last slice of summer

A few weeks ago, a colleague asked me to make summer fruit cookies for her Labor Day party. My first thought was how is it possible that summer is ALREADY over? Summer in Washington, DC is not for everyone, but I love summer and it always goes by too quickly. Once I got over the calendar shock, I got pretty excited to make these cookies and share this tutorial with you.

Cookie novices often ask me where to start. Admittedly, some of the tutorials on this blog require tools and skills that new cookiers might not have. But not this one. This is the best first cookie for novices. When I first started baking, lemon slices were a go-to design for me. I could make them with those tubes of icing from the store and they looked pretty good, despite my lack of tools or skills. And *BONUS* the great thing about this cookie is that you can create any kind of citrus slice you want with this basic design, just change out the colors (orange for oranges, green for limes, etc.)

• If you don’t have a semicircle cookie cutter (I don’t) create the shape by simply cutting a circle in half. I use a standard biscuit cutter and cut the dough in half with a sharp, clean edge knife. Cutting dough free hand is always easier when your dough is very cold (I freeze the dough and the knife for 15-30 minutes before cutting.)

• Once the cookies have cooled completely, draw your design onto the cookie using a food marker. I prefer to draw the design on the cookie first because…well…sometimes (maybe) I am a little bit of a perfectionist. Let’s just say it’s good to plan and leave it at that.

• I used 15 count royal icing to pipe these cookies but (as mentioned above) this is totally doable with store bought tubes, like my old friends, these guys.

• Pipe the rind along bottom of the cookie.

WAIT 10-30 MINS WHILE THE ICING HARDENS!

• Once the icing has hardened–it does not need to be completely hard, just enough to hold its shape–pipe white icing over the marker lines.

WAIT 10-30 MINS WHILE THE ICING HARDENS!

• Next, flood two non-adjacent slices. While the white icing borders will hold the yellow icing in place, I prefer to work with non-adjacent slices to prevent any overflow.

• Extra credit: I decided to add texture to the slices to make them look more like real fruit. This technique, called marbling, must be done immediately while the icing is still very wet. To do it, add a few lines and dots with darker and lighter shades. Pull the lines and dots through the base icing with a toothpick. This technique is difficult with store-bought icing, but if you are using your own icing, you should try it.