They’re Piped and Flooded, But How Do You Remove Them In One Piece?
Call ‘them’ whatever you like, royal icing plaques or run outs are a decorated cookie’s perfect confectionary accessory. They can add dimension to a cookie’s surface, as well as artistic accuracy. And, we’ve all seen many wonderful tutorials instructing us how to create these masterpieces. Let’s face it, making them is so much fun.
Removing them is another story, the story no one really takes the time to describe. The instructions in many of these tutorials say, “peel carefully from the parchment paper”. While that’s absolutely correct, if you haven’t played with this technique, more of your hard work will lie broken into bits and you’ll curse and shake your fists in the air, as you vow silently to yourself that you will never make another cookie as long as you live.
Frankly, I take all this for granted since I learned this trick in culinary school. Until my college roommate (and budding cookie decorator) Debbie messaged me asking just how to go about unsticking these plaques from the parchment, I didn’t give it much thought. But, as I tried to succinctly answer her with the instructions, I thought…”BINGO…BLOG POST!”
So, I printed out a big Times Roman “G” and used some leftover royal icing to pipe out a few on parchment. Then, I resurrected my Flip video camera and got J to video my hands in action.
Nothing to fear here. Just make sure you let your creations dry for at least 8 hours before attempting to remove. Find a flat, smooth surface with a 90 degree edge on it so you can pull the parchment as easily as I have. Gather the released plaques and put them aside so you don’t scatter them hither and yon while you’re doing your victory lap around the kitchen.
And, say thanks to Debbie for giving me a great idea for a blog post.
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