Decorated Heart Sugar Cookies with Gumpaste Roses

This Mother's Day I asked my kiddies what they would like to make for mum, and my eldest daughter pulled out the cookie cutters. Mr 5 pored through a recipe book and pointed out a recipe for sugar cookies-so we got to it. I knew these gorgeous cookies would make the perfect budget friendly gift!
How important is involving children in cooking? I think it's a crucial life skill that needs to be encouraged at a very young age. I've vowed not to let one child of mine leave home without a good set of cooking skills under their belt-and not only the essentials. If you're wondering how to instill a love for cooking in your kids, there's a wonderful guide to cooking skills outlining appropriate cooking tasks listed by age, starting from three years and up. As painfully slow and messy it can be, I always allow my kids to get involved when I'm baking. They're too small to do much yet, but they do love activities like beating, rolling, measuring, sifting, licking the spoon....

BASIC SUGAR COOKIES (Adapted by Love Food pg.16)

115g butter, softened
55g caster sugar
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
1 egg yolk
175g plain flour

Mix the butter and sugar with beaters until creamy. Beat in the rind and the yolk. Sift in the flour and mix into a soft dough. Gently knead until smooth, then halve the dough and form into two balls. Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for an hour (or the freezer for 20 minutes)
Preheat the oven to 180C (350F).
Grease and line two baking trays. 
Unwrap the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of about 5mm/1/4 inch. Using a heart shaped cutter, cut out the dough and place the shapes on the baking trays with at least 2cm space between them.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, or until they begin to turn golden.
Remove from oven and cool on a cooling rack. When completely cool, ice with royal icing, and decorate if desired.

ROYAL ICING

2 tbsp beaten egg white
175g icing sugar
water or lemon juice, if needed

Place the egg white in a bowl and add a little sugar. Beat until smooth. Gradually beat in the remaining sugar to make a smooth, thick icing that holds soft peaks. For a thinner, spreadable icing, beat in a few drops of water or lemon juice to get the required consistency. To colour the icing, use a toothpick to add a little liquid or gel food colouring an mix thoroughly.
To ice the hearts, outline the cookies with the thicker icing and allow o ry, then fill in with a more spreadable royal icing. We decorated with a smaller version of these gumpaste roses and store bought edible pearls.

Chocolate Rum Hearts

Lovers-it's that time of the year again. I've crawled out from my hiding place to bring you a very quick, easy and yummy recipe that is perfect for Valentine's Day, especially if you don't buy gifts but just do something thoughtful for your significant other. The only problem is life caught up with me and I wasn't able to post it on time, but never the less, it's a good recipe for just surprising your lover, regardless what day it is. Who needs a particular day to express their love anyway?
Just in case you've been wondering what rock I've crawled out from under, I am pregnant! That's one big boulder on the front of me. I haven't been up to doing much cooking or baking, and would rather be laying down and catching as many zzz's as I can muster with three toddlers under my care. Just kidding- toddlers 1, mummy 0.
But that's okay, because over the weekend, hubby and I and the kids are heading off on holidays to the Sunshine Coast. I cannot wait to get my grubby mits on that little beach house and really relax! Anyway, these heart shaped rum bites are delicious and you don't need to use an oven. If you're in one of those hot climates like I am, you will not want to pass this up. It's too hot to have that thing on.
If you're curious as to what you'll be creating, I can tell you what will be passing your beloved's lips-dense, chocolatey hearts with a nice dash of rum, rolled in red coconut. You will need a silicone heart mold. I suspect mine is supposed to be used for ice making but it's always been more handy for other non liquid creations like this...yum!

 CHOCOLATE RUM HEARTS (A Lick the Spoon Original)

350g biscuits (I used a bunch of different ones like Marie bisuits, plain sweet ones)
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup (300g) sweetened condensed milk
2-3 tbsp. rum
1/4 cup dessicated coconut
1 tbsp red food colouring

Crush the biscuits into fine crumbs in a food processor. Pour into a medium sized bowl.
Add the cocoa, sweetened condensed milk and rum. Mix until well combined.
In a zip lock bag, place the coconut and the food colouring. Mix around until the coconut begins to change colour. Sprinkle a little of this mixture into the bottom of each heart shaped silicone old.
Press the chocolate biscuit mixture into the silicone heart molds and firmly press the tops smooth. Refrigerate for 15-30 minutes, then pop them out. Refrigerate in a airtight container until ready to serve.