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Paul Hollywood’s Iced Gems: Colorful Shortbread Cookies with Royal Icing Frosting Recipe

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4.1 from 3 reviews

Paul Hollywood’s Iced Gems are delightful British shortbread cookies infused with orange zest and topped with colorful royal icing rosettes. These bite-sized treats combine the buttery richness of orange shortbread with vibrant pastel swirls of sweet royal icing, perfect for teatime or any festive occasion.

Ingredients

Orange Shortbread

  • 7 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup superfine sugar (regular granulated sugar can be used)
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • Zest of 1 orange
  • 1/4 tsp fine salt

Royal Icing

  • 2 large egg whites
  • 3 1/3 cups powdered sugar
  • Gel food coloring in pastel purple, pink, yellow, peach, and blue

Instructions

  1. Make the dough: Beat the butter, sugar, and orange zest together until soft and creamy to incorporate air and soften the mixture.
  2. Add dry ingredients: Mix in the flour and salt on low speed for about 1 minute until a firm dough forms, being careful not to overwork the dough.
  3. Roll and chill dough: Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to about 1/4-inch thickness. Wrap and chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up for easier cutting.
  4. Preheat oven and prepare baking sheet: Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper for baking the cookies.
  5. Prepare royal icing base: Whisk the egg whites until frothy in a clean bowl to create the base for the icing.
  6. Add powdered sugar gradually: Add the powdered sugar a large spoonful at a time, whisking continuously until the icing is very stiff and holds peaks, indicating it’s ready for piping.
  7. Color the icing: Divide the stiff royal icing evenly into 5 bowls, about a scant 1/3 cup each, then tint each bowl with gel food coloring very carefully, using toothpicks to add color gradually to achieve pastel shades.
  8. Create striped icing tube: Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and spoon each colored icing in a line side by side. Fold the plastic wrap over itself to form a long tube of striped frosting, then roll the ends tightly and set aside.
  9. Cut and bake cookies: Use a 1-inch round cookie cutter (1 1/2 inch works as well) to cut out 36 cookies from the chilled dough. Place cookies on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden around the edges.
  10. Cool cookies: Remove from oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack to ensure the icing doesn’t melt when applied.
  11. Pipe icing rosettes: Cut one end off the icing tube and insert it into a piping bag fitted with an open star tip (such as 4B or 8B). Pipe a rosette onto each cooled cookie for a colorful finish.
  12. Set the icing: Let the icing harden at room temperature for several hours, or alternatively, place the iced cookies in an oven set to 120°F (if available) for 30 minutes to speed drying. Optionally, you can leave the iced cookies inside the cooling oven for several hours to fully set.

Notes

  • Use superfine sugar for smoother shortbread texture, but regular granulated sugar works as well.
  • Adding orange zest to the dough adds a fresh citrus aroma and flavor.
  • Be careful not to overwhisk the royal icing or it may become too stiff to pipe evenly.
  • Use a small amount of gel coloring and build up pastel colors gradually to avoid overly bright tones.
  • For piping, an open star tip size 4B is ideal; an 8B can be used for larger rosettes.
  • Allowing icing to dry slowly at room temperature gives the best finish, but low-temperature oven drying is a good alternative if time is short.
  • Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to a week, but icing colors may soften over time.

Find it online: https://cookedbysarah.com/paul-hollywoods-iced-gems-colorful-shortbread-cookies-with-royal-icing-frosting-recipe/