You see, I really REALLY want Vamps to announce a World Tour. And I want them to go to Germany.
Why? You live in Spain, you'll say. Well, I have this good friend currently living in Germany, and she's been asking me to visit her, but I keep waiting... I keep waiting for a concert!
I've almost forgot what's to travel without thinking of going to see a japanese band playing live. Last time was Paris and L'Arc~en~Ciel. Before that, London and Miyavi. And NOW I want a Germany-Vamps combo! Do you guys think Hyde will be kind and make my wish come true? I have nothing against London and Paris but I really feel I've been visiting these cities A LOT lately XD
German fans, let's pray for Vamps in your country together! Woohoooo!
VAMPS COOKIES
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
-130 gr. (1 cup) all-purpose flour
-25 gr. (1/4 cup) unsweetened cocoa powder
-1/4 teaspoon salt
-115 gr. (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
-100 gr. (1/2 cup) granulated white sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 egg yolk
For the Royal Icing:
-1 large (60 gr.) egg white
-1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
-175 grams (1 + 1/2 cups) powdered or icing sugar, sifted
For the painting:
-Gel food coloring (red and black)
-Water
You will also need:
-2 good quality paint brushes
STEP 1: Chocolate Shortbreads!
We are going to use chocolate shortbread cookies instead of sugar cookies because I love the buttery flavor of shortbreads, besides sugar cookie dough is softer and less suitable to cut with a cookie cutter (or a knife, using a template, like in this case) without chilling the dough in the fridge.
But still... it's summer here, 35 to 40ºC outside, I had to chill my shortbread dough anyway XD But it's ok if you choose to make sugar cookies instead.
Ok, We're gonna kick start now! :D
Preheat the oven to 180º C (350º F)
Preheat the oven to 180º C (350º F)
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy. Don't overmix because you don't want too much air in the batter.
Beat in the vanilla extract and egg yolk. The eggyolk is not strictly necessary, but it makes the flavor richer. You can skip it if you want an eggless shortbread, you don't need to make any changes to the recipe, just leave it out.
Beat in the vanilla extract and egg yolk. The eggyolk is not strictly necessary, but it makes the flavor richer. You can skip it if you want an eggless shortbread, you don't need to make any changes to the recipe, just leave it out.
Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture and beat just until a dough forms. Use your hands to form a ball. If the room temperature is too warm (like in my stupid kitchen ¬¬) and the dough looks too soft, wrap it in plastic wrap and chill it in the frigde for about 15 minutes. It will made the dough less sticky and easier to roll out and cut.
On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a 6 mm. (1/4 inch) thick square. We are not using a cookie cutter here, just a piece of paper with the Vamps logo printed on it and used as a template to cut the dough with a knife. Unless we could get a Vamps cookie cutter... which I doubt XD Maybe Hyde would consider it for the tour goods! That would be so cool.
Print this image of the Vamps logo. It will make a 9x7cm cookie (3.5x2.7 inches)
Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, 180ºC (350ºF), with the rack in the center of the oven.
This recipe makes about 10 cookies. You can double the quantity of the ingredients if you want a bigger batch. But let me tell you, after the third cookie you'll want to kill yourself because the painting is soooo exhausting!
On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a 6 mm. (1/4 inch) thick square. We are not using a cookie cutter here, just a piece of paper with the Vamps logo printed on it and used as a template to cut the dough with a knife. Unless we could get a Vamps cookie cutter... which I doubt XD Maybe Hyde would consider it for the tour goods! That would be so cool.
Print this image of the Vamps logo. It will make a 9x7cm cookie (3.5x2.7 inches)
Place the cookies on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, 180ºC (350ºF), with the rack in the center of the oven.
This recipe makes about 10 cookies. You can double the quantity of the ingredients if you want a bigger batch. But let me tell you, after the third cookie you'll want to kill yourself because the painting is soooo exhausting!
STEP 2: Flood the cookies with royal icing
For those who don’t know what the heck is royal icing, it is a white icing that dries to a smooth, hard, matte finish. The most common recipe uses powdered sugar (or icing sugar, even better), lemon juice, and raw egg whites.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until combined and foamy. Slowly add sifted powdered sugar (very important! Powdered sugar usually has lumps) and beat on low speed until combined and smooth.
For those who don’t know what the heck is royal icing, it is a white icing that dries to a smooth, hard, matte finish. The most common recipe uses powdered sugar (or icing sugar, even better), lemon juice, and raw egg whites.
In a bowl, beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until combined and foamy. Slowly add sifted powdered sugar (very important! Powdered sugar usually has lumps) and beat on low speed until combined and smooth.
When making royal icing it is important that it is of the proper consistency. If your icing isn’t at the correct consistency or thickness, the results may not look very good. The trick I use with royal icing is called the “10 second rule“. Drag a butter knife through the surface of your royal icing and count to 10. If the icing surface becomes smooth in anywhere between 5-10 seconds, then your icing is ready to use! If yours is too thick, add water. If it’s too liquid, add powdered sugar :D
Put the royal icing in a piping bag or simple plastic bag with a tiny hole in one corner. That's what I used, although a proper piping bag with a proper piping tip is much better XD. You might want to practice piping on a parchment paper before you begin, to see how it goes. Also, decorate your least favorite cookies first, that way if you make a mistake it won’t matter as much! :)
First, draw the outline of the Vamps lips. This creates a border or “dam” to make sure the icing does not flow over the edges. Quickly fill it with a spoon before the outline dries, try to blend the outline and the filling together until the outline dissapears. Most people let the outline dry, but that way you will have a very visible line in your cookie. Me, I like a smooth and even surface.
Use a toothpick to pop air bubbles and correct bumps and imperfections. Shake the cookie gently to help the surface to settle.
I made a quick video tutorial about this, check it out here! :D
Let the royal icing dry for at least 2 hours, until the surface is hard enough to start with the painting.
First, draw the outline of the Vamps lips. This creates a border or “dam” to make sure the icing does not flow over the edges. Quickly fill it with a spoon before the outline dries, try to blend the outline and the filling together until the outline dissapears. Most people let the outline dry, but that way you will have a very visible line in your cookie. Me, I like a smooth and even surface.
Use a toothpick to pop air bubbles and correct bumps and imperfections. Shake the cookie gently to help the surface to settle.
I made a quick video tutorial about this, check it out here! :D
Let the royal icing dry for at least 2 hours, until the surface is hard enough to start with the painting.
STEP 3: Painting the cookies.
Once the royal icing is completely dried you can begin with the incredibly boring task of painting the cookies, yaaaay! I used gel food coloring, but you can also use food coloring powder.
In a plastic plate or something similar (you don't want to use a regular plate for this, it might remain dyed forever LOL) put in some drops of the gel food coloring and equal amount of water drops and stir. You can also use lemon juice or alcohol (vodka works well) for dissolving the food coloring, it works better, supposedly... but water works just fine for me :D
Once the royal icing is completely dried you can begin with the incredibly boring task of painting the cookies, yaaaay! I used gel food coloring, but you can also use food coloring powder.
In a plastic plate or something similar (you don't want to use a regular plate for this, it might remain dyed forever LOL) put in some drops of the gel food coloring and equal amount of water drops and stir. You can also use lemon juice or alcohol (vodka works well) for dissolving the food coloring, it works better, supposedly... but water works just fine for me :D
Another important thing is brushes. Try to get good quality brushes for this, because low quality brushes lose LOTS of hairs. It's not so bad when it happens in a canvas, but it could be a little bit unpleasant to find little hairs in a cookie. You need one brush for each color. I used a thiner brush to apply the black paint because the black area of the Vamps logo requires more detailed painting.
First, outline the red area and then fill it. Once it has dried completely, start with the black area, always outlining first.
Try to paint with gentle, smooth strokes because messy painting will leave ugly stains and brush stroke marks all over the cookie.
Once applied, the paint will probably look really shiny but when it dries it will loose most of its glossy look.
Painting cookies is just a matter of patience and art skills. For those who are not good at drawing, practice the drawing in a piece of paper until you are comfortable enough to do it in a cookie. I'm sorry I can't give you a better template to copy the design into the cookie :( I have to investigate... I'll find a better way!
Ok, done! Vamps cookies. Try them, take a bite... wait, is it safe to bite a cookie with fangs? Damn you vampire cookies ò__ó
If you want to leave a comment, leave it in the comment section below the Spanish version of the recipe ;)
