Meet Loren {Ribbon Roses}

Today I would like to introduce you to my friend Loren. I actually “met” Loren by accident. It all started when another one of my favorite cookiers, Ali Bee, made the most stunning set of cookies I had EVER seen. What thrilled me the most were the tiny perfect little roses on them. Of course, I had to know how she made them, and that led me to Loren.
I have tried for two years to make the perfect rose, and I never quite came up with a winner. Luckily, someone else figured it out for me. I have to say, I think Loren’s roses are the prettiest royal icing roses I have ever seen.
When I think of Loren, I consider her a cake decorator gone “cookie”. This is because she often uses gorgeous {but tricky} piping techniques that I tend to shy away from. The result is BEAUTIFUL cookies unlike any other.
The more I get to know Loren, I have also learned that even though we have different styles, we have a LOT in common. We are both detail-oriented perfectionists, with an insane hobby, who like to shop at the dollar store =)
A few more fun factoids about Loren…
First of all, she is PUBLISHED! Three of her creations were selected for the fabulous new book “1000 Ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies & Cakes”, which was released in 2010.
She started baking in 6th grade after borrowing a “Little House on the Prairie Pioneer Cookbook” from the library. After that, she was HOOKED!
Before her baking career, she worked for 15 years in sales and marketing at a large technology company. Now, in addition to baking, she is a stay-at-home mom to her 4 1/2 year old son Ryan.
She is best known for her “Old Fashioned Coffee Cake” that she makes at least once a week. However, her recipe is “top secret” and she’s not tellin’ =)
*and this will make you jealous*
She just moved to a North Shore Long Island dream house where her hubby is currently renovating space for a secondary kitchen just for her cookie & cake decorating addiction!
*See, I told you you’d be jealous*
So, let me turn this over to Loren, so she can teach us how roses are done =)
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Hello Everyone!
Loren from The Baking Sheet here wishing you greetings from Long Island, NY!
  We are currently buried under several inches of snow and having temps in the teens, so what better thing to do than stay inside, have some hot cocoa and DECORATE COOKIES!
When Callye invited me to create a guest-post for “Sweet Sugar Belle” I nearly wet myself, I was thrilled!!  Her cookies are works of art and nothing I have ever created has even come close to being the slightest bit as fabulous as hers.  I often describe her as a “Picasso”, while I’m a “Paint-by-Number Artist”.  As you can see I’m immensely in-awe of her talent!  She’s my #1 cookie-idol!
Anyway, I’ve been stressing out about what I could possibly add to her already amazing blog without boring her followers to death and I thought about some little ribbon roses that I created a while ago.  They gained a lot of attention on my blog and I received many inquiries about them.  Take a look at some of my cookies…

 

 

Notice those little ribbon roses?  They are made of royal icing and very simple to make!
Here’s how I did it….?
You will need:
Royal Icing (I use this recipe)
A flower nail (I use Wilton #9)
A pastry bag fitted with a small petal tip (I use Wilton #101)
1″x1″ squares of waxed paper
?
Sometimes using a video demo is easier to explain….You can view me making ribbon roses in this video.  (My apologies in-advance for my horrendous New York accent and also the poor video quality!)
Once the roses have dried (after a few hours), you can peel off the waxed paper and store them in Tupperware containers for up to a year!

I bought these cute little guys at my local dollar store!

Here are some cute Valentine’s Day cookies I made using the ribbon roses!
“A Dozen Roses”
I made these for Mother’s Day…
By the way, I used a “shooting star” cutter to make these cookies!
So get creative!  Stop by my blog and show me what you made…
I can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!  Thanks Callye!!
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Thank YOU Loren! I cannot wait to go try out a simplified version of your bouquet cookie! And I have to say, using the Wilton star was genius! That’s my favorite subject you know!
For a pictorial on making ribbon roses, click HERE.
If you want to so see more of Loren, you can visit her blog, The Baking Sheet, or like her Facebook page!
Thanks again Loren, I am off to work on some ribbon roses! Have a good day everyone, and happy decorating!