Sugar Cookies and Birthday Parties

There's only one month until my daughter's first birthday party and we're planning a butterfly theme. I'm going to make a butterfly cake and some butterfly cookies like these ones. I'm not the best cookie decorator so I decided to start practising early. I made these sugar cookies to take to playgroup earlier in the week.

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I used Peggy Porschen's sugar cookie recipe with royal icing.

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Sugar Cookies

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Ingredients

200g unsalted soft butter
200g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
400g plain flour, plus more for dusting

Method
1. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer until well mixed and creamy.
2. Add the egg and continue beating.

3. Add the flour and mix on low speed until a dough forms.

4. Put the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling wrap and put it in the fridge for at least an hour.
5. Place the dough on a floured surface and knead it briefly. Roll it out to about 5mm thickness.
6. Use cookie cutters to cut out the shapes and place them on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper.
7. Put them back in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

8. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit).
9. Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes until the edges become golden brown.
10. Let the cookies cool completely before icing them.

Royal Icing

Ingredients

2 egg whites

4 cups icing sugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

water

food colouring

Method

1. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

2. Add the cream of tartar and beat a little bit more.

3. Pour in the sifted icing sugar slowly while continuing to beat the mixture.

4. When it's all mixed through test the consistency of the icing by running a spoon across the top. If the icing falls back into shape within 5-10 seconds it's ready to use. If not, start adding a teaspoon of water at a time and mix it through until you get the right consistency.

5. Add the food colouring and stir through.