing, spread it onto the mats, remove it, and shares a multitude of other ways to use it.
Sweet thanks to Niner of Niner Bakes for helping me with a few photos for this post! If you’d like to see her newest post, adorable wedding cake pops, you can find them here.
I hope this mini tutorial has helped you! I welcome any questions or feedback… Have I forgotten to mention something? Do you need clarification on anything? Please ask or let me know.
Have fun creating!!
xo,
Marian
maryann says
Thank you so much for this tutorial – I learned so much! These are honestly, some of the most beautiful cookies I have ever seen! I cannot wait to try this!
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi @ Kelly: The cookies were 3 inches or approximately 8cm diameter. Have fun!
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Thanks so much @ maryann!
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi @ Kristen @ Sugar & Love: Yes, Flour Confections.com sells it.
Cara Christensen says
Exquisite! The cookies are just stunning…I see SugarViel in my near future!
Susan Dobbs says
Marian, you are SO CREATIVE and I just love how you made these! Thank you so much for sharing your secret and congratulations on having your cookies in Brides!
Beth J. says
Oh. My. Goodness! I love this! My future sister-in-law just agreed to let me throw her a bridal shower and she chose a southern belle theme. These will go perfectly! And I can even work in the peach and blush color scheme as the background color and the ribbon decor. So excited to do a trial run before adding these to our southern menu! 🙂
CJ says
Gorgeous!! I’d love to make these for my daughter’s wedding but dare I??
How far ahead could I make them and would they hold up to transport a few miles to the site. Could they be stacked at all?
Rowaida Flayhan says
Beautiful Marian love it! Wish you blessed and successful week xx
Marianthi Kalaitzi says
Thank you so much for this explicit tutorial. I bought sugarveil more than half a year ago, and still hasn’t tried it. I think, now I’ve seen your tutorial, I will give it a go next weekend.
Marianthi Kalaitzi says
Marianthi Kalaitzi wrote:
Véronique L. says
That is so “funny”. I’ve used of the mat for the first time last week even if I had it since 6 months! I did some bridal wedding dress 🙂
It’s not easy to peel off.. very delicate but VERY fun to play with !
https://www.biscuitsugart.com/store/show/BM-102
Thanks!
marian says
@ Cara Christensen: Thanks!
@ Susan Dobbs: Thank you! I can’t take the credit for being in Brides magazine though… We just used the inspiration from the magazine to make our cookies. =)
Have fun with them, @ Beth J.!
Hi @ CJ: Exciting! I’m pretty sure they’d hold up a few miles to the site, and to stacking. I would put a piece of parchment in between each layer. The best way to know though… try a test batch. =) This was my first time making them, so I don’t have a lot of experience to be able to answer your question 100%. =)
Thank you as always,@ Rowaida Flayhan!
That’s wonderful, @ Marianthi Kalaitzi! Enjoy!
@ Véronique L.: I love it! The little black ribbon to finish it off is perfect as well! Great way to finish off the edges. Thank you for sharing!
Kristen @ Sugar & Love says
@ Marian (Sweetopia):
Thank you so much!!!
Gilda says
Wow is all I can say, I have heard of Sugar Veil but have never been interested in trying it until I saw your tutorial, this makes a big difference in my confidence level. Can’t wait to try it.
Alison Lawson says
I am so excited by this tutorial! Thank you for sharing, and I am now on the lookout for these products so I can try!
Anita Rao says
Your work is always so neat and pretty and perfect. Loved the lace cookies. Had known of it but seeing your work, inspired more so to try it. Your work is amazing!
Anita Rao says
Your work is always so neat and pretty and perfect. Loved the lace cookies. Had known of it but seeing your work, inspired more so to try it. Your work is amazing!
Anne @ Flour Box Bakery says
Marion,
Thank you for this wonderful post! I am receiving more and more requests for LACE! And it’s such a challenge to hand pipe on cookies for a large order! Thank you so much for sharing this valuable tutorial. I am definitely going to try the sugarveil. It’s just gorgeous! Thank you, also, for participating with the Brides project. It was really an honor to work with you! And your cookies were nothing short of stunning!
Anne
marian says
Have fun with it, @ Gilda!
My pleasure, @ Alison Lawson. Good luck!
Thank you, @ Anita Rao! =)
HI @ Anne @ Flour Box Bakery: It was a pleasure doing the collaboration with you! Thanks again for inviting me! xo
Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more says
oh I love it! I have been wanting to try it out but know I would not use it much, but some day I plan to!
Shanna C says
Marian – thank you for sharing this…I truly have learned something new today! This is inspiring and I plan to check out SugarVeil and purchase it soon. I had never heard of this product until you posted this.
Laura says
hi,
your lace cookies are beautiful and defently an inspiration!
I was just wandering if you culd color the icing before making it into lace? and if so, would the added humidity change the texture of the lace?
– Thanks
Laura
XOXO
marian says
That’s great @ Sue @ Cakeballs, cookies and more: Would love to see your creations when you do!
My pleasure, @ Shanna C!
Hi @ Laura: Yes, you can color it. Although I’ve never tried it, I watched some of Michele Hester’s YouTube videos (SugarVeil), and she mentions and shows it colored. If humidity and texture are affected I’m not sure, sorry. Maybe visit SugarVeil’s site and ask them on one of their social networks? Good luck!
Oksana says
Aha! Thanks Marian, something else to sink my teeth into, litterally. Only I can’t find Sugaveil in NZ; could it be called anything else, do you know? Thank you.
Marcie says
Hi Marian,
Love your site. Awesome cookies as always! I was wondering if you knew whether SugarVeil can be used with other mats not made by SugarVeil?
Rebecca says
These are so gorgeous! I’ve never seen this SugarVeil stuff before. Looks like so much fun! Can’t wait to try it out.
Kimmy says
Hi Marian, thanks for the tutorial you inspire me 😉
I would like to find out where can I get the cookie cutter, in your cookie photo the cookie on the bottom(which is not the square n round, I’m not sure what shape do u call that) I benn looking for that kind of shape cutter… Please advise. Appreciate your reply. TQ
Kimmy says
I found the answer… Plague cutter 😉 thanks
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Hi @ Oksana: SugarVeil is the product name; Michele Hester has created and patented it, as far as I know, so I don’t think there’s another version. Michele is very helpful and she will definitely know if it can be bought in NZ. I link to the SugarVeil site above, where you can use the contact form or find her on facebook, twitter etc. Hope that helps!
I’ll bet it can, @ Marcie! It would be interesting to try that out! To find out for sure though, maybe ask the creator of SugarVeil (pls see above comment).
Have fun, @ Rebecca!
Enjoy @ Kimmy!
Mari @ Mari's Cakes says
I’ve had this product bookmarked for a while. You’ve convinced me with these cookies, it definitely something worth buying.
Have a sweet weekend 🙂
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Thanks so much@ Mari @ Mari’s Cakes!
Deb Redfern says
I tried Sugarveil for the first time a couple of days ago. I live in Australia where it is fairly humid. I found that the product would not set on the mat, so I put it in a 100 degree oven (as suggested in the accompanying brochure.) I only left it in very briefly but it then became very brittle and just broke up. However, the next day, the remaining product on the mat was very sticky and unusable again. Any tips would be greatly appreciated as I so want to be able to use this product.
marian says
Hi @ Deb Redfern: That’s unfortunate! I wish I could help more, but this is the second time I’ve used SugarVeil, and really am not an expert in it. You know who is though? Michele Hester of SugarVeil. She’s the creator and has obviously worked with it a lot. She welcomes questions and I’m sure would be eager to help you with how to handle SugarVeil and the humidity. You can find the SugarVeil site by clicking on the SugarVeil banner above (under the title, ‘What is SugarVeil”. Hope that helps!
Deb Redfern says
@ marian:
Thank you so much Marian – I will do that right now.
SHAUN says
Ive been asked by a dear friend to do cookie favors for her wedding and was at a loss until I found your site. How many would you say per person, can the icing be colored, can the cookies be stacked (if not, how would you package them)? Thank you so much.
Marian (Sweetopia) says
Good luck @ Deb Redfern!
Hi @ SHAUN: When you ask how many per person, do you mean for a dessert table, or as a favour? I think one or maybe two per person for a favour. I think it would be safest and prettiest to put them in little clear boxes… You know, the kind of clear, plastic boxes for favours, which can be found in many different sizes and shapes. A few posts ago, I show wedding cookie cakes I made for my brother; you might want a box which isn’t so high, and is a little wider, to lay maybe 2 cookies side by side.
I think if it’s humid, stacking them might make the lace stick to the underside of the cookie on top, causing it to rip later. That’s my best guess though… you might want to chat with Michele of SugarVeil to ask her what her experience has been. You can find her by clicking on the SugarVeil banner above.
Absolutely, the icing can be colored.
Hope that helps!
Christie {Pepper Lynn} says
Hi Marian! What a pleasure it was meeting you at BlogHer Food this past weekend, and I have to say, I am blown away by your blog! It is stunning. I love the idea of these lace cookies – so delicate and lovely.
marian says
Hi @ Christie {Pepper Lynn}: It was lovely meeting you too! I hope to have the chance to meet you again some day!
Amy says
Whoa. That’s pretty amazing. I’d never thought it would be that easy to make lace icing. At least it LOOKS easy enough. Lovely!
dannielle marcos says
Hi! I absolutely adore your work! I have a random question..would you be able to tell me what kind of cookie cutter you used for the cookie in the photo under “STEP 2”, left tray, bottom cookie under all of the circle ones. It looks like a plaque and I LOVE it! Would you be so kind as to share the name? Thank you in advance
marian says
Hi @ Amy! It IS easy enough! =)
Absolutely, @ dannielle marcos: Close to the bottom of the post there’s a photo of white lace cookies with white & green dogwood flowers on them… If you look right above the photo, you’ll see the link to the cutter. =)
Amy says
WOW! These cookies are so beautiful! What a lucky bride if she had these at her wedding! Think i have been convinced to try something similar myself!
Just wondering where you think I could source SugarVeil as I live in the UK?
Marian (Sweetopia) says
@ Amy: I’m guessing yes! I’m sorry I can’t tell you for sure, but if you click on the photo of SugarVeil products, where it says, “What is SugarVeil?”, it will take you their site, where you can contact them for all your options. I’m guessing (hoping), they will, as the there are so many sugar crafters in the UK, it would make sense to sell it there. Good luck!
April @ The 21st Century Housewife says
Your sugar lace cookies are gorgeous! I adore the little ‘I do’ flag – what a beautiful treat to serve at a wedding or shower. Thank you for sharing the SugarVeil tutorial. I too am hoping that it is available in the UK 🙂
Stacey says
Wow…the prices for the supplies you would need to do this are so high! It would drive my price point for orders through the roof. I was totally sold on this when I saw how beautiful it was, but even beauty has a price limit! Too bad, because this is simply stunning. But the costs just make it unrealistic.
Diana Keller-Cannon says
Hi Marion,
I have had my sugarveil stuff for about 6mos now and have yet to try it! This was fabulous!
Julia says
I am fascinated by your work, it’s amazing!!
I loove the lace cookies, I was just wondering, would it work to use the sugar lace on cake pops? I think that would make an adorable wedding favor!
niner bakes says
This tutorial is SOOOO helpful, Marian!
I love it, so detailed and this makes me think: it is not that hard! I just have to try it out and see, your cookies look fab…so so sweet!
Thanks for this great post!!!
xoxo,
niner 🙂
Brantcookies says
They are so beautiful & delicate. I’ve never heard of Sugarveil before, thanks for sharing.