This Valentine’s Day Cookie Bouquet makes a delightful DIY gift for someone special.
I have always viewed Valentine’s Day as a chance to celebrate many kinds of love — friends, family, and special people in your life. I enjoy making cookie bouquets like this one to share with loved ones near and far.
For this bouquet I chose a palette of red, light pink, and hot pink hearts, inspired by a cookie design I developed recently.
When I decorate sugar cookies I use an icing made from meringue powder, powdered sugar, and water. I prefer to mix small batches since I color all the frosting at once. My usual ratio is about 1 spoon of meringue powder, 4 heaping spoons of powdered sugar, and 1 1/2 spoons of water. Stir slowly until the ingredients combine. Adjust with more powdered sugar or water until the icing reaches a thick, glue-like consistency.
After adding food coloring, I put some of the icing into a plain sandwich bag. To the icing left in the bowl I add a few drops of water, then transfer that thinner icing to another sandwich bag. This gives me the same color in two consistencies: a thicker icing for outlining and details, and a thinner one for flooding and filling cookie shapes.
I find sandwich bags easier to use than pastry bags with tips. Simply snip the smallest corner off the bag to create a decorating nozzle. Below is an example of the flow and consistency I aim for.
Here’s how to make this Valentine’s Day cookie bouquet.
Step 1:
Outline the heart shape with the thicker icing, then fill it with the thinner icing. Smooth the flood icing gently with the back of a spoon to meet the outline. Allow it to dry before proceeding to the next step.
Step 2:
Pipe a smaller white heart in the center of each cookie, outlining with the thicker icing and flooding with the thinner. Add small white dots around the larger heart for added detail.
Step 3:
One reason I love this design is the whimsical swirls on the colored portion of the heart. Make random swirls while the colored flood icing is still workable. After the swirls set, fill any gaps with a few white dots for a finished look.
Step 4:
There are two options for creating the roses that sit in the center of each cookie.
Option one is to pipe the roses directly on the cookie. Start with three colored dots of thin icing, add green leaves, and let the base dry for about 15 minutes. Use very thick icing with a tiny cut on the corner of the sandwich bag, start in the middle, and swirl outward until you reach the edge of the dot to form the rose.
Option two is to pipe the roses on parchment paper. Once they are completely dry they peel off easily and can be stored in an airtight container. Attach these pre-made roses to cookies using a small dab of icing as glue.
Step 5:
To assemble the bouquet I use floral foam to hold the cookie sticks in place. For a tall vase I add weight to prevent tipping — a small bag of marbles wrapped in tissue works well. Place the weighted tissue in the vase, then cut floral foam to fit on top. Arrange the cookies in the foam, planning the layout beforehand so you don’t make unnecessary holes. Finish by tucking small pieces of tissue between the sticks to conceal the foam.
Your Valentine’s Day cookie bouquet is ready to gift.
Because this is a Valentine’s gift, I like to wrap the bouquet in cellophane and finish it with a pretty bow — it makes a charming presentation.
This arrangement makes a lovely gift and is fun to create. If you enjoy cookie bouquets, try different color combinations and rose styles to make each one unique.