Sunday, November 10, 2013

St. Martin Cookies for Martinmas


After seeing the beautiful and amazing All-Saints Themed Cookies shared by Lynne last month I decided to order a cookie mold and see if I would be able to make them as well... Looking through all the links she shared I had a hard time deciding which mold(s) to order!  Since we have plans to celebrate Martinmas with friends this year I ended up choosing the St. Martin mold (as well as a St. Nicholas and a Christmas mold which I hope to use to create Christmas gifts for some of our friends and godchildren next month)! 


The St. Martin Mold: A wondeful, dimensional, German depiction of the famous episode when Martin cut his cloak in two, giving half to a shivering beggar. St. Martin became a patron saint of France. Actual Size: 3.5 x 5.25 inches.


I used my new favorite sugar cookie recipe along with some awesome "rolling sticks" from a friend of mine. (Thank you Erica!)

Cut-Out Sugar Cookie Dough 

Mix the following:
  • 3/4 c. butter
  • 1 c. sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Combine the following dry ingredients and combine with the wet (or add part of the flour and then the salt and powder followed by the rest of the flour):
  • 2 1/3 c. flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. baking powder

Chill until hard. Roll out on floured surface to 3/8" inch thick. Cut out shapes. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes (for 3 inch cookies) or 9 minutes (for 1 1/2 in cookies) OR until bottoms of cookies are barely browning.  


Note: I used the mold as a guide for cutting out the St. Martin cookies and baked them for approx. 15 minutes. 


After the cookies had been baked and cooled I started creating the fondant tops.


Next time I plan to make our own marshmallow fondant, but this time I kept it simple using a package of pastel yellow pre-made fondant.  


Rolling the fondant to the recommended ¼ inch thickness I was able to decorate nine large cookies with the St. Martin design.  


I followed Lynne's directions and it was just as easy as it sounded:  Lightly dust your mold with powdered sugar. Press the rolled out fondant into the mold starting from the center of the mold and working your way to the edges. Be sure to press the fondant into all of the deep areas of the design, you can feel the indentations as you press down on the fondant. Starting from the edge carefully peal the fondant from the mold. Trim the edges of the design then ‘glue’ the fondant to the cookie by brushing the top of the cookie with light corn syrup.


These cookies were so much fun to make and I can't wait to share them with all the children tomorrow after we read about St. Martin and decorate lanterns


Happy Martinmas! 


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16 comments:

  1. So beautiful!
    I will have to look for such wonderful molds - I didn't even know that they exist.
    The Feast of Saint Martin is one of my favourite feasts.

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    1. I am so impressed with the molds! They are expensive but I would sure love to slowly purchase additional molds for my kitchen! :)

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  2. They truly are beautiful, I need to order some of those molds. I know someone who prepared cookies for wedding guests using them and they were just lovely.

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  3. These are just lovely! 9PeasMom, I did that very thing, made Speculaas cookies with these molds for my wedding guests.

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    1. I just LOVE that idea! What mold did you use for your wedding?

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    2. We used two, http://houseonthehill.net/hearts/pomegranate-heart/ and http://houseonthehill.net/bridal-and-wedding/wedding-symbols/

      My sister raises bees and made some beeswax ornaments from some of these molds, too.

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  4. Jessica, your cookies came out fantastic! I love that St. Martin mold, it is on my wishlist.

    I recently made some gingerbread cookies using my molds, it was a dry run for Christmas cookies. I pressed the dough into the mold before baking. The images held beautifully and the taste of the cookies was wonderful. I'll send you the recipe along with the before and after baking pictures. It is so hard to find a cookie recipe that can hold the image during baking.

    The beauty of the molds is that you can use them for more than just cookies or cake toppers. Any medium that can be molded and is non-toxic can be put in the molds. Ornaments can be made with air-dry modeling clay. Paper pulp makes beautiful molded images. I've even used Kleenex, a child's small paintbrush and water to make a paper casting of my molds. Deeper molds can be cast in 100% beeswax. The Springerle Joy website has a photo gallery showing all kinds of cookie mold crafts. The website also has how-to videos. House on the Hill also has a craft section on their website with written instructions.

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    1. Thank you Lynne! There are so many options! It is going to be so much fun to experiment with them and all the different ways they can be used.

      As I just begin our collection I would love to hear what your favorite molds have been. Do you have other favorites that aren't featured in the All Saints Cookies or Rosary posts?

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    2. I love my small Adoro Te heart from House on the Hill. It is a great size and can be used for so many occasions. House on the Hill also offers a custom cookie cutter for the mold.

      The Epiphany 3 Magi mold from House on the Hill is also one of my favorites. It is 7.5 inches in diameter so you can use it as a cake topper. The size also makes an impressive cookie. This Christmas I'm going to cover sugar cookies with the molded image in white fondant then paint the images on the fondant with gel food coloring. When rolling the sugar cookie dough for a cookie this size you should go thicker than 1/4 inch. For instructions on how to paint cookies and fondant go to the Springerle Joy website where there is a how to video. Because of the size of this cookie mold one cookie is a great Christmas gift for a whole family, even a large Catholic family!

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  5. Lynneol, could you please post your "hold-the-image-during-baking" gingerbread cookie recipe for all us readers? I would love to try it!

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  6. The recipe is from the Springerle Baker: http://cookiemolds.wordpress.com/recipes/gingerbread/
    Be sure to let the dough chill overnight for maximum flavor.

    The Springerle Baker has the best gingerbread molds. If you purchase one ask Ken to make the mold clear for the extra $2.00. A clear mold allows you to make sure the dough hits the back of the mold so you get all of the details. Ken's molds are not made for beauty or display they are made for use in a professional baker's kitchen.

    I have posted on pinterest some of the gingerbread cookies I made a couple of days ago. http://www.pinterest.com/lynneol4/boards/

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  7. Beautiful! Love your photos and creations!

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