Spider Web Cookies with Royal Icing

~Spider Web Cookies with Royal Icing~

Ingredients:

Cookies:

-375mL flour

-300mL cocoa powder

-2mL salt

-185mL margarine

-300mL sugar

-1 egg

-3mL vanilla

Royal Icing:

-250g icing sugar

-2mL cream of tartar

-15mL whip powder

-50mL water

Method:

1. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, salt. Set mixture aside.

2. Use an electric mixer to cream the margarine and sugar until fluffy.
    Beat in the egg and vanilla.
    Add flour mixture; mix on low speed until thoroughly combined.
    Divide the dough in half; wrap in plastic wrap.
    Chill for 10 minutes in the freezer.

3. Heat oven to 350°F or 180°C.
    Roll the dough out between two pieces of wax paper until about 5mm thick.
    Cut out a tracer for the web shape from scale paper.
    Cut out each cookie.

4. Place cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Cool completely on wire racks.

6. To make royal icing whip together the icing ingredients in a medium bowl.

7. To make the cobweb design, begin by icing cookie with white royal icing. To 50mL of the icing sugar add 30mL melted chocolate chips or use black icing paste.

8. Pipe out a spiral of black icing starting from the center to the edges of the cookies.

9. Draw a bamboo skewer (toothpick) or use the tip of a sharp knife and drag it from the center to each point of the cookie, then from the inner curves back to the center.

Vocabulary

-Royal Icing: a hard white icing, made from meringue powder or beaten egg whites, icing sugar, cream of tartar and water. (Sometimes lemon or lime juice is added).