Sugar Starfish

Do you know that the real-life versions of these beauties are called "Sugar Starfish"?! Honest! After studying many starfish pictures, I thought that I would try to recreate the texture with royal icing and nonpareils.   

Let me show you how I made them! 

First, cut and bake your starfish shapes. If you don't have a starfish cutter, just use a regular star cutter but round off and curve the ends a little so it looks less like a perfect star. Bake and cool.  Flood with a golden brown color. Let it dry really well. 

While your flood is drying, add some color to your nonpareils. I put some plain white nonpareils in a small cup and lightly airbrushed them with Amerimist Ivory. I continually swirled the cup as I airbrushed to coat the nonpareils as evenly as possible. Afterwards, I mixed in a pinch of confectioner's sugar so that the nonpareils wouldn't clump together. 

For the starfish's texture, use a thick, light yellowy-tan royal icing.   

I used a boo-boo stick to apply the texture, but an off-set spatula would work, too. Place a little bit of icing on the flat edge of the stick or spatula and touch it to the surface of the cookie. Immediately lift the stick straight up. 

Use the stick or spatula to press and lift the icing over the surface of the cookie. Don't smear the icing side to side. Press down and lift straight up. Add more icing as needed to coat the surface.

While this texture is drying (it should dry pretty fast), thin out some of the light tan color to piping consistency. Place it in a piping bag with a #2 tip. Pipe a star shape and center lines extending down each arm. Immediately sprinkle some of the nonpareils on this piped line.   

Pipe some additional random dots in the center of the star and down each arm.  Add the nonpareils and you're done! 

These starfish would be a great addition to a beach themed party or wedding!

Check out some other ways to decorate pretty starfish!
* Glorious Treats
* Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle