Spring is just around the corner so I thought it would be a fun time to talk about Daffodil cookie bouquets!…
This is one of those floral cookie bouquets that appears so realistic, that at first glance, people have often asked me if the daffodils in the bouquet were from my garden! But then they take a closer look and exclaim ”Wait…these are cookies!”
I go on to tell them they are indeed cookies and to take a bite! They always cautiously take that first bite, like they are expecting that awful regular fondant taste but are so surprised when they taste chocolate – lots of melt-in-your-mouth white chocolate! That is because of the Blossom Fondant. It is made almost entirely of melted white chocolate (candy coating wafers).
Daffodil cookies make such a pretty bouquet for Easter, Mother’s Day…
Or, well….. any time of year actually and they aren’t difficult to make!
To get started, here is a list of a few things you will need:
Small rolling stick and 2 foam squares ( one thick, one thin) 
Parchment paper
A very soft bristle brush
A smooth rolling surface ( I like using a glass cutting board)…
A clean unused makeup puff for dusting with cornstarch…
A Ball tool
A 2-1/2 inch 5 petaled cutter
A small 1-1/2 inch round scalloped cutter
A sharp wire cutters (using a dull cutters will promote breakage of your cookie flowers)
Green Gumdrops (large gumdrops for larger daffodils, small gumdrops for mini daffodils)
Green floral foam that has been securely attached with hot glue inside your container
Wooden skewers tinted green ( tinting them green is optional but will give the bouquet a more realistic appearance…I tell how to do this in the Peony Cookie blog post)
Ribbon for your “leaves”
You will also need something called bonding chocolate. To prepare this, please click here…
Prepare the Blossom Cookie Dough Recipe. Sugar cookie dough can sometimes be a challenge to roll out. I have a “secret” how I do it and it may amaze you how much this one little trick will transform your cookie dough rolling experience. Please click on the link above…
Roll out the dough until it is 1/4 inch thick ( measure with a ruler if need be)…
Take a sheet of parchment paper and in one corner made a rather generous pile of flour. Sprinkle a light layer of flour over the rest of the sheet of parchment…
Cut out a few shapes…
And place them on the pile of flour. Take one of the cookies and flip it over, so that the floured-bottom is facing up, and lay it on the slightly-floured portion of the parchment paper…
The surface of the cookie should now have a rather thick layer of flour all across the top…
Take a small rolling stick and starting about halfway across one of the petals…
Roll outward using only slight pressure when you begin rolling and releasing the pressure when you reach the tip. Avoid “crushing” the dough at the end of the petal from too much pressure…
The idea is to not only lengthen the petal slightly but to bring the tip of the petal to sort of a rounded “point”…
(The cookies in the photo above are to illustrate a before and after look…)
Continue with the rest of the cookies on the flour pile or go on to the next couple of steps…
Take a pastry brush and brush off all the excess flour from the cookies’ surface…
Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet and bake for about 6 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Watch the cookies carefully, as the thinned petal edge will want to brown all of a sudden…
If you are having sticking issues while lengthening the cookie petals…
* sprinkle more flour on the surface of the cookie before lengthing the petals and just brush off the excess flour with the pastry brush before baking
* Use a sheet of parchment paper underneath the cookie dough cutouts when lengthening the petals ( this helps prevent the bottom of the cutout from sticking as you move it around to lengthen the petals)
* roll the dough out to a 1/4 inch thick… (If you’re cutouts are too thin, the petal’s edge will want to stick and possibly tear after being rolled out)…
Prepare the bonding chocolate…
Flip all of your cookies upside down. Dip the flat end of a gumdrop into the melted chocolate and place on an upside down cookie. Repeat until you have completed all your cookies…
Let the the chocolate completely firm up to secure the bond between the cookies and the gumdrops…
Prepare a batch of Blossom Fondant. This should actually be done the day before you use it as it is easiest to work with when it has sat for 24 hours…
Tint it yellow using yellow food coloring paste. Dust a smooth surface with cornstarch using the makeup puff…
Place about a golfball size (or less) of fondant on the surface and puff it with some more cornstarch…
Roll it out using a regular size rolling pin. When it is about 1/8 inch or so, loosen it from the bottom using a pastry scraper…
Using the small scalloped round cutter cut out a few shapes…
Place them on the thick square of foam. Puff the cutout with some cornstarch and then take the ball tool and go around the edge of the cutout. ( Place half the ball tool half on the fondant and the other half on the foam)…
This will thin the edge of the cutout. Continue swirling around the cutout and gradually move towards the center. The fondant should now be taking on a cupped appearance…
When doing this, take your time and let the ball tool do all the work. Don’t apply too much pressure or make the cup too deep or you will risk cracking the cup…
Place the fondant cup on a cornstarch dusted surface and repeat until you have made one cup for every daffodil you are making…
Scrape off your rolling surface with the pastry scraper and re-puff it with some cornstarch…
Then take about a golfball size of fondant and place it on the surface and then ”puff it” with a little more cornstarch and and roll it out, using the regular sized rolling pin, to about 1/8 inch thick. Take a pastry scraper and loosed the fondant from the bottom (if it is sticking) and then lightly reroll over the fondant again…
Take the cutter and cut out a few shapes with the 5-petaled shaped cutter…
Puff some cornstarch onto the thin square of foam. Lay the fondant shape on the foam, puff on a little more cornstarch…
And then place a small rolling stick on one petal and lengthen it by rolling in an outward motion…
Finish rolling out the other 4 petals…
Brush off excess cornstarch from the fondant-covered cookie with a pastry brush.
Spread some bonding chocolate on the cookie…
Position the cutout on the cookie…
and then shape the fondant petals around the tips of your fingers…
Repeat with the rest of the cookies.
Place a dab of bonding chocolate in the center of one cookie…
and place on a cupped center…
Repeat with the rest of the cookies. When the bonding chocolate has set up and the center is securely attached, take a soft bristle brush and brush off excess cornstarch from the cookie’s surface…
If the petals still have a dusty look to them, dip the soft bristle brush into some water, shake off the excess water and brush off the cornstarch. Avoid getting the fondant too wet. If water puddles begin forming, blot your brush on a towel and brush off the water. Continue blotting and brushing until all the water is gone…
Using a #1 decorator’s tip, pipe in a few green and yellow dots for the center…
When you are attaching the cookie flowers to the skewers, place the skewer in to the side of the gumdrops….
Putting the skewer in at varying angles will give your Daffodil cookies a more realistic appearance in the bouquet…
Trim the skewers of your cookie flowers with a sharp wire cutters. Using a dull cutters will promote breakage of your flowers.
To eat your cookie flowers, always break the cookie off the gumdrop and throw the skewer and gumdrop away. Never bite into the skewered gumdrop…
For more tips about floral cookie bouquet assembly, ribbon leaves, etc. and other beautiful floral cookie bouquet ideas, please refer to my DVD “Floral Cookie Bouquets”…
When you want to make a floral cookie bouquet and want to use something other than ribbon, floral foam and shredded paper for filler, try sticking your cookie flowers into a pot of fresh herbs!
Who knows what beautiful combinations you will come up with!…
