Summer always means a day (or longer) at the beach for me. This year all things Under the Sea tickled my fancy and the adorable clownfish inspired my cookie-baking tribute to ocean-dwelling creatures. These cute and colorful cookies were fun to make and delicious to eat. Don’t worry, I strictly limit my clownfish eating to the cookie variety so no clownfish were harmed during the making of these tasty bites. By chance I happened to find a clownfish cookie cutter, so I set out to populate my own underwater world with a nod to the most famous clownfish in history, Nemo. Dory was right when she said:
“The best things happen by chance.” Dory (in Pixar’s “Finding Nemo”)
I wanted clean lines on the orange and white body of this little guy so I decided to use white modeling chocolate mixed with marshmallow fondant as the base coat. Half of the chocolate-fondant combination was left white and half was colored with orange gel coloring. The black accent lines are actually very dark brown chocolate royal icing (so yummy) and the eyes are made with royal icing with a dark silver dragee for the pupil. I started to add the black fin tips to one cookie but then decided that I preferred a more simple design. Can you find my cookie “fin test” in one of the slides above?
Cookie specifics
Shortbread. The combination of European butter and vanilla bean makes this shortbread cookie one of the yummiest cookies I make. It’s buttery, crumbly and light. I decided to use shortbread for these “Under the Sea” cookies because I plan to mail them to my nephew who is on deployment. I an never predict how long my package will be in transit so shortbread is preferred because it has no eggs, is a dry cookie, and not likely to spoil quickly.
Shapes
clownfish cookie cutter
Sizes
Clownfish cookie cutter is 3½ inches long x 2 inches high. The perfect size for decorating and eating!
My Family Recipes
I developed this Shortbread recipe over the course of several months in my quest to duplicate the taste and texture of a shortbread cookie from a now-closed bakery in Carmel-by-the-Sea. Once I perfected the recipe, it became a cookie that I now bake for many occasions throughout the year.
Icing & Frostings
White Sculpting Chocolate mixed with Marshmallow Fondant: This mixture makes for a very yummy coating on cookies. Fondant is a perfect medium for cookie decorating but it tastes terrible so I never use it. Instead, I make my own marshmallow fondant, then mix it with white chocolate to get a delicious substitute.
Chocolate Royal Icing: Chocolate royal icing can be made with Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder to achieve a very dark (almost black) chocolate color. I use it for the black accents on cookies.
Cookies
Shortbread: flour, butter, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, salt
Icing & Decorative Embellishments
Royal Icing: confectioners’ sugar, egg whites, corn syrup, pure vanilla extract or almond extract, cream of tartar, food coloring
Chocolate Royal Icing (for the clownfish stripes): confectioners’ sugar, Hersey’s Special Dark Cocoa, meringue powder, corn syrup, almond extract, food coloring
Sprinkles: I regularly make a lot of royal icing “eyeballs” so that I’ll always have them on hand. The fish eyes are my homemade “eyeballs.”
White Sculpting Chocolate: sugar, cocoa butter, nonfat milk, vanilla
Homemade Fondant: sugar, corn syrup, cornstarch, gelatin, water, vanilla extract, food coloring (optional)
Plate, Box or Bag?
Bags. I wrapped the cookies individually in clear, food-safe bags, secured with a twist tie. This also makes the cookies stackable without causing damage to the decorations. Then I packed them into zip-lock bags to keep them as fresh as possible during their long journey to my nephew.
Mailing. I sent them Priority Mail through the U.S. Post Office and used a box provided by the Post Office plus lots of bubble wrap. They are still intransit as I write this article, but I’m hopeful they’ll arrive soon.
What I’ve learned...
These cookies were made with the best ingredients I could find and baked in a small batch of two dozen. I’ve experimented with less expensive ingredients, but have come to the conclusion that flavor is best when I use the best. Why spend all this time baking and decorating if taste and texture are just so-so? Decorating the cookies takes time, but it’s an enjoyable process for me and I know that those who receive them appreciate that. Life is just better when you can share something you love with someone you love. Don’t you agree?
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