Cameo Skeleton Cookies
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 90 minutes plus 2 hours refrigeration time and overnight drying time
Cooking time: 15 minutes
- 85g/3ozs. butter, softened
- 140g/4.9ozs. caster or superfine sugar
- 1 egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 180g-200g/6.3-7ozs. plain all purpose flour
- 400g/14.1ozs. white fondant
Royal icing
- 1 egg white
- 200g icing or powdered sugar (you may need a bit more depending on the size of your egg white)
- Edible black gel
Cameo Skeletons
- Silicon skeleton cameo molds
- Ivory fondant or gum paste (gum paste sets much quicker than fondant)
- Black fondant or gum paste
- Edible gold paint mixed with vodka
- Edible black gel
Step 1 - First make the cameos so that they have time to set and dry. Brush a little cornflour into the cavitites of your cameo molds and press a small amount of ivory fondant into the cavity. This will take practice but using the end of a paintbrush nudge the fondant over so that it sits on the edge of the outline. If you go too far, you can always push it back.
Step 2 - Then press a small amount of black fondant into the back of it and then lift out the cameo. Don't worry if you didn't get all of the outline (it can be tricky especially with a skeleton). Then take a small paintbrush and paint over the details that you may have missed. Allow to dry completely.
Step 3 - Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy and light. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. On the lowest speed mix in the cinnamon and flour. Form into two balls and place on a sheet of cling film. Flatten down the balls slightly and refrigerate for 1-2 hours or overnight.
Step 4 - Roll out one ball between two sheets of parchment and cut into small fluted rounds, larger than the cameos. If you have an oval cutter use this. I didn't so I used a round cutter.
Step 5 - Make royal icing by processing the icing sugar with the egg white and black gel until you get a pipeable consistency. You need a stiffer consistency for piping onto the cameos and an outline on the cookie and a runnier one to flood the outline on the cookies.
Step 6 - Pipe outlines around the cookies with the stiffer icing and allow to dry. Flood the cookie outline with a slightly runnier royal icing and leave to set. Gently place the cameos onto the drying royal icing cookie (do this while it is wet). Allow to set.
Step 7 - While these are drying, pipe elaborate curls or scrolls around the cameos and allow these to dry. It won't take long, about 15-30 minutes. Then carefully colour the scrolls and curls of black royal icing with the edible gold paint.