Spotted Canary Blog

Dear Wilton Industries:

Thank you so much for the incredible 2012 Cake Decorating Yearbook sent to me a few months ago. I apologize that this note has taken weeks to be written, but you as a world-wide industry leader must know how busy life can get, especially around the holidays. I’m sure you say to yourself, “so many cakes and cookies to decorate, so little time”. So even though this expression of appreciation is slightly tardy, it is still filled with innumerable amounts of gratitude for the sweet gift (pun totally intended).

Now I do have to confess that I was a bit confused as to why this comprehensive catalog of detailed instruction, creative products and delicious photography landed on my doorstep. I mean I am not known for my amazing cake and cookie baking abilities. In fact, if I mix up a batch of batter or dough, I consider baking it as an option, not a requirement. Needless to say words like royal icing, floating and fondant (which thank goodness is in the computer’s spell check) are all foreign to me. Why then would such a spectacular and awe-inspiring issue be, for lack of a better term, wasted on a confectionary neophyte such as me?

I can only surmise that one night in a sugar-induced insomniac state while perusing the world-wide web you discovered the humble Party Time Blog for which I provide the verbiage for and noticed the lack of Wilton representation. This neglect, I am sure, is what prompted you to send me a copy of the yearbook. You knew that once I had an opportunity to devour this year’s delectable edition, I would be inexplicably drawn to the wonderful world of Wilton and all of its endless imaginative possibilities. You sir, were right!

So as a token of my sincere regret for the lack of attention, I submit the following blog entry. I hope that in some way it will make amends for the deficiency of Wilton posts. Please also know that I will do my best to show more Wilton love over the course of the next year. Your sensational catalog has inspired me to try a few more exciting techniques and products so I hope you will check back periodically to see what other kinds of Wilton adventures I get myself into.

With kindest regards for a scrumptious 2012,

Frosting Fumbler from Texas

For the Love of Wilton: A Cookie Press Adventure

My first Wilton adventure needed to be small. Small expectations. Small time commitment. Small investment. It was the holiday season and I was out of energy. Out of time. And definitely out of money.

I opted to try the basic Cookie Press model … I had heard about these contraptions before … heard mixed reviews actually, so I thought I might try to be the deciding vote. I mean hey, it’s an election year … all votes matter … right? Hmmm.

Anywho, I picked up the press, a bottle of icing and a container of sugar pearls for less than $10. Everything was on sale so I didn’t even need to surrender a much valued 50% off coupon... score!




There are bigger, more ergonomically comfortable presses available from Wilton, but I was going for least expensive … this just in case my adventure went bust and the press ended up in the dusty forgotten pile of used kitchen gadgets that lives somewhere in my house. This modestly priced, manually triggered press came with 12 shape templates. Just enough to get my feet wet.




Since the Wilton people have been baking for a lot of years, I decided not to deviate from their tried and true Spritz Cookie Recipe found on the press’ box. I loved that the ingredient list was fairly short and did not require anything I had to hunt down in a specialty food shop. Thank you Wilton!



Unlike my normal cookie routine of dump and spin, I actually took the time to mix the dry ingredients separate from the wet and add them gradually as was suggested. Why tempt fate when you are under a strict time constraint and only have two sticks of butter softened … just saying.




The finished dough was pretty stiff. I used all constraint I could muster not to add some liquid and if I had had milk in the fridge that wasn’t on the verge of rancidity, I might have added a teaspoon or two … but whew! for resistance because the dough really needed to be stiff for things to work.




Loading the press with dough was fun. For the first couple of loads, I rolled the dough in a cylinder shape and slid it into the tube as the box said … but then I got impatient and just started shoving it in with my thumbs. Your call which method works best for you … just make sure you pack the dough tight and eliminate all air pockets.




After loading the dough, I put my desired shape template disk on the end of the tube and secured it in place with the nut-like cap. Make sure you can read the writing on the disk … otherwise there’s a whole lot of mess happening. Trust me.




Now pay attention here … as you can see in the right-hand picture, once you have the dough loaded, turn the knob at the end of the metal notched rod until the notches face down toward the handle.




This direction is needed for the trigger to work. Once I was locked and loaded, I began spritzing …

After a few experiments, here are the results. Sah-weet!




The cookies got baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. In my oven, 10 was the magic minute threshold for ever-so-slightly brown cookie edges.




Viola! Baked and stacked to cool cookies. Yum!




Now, to add the proverbial icing on the cake!  Just a few simple lines of icing, and some pretty sugar pearls to top them off.




On the next batch I opted for … sprinkles! When all else fails, add sprinkles!




Here are all 6 dozen cookies ready for packaging. The recipe said something about a 7 to 8 dozen yield (and maybe I would have gotten that much if there hadn’t been so much sampling going on) so just keep those numbers in mind if you need to get a very specific quantity.




Now because you dear reader know that I’m all about two-fers, I decided to kill two responsibilities at once with this cookie press adventure: a blog post and cookies for my hubs to gift to church families he visits on a monthly basis. I found these cute Wilton boxes for cookie packing … I loved the window and especially loved the Wilton Print label feature … whew! Less time needed at the computer!




I went to wilton.com and found the Wilton Print button on the left-hand side of the screen. I choose the “Use MS Word Templates” option and then entered the stock number into the right-hand box. The template download window opened and I followed the prompts.




Once downloaded, I opened the label template up in MS Word, typed my info, loaded my printer with the sheet of enclosed labels and then hit the print button. Easy peasy!




Here are my finished boxes, all ready for hubs to deliver and for you to be inspired by!




All in all, it was a fun and educational adventure. And yes, I will certainly be using it again … can’t beat how quick you can mass produce 6 doz cookies … maybe an hour tops?

So dear reader, show Wilton some love and try the Cookie Press. Maybe do a trial run before the Valentine’s rush hits and your kid tells you the night before that he needs 6 dozen cookies in the morning for the choir party (been there, grumbled through that). It’s an adventure worth taking!

Happy pressing!

~ Elizabeth (ekb)


** No Wilton products were harmed or damaged in the making of this blog post. Wilton Industries you’ll be pleased to know produces quality and durable goods that will stand up to even the ugliest of novice baker tantrums. You can buy with confidence that Wilton products will perform and survive even under the worst of culinary conditions : ). 

Decorating for the Holidays – whether it’s Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukah or any holiday - can be expensive – with the tablecloths, napkins, ornaments, candles and what have you – spiffing up our houses can also be stressful. I don’t know about you, but I want my home to be warm and welcoming to my holiday visitors – although  I don’t want to stress going here and there getting just the right thing.

I recently attended an event with my son – and while he did his thing – they had crafts for the parents to do – which totally got my creative juices flowing. Of course, the one I made I ended up giving away, but that didn’t stop me from making one for myself and one for a neighbor later. The craft that I made was a beautiful pine swag to hang on a door – complete with plastic berries, bows, metal bells, paper wrapped packages and plastic pinecones, not my  exact idea of a pine swag – but the end result was worth the effort. It was gorgeous and I was sad that I didn’t take a picture of it before I gave it away, haha.

After the event, several ideas kept percolating in my brain. Why didn’t I make more than one, I live in the forest – and I could make that with NO plastic and LOTS of free stuff!

I gathered up my Mom and my boy and we went foraging in the forest with a bucket to carry our boughs and treasures in  plus a pair of garden shears. It was a beautiful day for walking in the woods – and we had a great time looking high and low for branches with red berries, different types of pine tree boughs – and the elusive cedar branches. We sang Christmas songs, threw berries at each other and had a grand time.

When we thought we had enough supplies – we headed home and got down to business. The other supplies we needed were: green floral wire, wire cutters, 2” ribbon, and newspaper to cover the table with.

These swags are pretty simple to make – cut the boughs to length, mine were 14 to 18 inches long and layer them in a pleasing way. Mix boughs with long and short needles for textural interest – add as much as you want to create the perfect swag for your door. When you are happy with your base, wrap the ends tightly with floral wire, leaving enough wire to create a hanger.

Next use wire to add pine cones and other natural accents to each bough. Tie a double or triple bow and wrap it around the floral wire to hide it and you’re on the home stretch. The last thing I did was to stick some branches with red berries underneath the wire for some pretty color and my swag was ready to hang.

The afternoon was a fun time spent getting outside for some fresh air and exercise – and we used our bounty to create a beautiful holiday decoration – the likes of which are usually $20 to $30 in the florist shop. Think of all the FREE possibilities you have available for decorating in your surroundings – plus spend a stress free afternoon making holiday memories and new traditions with your loved ones. You’ll be happy you did!