One of my greatest fears is seeing my friends, family or work colleagues naked. I mean I adore all of them but the last thing I want to do is see their naked bits. I remember meeting a girl at a work function back in my advertising days that told me that her female boss had insisted that they go for a group bonding session at the Korean spa in Kings Cross. The poor thing was dreading it as much as her other colleagues were and the idea of seeing their boss stark naked filled them with dread and apprehension. Plus, she developed a set of nervous hives to make matters worse…
She ended up refusing to go to the team bonding session and from all reports, everyone was slightly freaked out at seeing each other naked. The female boss was very fit and confident and everyone else, well they spent their time trying to cover themselves up with a small face towel-harder than you might think. It culminated in a “let’s talk about what you find awkward with your body” discussion to which the boss answered “I think I’m a bit too toned and firm.”
It was very awkward on Monday at work again. A little like the morning after the Christmas party where you’ve snogged everyone in your department and you realised that you have to see them every single day afterwards. And no, I’m not speaking from personal experience-please! 
A slightly less alarming fear of mine is going barefoot. When I was two years old, I trod on a intricate brooch of my mother’s. The claws that held the little costume jewels were askew as she had taken the jewels out and when I stepped on them, they pierced through the soft skin of my feet. After feeling the pain I looked at my foot and saw the circular shape of the brooch in blood on my feet. My mother started screaming and I started crying. Thankfully I haven’t developed a fear of jewellery 
In fact I have a bit of a love for it. So much so that when I saw these amazing silicon molds while doing a flower session with Whimsical Cakehouse’s Linda Harden, I had to have some of my own. She rang Betty at Glasshouse Cakes who kindly put some on hold for me (and since they are in Revesby, she held them for months for me to collect!). The small button mold was $19.95 and the larger pendant mold $46.95. When I got them I knew what I wanted to make: cookies!
You’re probably sick of me saying that things are easy but really these molds do most of the work, particularly if you’re just sticking to a few background colours or have your fondant already tinted. I used my usual sugar cookie recipe which rolls and rerolls with ease and then you cover them with a disc of fondant and the molded pattern which is coloured in gold. Easy no? Much easier than going barefoot or seeing your friends or colleagues naked.
So tell me Dear Reader, what is your greatest fear? And would you have gone on that Korean spa team bonding session?
Gilt Brooch & Button Cookies
An Original Recipe by Not Quite Nigella
- 85 g/3ozs butter, softened
- 140g/5ozs white caster superfine sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 180g/6ozs all-purpose flour
To decorate
- White fondant and colouring gels
- Edible gold lustre paint
- 25 ml vodka
- Paintbrush
- Silicon molds in button and filigree designs
1. Make cookies. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with a round or oval shaped cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment paper. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.
Pushing the fondant into the molds
3. Make the molds but massaging white fondant until it is soft. Push down into the mold trying to match the size of the fondant with the cavity. An easy way is to roll it into a ball and then flatten it like a hockey puck and then gently push it in. You can then see how much excess there is, remove the whole thing of fondant and pinch off about the right amount. Then roll into a ball, press into a hockey puck shape and put it back in. Freeze the molds for about 5-10 minutes.
Cutting out rounds in the fondant
4. Meanwhile, while they are freezing. Massage the remaining white fondant until pliable and tint it whatever colours you would like it to be. I went for pastel Baroque shades. Cut out rounds or oval using the same cookie cutter and adhere each to the cookie with a little water.
Gold lustre paint
5. Take the mold trays out of the freezer and gently remove the fondant (gently pull at the sides to release them). Mix the gold lustre paint with the vodka and put in an airtight screw container. With a small paintbrush, paint the brooches and button being sure to dip into the little crevices. Also draw an outline on the coloured fondant. Once the gold paint has dried, attach to the fondant using a little water.
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64 Comments | Add your own
Oh my goodness, that is too funny but I have to agree with you!
These cookies are just exquisite! Almost too pretty to eat
What dainty decorations! I love the idea.
Cheers,
Rosa
Wow, those are so beautiful!
Those moulds are really lovely. Pretty cookies
I would refuse to go to a Korean spa (or any other kind of naked activity) with work colleagues – not because I don’t have confidence in my naked body but because it is just inappropriate. I know in some countries (I’m think of you Finland) have these kinds of activities but it’s not common in Australia and it would make many many people uncomfortable. You cannot bond with your colleagues when inside your head you are dying of embarrassment. Bad bonding.
Very pretty indeed I do adore gilt and ornate. And no I would not have gone, oh that brings back so many memories of inappropriate conduct at work conferences.
In my case most of my colleagues are males… so I guess the whole seeing them naked would be even more awkward….
Your cookies on the other hand look delicious!
Cookie bling! These are fantastically adorable!!
How very pretty! When I saw the first picture, I braced myself for some intricate piping lessons but I’m so relieved that fondant and paint can achieve something so delicate looking!
I’m glad that team building at my work involves building catapults.. I don’t know if I could handle a naked sauna..
Wow! Again you’ve outdone yourself with gorgeous, creative cookies. I am in awe.
Greatest fear? I never think I am fearful at all, but as a mother I worry about something happening to my child, who is now 22. Still worrying about trafic, accidents, and all things beyond anyone’s control. I have no need to see my friends naked…
“Let’s talk about what you find awkward with your body”?!?!?!?!!?
I CAN’T EVEN COPE RIGHT NOW!!!!
Also, I’m now seeing most of these cookies as breasts with 3-4 nipples.
“I think I’m a bit too toned and firm.”
Oh that made me laugh. Could someone really be that clueless? My greatest fear will always be heights (which isn’t great since I live in a city with some of the biggest escalators in the world) and I would have skipped the retreat altogether!
These cookies are so beautiful.
Very pretty – a fun idea. My biggest fear – hmmm, seeing my colleagues naked would be up there! I don’t think I would have gone to the team bonding at the spa – yuk.
N-E-V-E-R! And I do wonder how the HR of that company even let that happen. That’s the most outrageous thing I have ever heard. I find it hard enough to get on my swimming costumes when friends are around. Ugh!
The cookies look so cute.
I love them! Now I think you should make one of those stretchy lolly necklaces out of the buttons too. That way you have a beautiful fashion piece that doubles as a tasty snack
Naked spa day? I don’t think so! I would probably wear a burkh-ini and say I had a weird skin condition that was highly contagious
I fear monkeys, clowns, sugar free sweeteners, and no fat yogurt – all highly creepy indeed!
They look to pretty to eat! I’m sure they are delicious.
Thanks for letting us know about Glasshouse Cakes & Decorations. These molds certainly makes the job easier.
They are purdy!
My greatest fear is my kids growing up and leaving me. Yes I’m going to be one of THOSE mothers.
I would not have gone to that bathhouse! Aggr! The thought of being naked with work colleagues gives me the heebie jeebies too.
There is no way in the world I would go to a bathhouse with my workmates! I would just die! Love these gorgeous little cookies they are so delicate!
How beautiful!
I would have dreaded/refused that team bonding session. How weird.
It makes me a big wimp to admit it but I am terrified of waves. As in I never go in beyond my knees unless it’s flat!
Never would I ever attend a team bonding session like that. Even the thought repulses me.
These cookies are much too pretty to eat my friend, I think I will wear them instead to my formal
I’m sorry you have a fear of bare feet though now and can absolutely understand your fear of seeing people you work with naked! Gah
Your poor friend!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Oh dear, no!!! team bonding in a spa? No way, I would quit a job, I guess…
But your cookies are lovely. A tea party with some of your cookies is a much better bonding occasion!
Very fancy biscuits makes you not want to eat them!
cute we make these for our bakery in all sorts of colours sometimes in chocolate fondant to decorate mudcake .. nice idea xxxxxx
So pretty Lorraine, I feel like sewing them onto something as they look like exquisite antique buttons
Love the gold paint, just beautiful <3
My greatest fear is/are rats and mice, Ugh can't stand even seeing them on TV. When I was a small child I was cornered by a large rat and my phobia is still as strong today AND don't even get me started on the documentaries that show people eating them, VOMIT!
No way I would be forced to go to a Korean Spa Team-Bonding session . She had some gall expecting her staff to agree to it and an over-inflated ego by the sounds of it.
Now if only I could reach into my computer screen and have one of those beautiful cookies with my cuppa
omg that would be awful being stuck mostly naked with work people!! argh! Let alone stepping on a broch.. I imagine it’s almost as bad a lego :p
These are cute as a button Lorraine! I’ll have to keep my eye out for a mould! x
These cookies are such a cute idea! I have a very weird fear (or dislike) of pupae. When we were kids like many others we raised silkworms. It was such a delight to see them morph from greedy little worms into soft fluffy butterflies. But occasionaly some worms would miss the metamorphesis boat and forget to weave a cocoon in time for themselves. To my horror I found a number of ugly exposed naked puape attached to my bedroom curtain before falling asleep one night and my night was filled with pupae nightmares. Ever since the thought sends shivers up my spine!
Gorgeous! But not naked. Ever. With people you work with. Eeewwwwwwww.
Haha I’m rolling around laughing at the thought that being too toned and firmed could ever be a problem for me *reaches for another biscuit*
As I dabble in different areas of cooking and decorating I’m discovering that most of it isn’t actually that hard, so I believe you when you say the brooches are easy. Very pretty!
Lovely moulds, even if one does not make cookies
! I guess my main fears in life would be natural disasters, like cyclonic winds and earthquakes: have had a few pretty frightening occasions in. Nudity, on the other hand, does not bother me at all. Was brought up in Northern Europe after all, where we all were bare from childhood in the saunas and on beaches! You are as God made you 
! On the other hand I think it odd to force nudity on others, like the Korean Spa ‘bonding’ session. Would have definitely refused the occasion as I think ulterior motives were in play! Being barefoot – always in summer, whenever I can at home in the winter: beautifully natural and comfortable, just as nudity 
!
My daughter and I were just admiring these biscuits together. I do not think I could eat them! =)
Spiders and other people seeing me on the toilet.
I am pretty sure they are both normal fears, right?
WOW LOVE those cookies, TRUE!
)
You ARE so talented! Patient too!
We were all born in a birthday suit,
But prancing around with colleagues would NOT be a hoot!
Biggest fear? At the end of live, having no one around to play!
Would make me think twice about whether I would really want to stay! (You asked!
I thought for sure these were actual brooches, what an awesome mold!
I totally agree with your fear of seeing your family and friends naked – how could you look at them the same again?!
I never would have gone on that team bonding session – that’s just… odd
Ultimate fear for me, hmm. I have lots of weird fears like flying objects.
It doesn’t matter what it is birds, footballs, frisbees – I freak out because I feel like I’m a target
Somehow I was always the one who got the football kicked at her, I guess it goes with my complete lack of sporting ability.
The brooches look so pretty, haha and it doesn’t look like it’s easy to make ;P
These are gorgeous Lorraine. I just love them. So cute. I admire how you say, ‘they’re easy’. It looks like a craft workshop to me and I’m hopeless at craft. Now about the nudity issue…I’m not even going to discuss the time I was asked to pose nude in a photographic book nor will I confirm if I ever went ahead with the offer, nor will I produce the book at our next lunch nor will I mention that I found the book in a bargain bin at the Australian Portrait Museum – I can’t believe how cheaply I was going for! xx
Your story reminds me of a woman who was married to a foodie, she used to come to my cookery classes and go home and repeat the dishes for dinner using what she learned that day. Only difference to my production was that she confessed she did it in the nude, she did add an apron for safety! Roz
Absolutely loving the look of these. They are so dainty and victorian. Gorgeous, just gorgeous!
Wow, these cookies are outstanding! So beautiful!
These are so pretty and I can suggest, perfect, for a Marie Antoinette themed party.
PS The pastel colors are just darlin too.
Came back and having a wonderful laugh at/with ‘Hotly Spiced’. One can kind’of read that one in a multitude of ways
!!! Am still shaking my head wondering why being without clothes is such a big thing? Pictures of newly-born naked babes are all over the place! So what on earth changes? Tina said ‘Victorian’ about the beautiful moulds: so isn’t being absolutely and utterly prudish still the same?
What a fun cookie to make. Love the little stories. xoxo Mum
What a beautiful post Lorraine. All I could envision while I was reading and enjoying your photos was Marie Antoinette, taking a dainty bite of these delicious treats, especially the blue one!!
They are very effective little moulds arent they. Perfect for a Princess ( I know a few).
Id never go to a Korean bathhouse with work people …
Wow, hugely impressed by your decorating efforts – these look almost too pretty to eat!
So glad you didn’t develop a morbid fear of jewelery!
Nothing would have made me go to that bonding session….nothing. I love your buttons.
Nothing would have made me go to that bonding session….nothing. I really love those buttons.
Such prettiness! So creative. These would make for excellent gifts!
These look too pretty to eat!
Oh my, these are so gorgeous!! I am really pleased you gave the tip about freezing the fondant in the mould… I have always been really doubtful about getting fondant out of these in one piece, I knew there must be a trick to it
Naked for a work bonding session is pretty scary :0
I have a horrible phobia of heights, I tried to go up Tokyo Tower and the Eiffel Tower and both times ended up on the floor in the fetal position, just seconds a way from screaming
Funny, flying is fine 
Fabulous! – The cookies not the spa experience
I can’t say getting naked in front of colleagues would be high on my list of fun things to do!
oh those look so fancy – high tea anyone!
your story about the korean spa horrifies me – I was freaked out enough about being on a boat trip with my colleagues many many years ago that I just couldn’t do it – no escape once you are on the boat
Soooo pretty, Lorraine. We’ve been at the cottage all weekend so I’m catching up now on our drive back to the city this morning.
My worst fear is to have open head surgery while awake.
How adorable! These are so cute looking and I would definitely buy them if only there were a bit less pricey
I’m thinking of hosting a tea party of sorts for my friends and would love to use these molds to make adorable fondant decorations, but alas, I will have to content myself to just looking.
My greatest fear is probably boredom. I like having things to do on my hand, things that I’m passionate about so that even if the world is all amuck and I’m running around everywhere frantically, at least I enjoy the experience.
Beautiful cookies, they look really vintage. Great colours and a beautiful use of the gold colour. I would never have gone to the spa – who wants to share all that mutual embarrassment. Surely that counts as unfair duress!? GG
At least these won’t hurt you! Where you still in SA for the snow? Have a great day
Hi Tandy! I was in Joburg when it snowed!
The button moulds are so cute! I would love to get my hands on them too! They make those cookies look like beautiful display pieces really esp with the lustre from the edible gold dust.
Omg omg Loraine these are SO pretty I even think too pretty to eat even!!! They look just like real brooches too!!!
These are incredible, so realistic! How fun to make.
Lorraine, One time I was visiting my daughter and going back and forth from my room to the bathroom a couple of times getting things ready for my shower, when my 3 year old grandson said to my daughter, “Close the bathroom door, I don’t want to see grandma naked.”
We got a good laugh over that one!
P.S. I had my clothes on:)
i’m reminded of a seinfeld act in which he reveals that most people’s number one fear is speaking in public. it’s more feared than death! he points out that at a funeral, most people would rather be in the coffin than giving the eulogy. that said, my biggest fear is speaking in public.
Oh these are just precious!
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