Edible Cookie Plate -Tutorial

I've been going a little overboard lately with edible plates and mini cookies. I like that they can be made to look like any type of plate or saucer, and can be made for any season, or reason.
My latest plate is detailed with a brush embroidery design because I was trying to get the look of Wedgwood or Jasperware. 
Through trial and error I found a technique that gave me the look I wanted using royal icing rather than fondant. 
To make a simple basic round cookie plate I've made the following photo pictorial showing how to cut and bake your own, and the basic icing steps that will then allow you to decorate and detail them any way you want. 

 Cut your rolled and chilled cookie dough with a large circle cookie cutter. Make sure your dough is well chilled because you don't want the circle to lose it's shape as you work with it. My dough here is rolled 1/4" thick, and this cutter is about 4-1/4" across.
Remember this is just showing how to do a basic round shape. These can be made using just about any shape. Look around at candy dishes or holiday plates for inspiration.

Using a smaller circle cutter cut out the center.  This cutter is about 2-3/8", but use whatever size cutter looks best for the plate you're doing. For example if you want to make it look more like a saucer to put a teacup on you would use an even smaller cutter for the middle. Remove the center circle from the outer ring and place the outer ring on a baking sheet.

 Take the center circle and re-roll to half the thickness and then re-cut it using the same small circle cutter. I just use a fondant roller with the larger rings for this step.

The idea is to make the center about half the thickness of the outer ring. This is what will give the indentation and make it look more like an actual plate.

Insert the re-rolled re-cut center circle back into the outer ring on the baking sheet. Re-chill for about 10 minutes, then bake. (I actually put the whole baking sheet in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before baking) When baking, check them about 5 minutes towards the end to make sure the centers aren't browning too quickly as they are thinner than the rest of the cookie. They will be covered with icing, so not too big a worry.

And here it is all baked.

For this plate I wanted the icing on the inner circle to blend as seamlessly as possible into the outer circle, so I started icing the outer ring first using a flood consistency icing and then let it dry completely. You can see where I came just to the top edge of the inner circle.

When the outside ring is dry, begin icing the middle section with flood icing.  Start in the center and work almost out to the edge. Begin again at the edge and let gravity help to drip the icing down to meet the rest of the flooded area helping it along with the icing tip when needed. You don't want to add too much icing at the edge as it will fill in the area too much and take away the look of the indentation.

Try to get as clean a line as possible around the top edge where the outer circle meets the inner circle especially if you're using a different color for the inside or it will be noticeable. If it ends up a little crooked, you can cover it up later with a line or dot detail. Let the middle dry completely before adding the finishing details. At this point I will let you decide how you want your finished plate to look. As I said above, look at candy dishes, saucers, and holiday plates. Even paper plates have some great designs on them

Here is my finished plate design. This is a brush embroidery technique, which I am still quite new at using on cookies. When I used to do ceramics this technique was done using slip (liquid clay) to add raised design effects on greenware items before firing. It's much more fun on cookies!

Don't forget to add the mini cookies, and even a handle. (use a straw to make a hole in the middle of the cookie plate before baking) The possibilities are endless. This cookie plate has a simpler brushwork design.  Below I've listed links to 2 excellent tutorials so please check them out if you're at all interested in this design technique.

Their work is outstanding and something I can only hope to aspire to.

Alibees

or

Sweetambs

♥Happy Decorating♥