How To Make Ruffle Flowers

You guys. It's almost Thanksgiving. It's like...getting the turkey out of the freezer and trying to find the pie tins close. And re-evaluating my decision to make stuffing from actual bread because I don't want to get my kids bundled so I can go to the store and buy celery close. And digging through the basement cupboards at 11pm because I just realized I have no idea where the table cloths are and then starting the laundry at 2am because I finally found them in the Halloween box and for some reason they are covered in glitter and olive oil close. In case you aren't sure... that's pretty close.

At this point, I'm going to make a crazy wild guess here and say that if you didn't already plan on making these before Thanksgiving...it's probably not going to happen. But I really wanted to show them to you. and you can make them for any holiday. Or for any occasion really. They would be the perfect "Thanks-for-helping-me-move-my-couch-I'm-sorry-about-your-truck" flower cookies.

Also, before we get started, you should know that I usually make my own fondant. But a few months ago the people from Fat Daddio's told me they were making fondant now. And they sent me some to try! And guess what? I LOVE IT! Which was kind of a surprise because I'm hyper-critical when it comes to fondant. But it tasted good and had stretch and give in all the right places. And in case you are a fondant user...this stuff is cheaper than the mosquito repellant flavored brand. You know the one I'm talking about. Anyway, moving on, let's make some ruffle flowers real quick. You could probably make a few of these AND thaw that turkey anyway.

1. Roll out fondant or modeling chocolate real thin. Cut out two circles.
2. Fold a paper towel in half twice. Put one circle on top. Roll the end of a paintbrush back and forth across the outer edge of the circle. Gently press down as you roll so it thins a little and gets slightly lacy.
3. Using the thumb and forefinger of both hands, fold the circle in on itself, forming an "x".
4. Twist the outer points of the "x" so the "petals" roll into each other, making it look like a swirled circle.
5. Twist the underneath side together.
6.Break off the bottom half.
7. Roll the outer edges of the second circle. Place the first ruffled circle on top of the second one.
8. Collapse the bottom circle up around the first one, folding the edges in with your fingers to match the ruffles of the top circle. I like to put these in the well of an egg carton to dry for a couple of hours to give them just a little more shape. But you could also use these right away if you wanted to.

Also, I painted the edges of these gold. Because I can. And because I'm all about gold edges these days. And silver. And I kind of wish they made pewter airbrush spray because I would be all over that one too. Great. Now I really want to make pewter cookies. I'm going to do it for Valentine's Day. That seems like a pewter appropriate holiday, doesn't it?

Want to try Fat Daddio's fondant? Get all the colors and sizes HERE.