Frog prince: Root Beer Float (Cookie Tutorial)~

I thought it would be fun to post an easy tutorial for the root beer float cookies I made earlier this summer (in honor of National Root Beer Float Day~ yep, that's tomorrow). These were made for a graduation party styled by my friend, Christy from Itsy Belle.

I colored my fondant brown & rolled it so it wasn't too thin, since I'd be using stamps on it.

I measured my cookie so I knew what size to make my fondant, then used a pizza cutter to cut it down to size. Next, I stamped out the words I wanted...this may take some practice so maybe try a word or two on a scrap piece of fondant first to get a hang of stamping straight. I actually like the imperfect look that stamping brings to a project, it gives it character!

Once your words are on, take a toothpick and make the lines for your mug, make sure you space these evenly.

Brush corn syrup onto your cookies, staying away from the edges of the cookie because this stuff is super sticky and will sneak out from under the fondant if you add too much. Once the corn syrup is on you can gently press your mug onto the cookie.

I used the top of this purse cutter to make my fondant, ice cream scoop but a circle cutter would work too. Add this to the top of the cookie.

Now is a good time to start mixing your royal icing. While that's mixing up you can make your straws...I LOVE stripey straws but you can make them a single color if you'd like, it would definitely save you some time. If you want the 2 tone affect just roll out 2 different colors of fondant into long, thin ropes. lay them next to one another and start twisting, gently pressing as you roll it back and forth on your surface so it sticks together. I always use a little powdered sugar on my work surface to keep the fondant from getting too sticky. You could also use corn starch.

Cut your straws evenly by finding a size you like then laying your cut straw next to the fondant rope and cutting the next straw the same size. Continue this until all of your straws are cut.
(Oops, we have an over achiever in the group!!)

By now your royal icing should be ready. Put it in a pastry bag with a pretty small tip, I used a #2. First I outlined the mug and added a handle on the side. Next I added the "over flow" so it looks like the foam is running down the side of the glass. Add more royal icing where you plan on placing your straw and immediately add the straw (the royal icing will start to set up pretty quickly).

Add a few swirls of royal icing to hide the seam between the mug and the ice cream and your finished... SO cute, right!! Let them set up for a few hours before serving them and give them a good 12-24 hours to harden before you place them in bags.