Cold Weather Penguins

The East Coast is under attack from a phenomenon called the Polar Vortex. This air mass, usually in place in the Arctic, has decided to migrate south for a day or two. Sort of like a little mini vacation. So here in Maryland, we're expected to dive into single digit temperatures, with wind gusts over 30mph, resulting in below-zero wind chills. Schools are closing, people are putting extra blankets on their beds, buying extra toilet paper and so on. I can just imagine the mocking conversations in Russia over the clinking of vodka glasses-"they don't know what cold really feels like!". 
In addition to the cold temps, the Vortex has brought something else from the Arctic- PENGUINS!  So what can you do on a extra cold winter's day? Bake sweets, of course! And these penguins are dressed for the weather!

I used the Wilton snowman with hat cutter. It's super versatile! A little trim here or there and you have a cutter for all occasions. Let me show you!

Turn the snowman upside down. Use a round cutter to create a curved mark where you will remove his hat. Go ahead and trim it off. Bake as usual.

After baking, we want to mark the boundary between the white and black colors of our penguin.  Grab a heart cutter, an oval, and a food marker. Trace the top of the heart cutter to create the V-line for the penguin's face or the "hairline" (which is weird to say since penguins don't have hair.  So "feather-line"?). Then trace the oval cutter to create the body of the penguin. Can you see the faint yellow line in the picture above? 
Of course you could just eyeball it too and save yourself the time of getting out the extra cutters. 

Time to get out your royal icing! I used a 20-second royal icing in white and black.
​Here are the steps:

1.  Outline the head and body with white icing.
2.  Immediately flood the head and body with the white. Let it crust. I waited about 30 minutes in front of an oscillating fan. The cookie, not me. :)
3.  Use black royal icing to fill in the outer part of the penguin body. Pipe the eyes while you're at it. Let it crust.
4.  Make the wings with the black icing. Let dry for a few hours. 

Time to get dressed for the weather! I added scarves, ear muffs, hats, and some mittens too.
​And some snowballs. . .

Ouch. I hate getting hit with snowballs. But I sure like to throw them!
Keep warm out there everyone! 
Time to break out the vodka, to clean my airbrush of course!