Cookie bars- Yum!

I have a sweet tooth and when I have a craving for something warm and sweet to sink my teeth into, usually on a Friday night, I opt to make some cookie bars.  After a long week of work, this quick, no fuss treat can satisfy the craving!  I took this recipe and tailored it to my own liking and boy do I like them including my son!  Why not cookies instead?  Well, I do like cookies but, 4-5 ingredients (butter, graham crackers crumbs, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips and sometimes a bit of peanut butter chips) about 20-25 minutes of baking (depending on your oven) and they're ready!  Mmm, so delicious!

Cake show entries and a winner

I managed to complete two entries, a cake and cookies, for last weekend's event, The Great American Cake Show. I covered the cake in fondant and I traced the image onto the cake using the pin prick method. I used a technique called brush embroidery; you trace the outline of the image in royal icing then use a paintbrush to brush strokes of the icing towards the center of the image. One thing I forgot was that the batch of royal icing I used I had added piping gel to which didn't help with my brush strokes. Although not perfect, it wasn't too bad and I got 3rd place. After the icing dried, I dusted on the color using petal and luster dusts. I finished off the cake with a decorated strip of fondant cut with a gem cutter.

For the cookies, I used a heart cutter for the hearts but the others I cut by hand from a template I made out of paper. I used a variety of mediums and techniques to decorate these; royal icing and fondant.