Red Poppy cookies in Remembrance

These Red Poppy Cookies are in recognition of Veterans from all countries, from all wars and that are both still here and those that have given the ultimate sacrifice. Thank you!

Today is Veterans Day in the US and Remembrance Day in the UK. Poppies are traditionally seen in the US for Memorial Day but I chose to honor Veterans of all countries and all wars with these red poppy cookies because the living and the dead are both honored in the poem below.

As a veteran myself, I believe that the red poppy is always appropriate. I don’t think about my service or sacrifice on Veterans Day as something that deserves thanks or honor by others. But I do think about those that have given the ultimate sacrifice. This is generally the topic on Memorial Day but it is just as appropriate today.

Thank you to all veterans everywhere!

This poem was written by Canadian Medical Officer Major John M. McCrae. He wrote “In Flanders Fields” in May 1915, the day after presiding over the funeral of his friend. The words are from one veteran to another, one that had passed on and one still fighting. That’s why I chose Red Poppies today. We still continue to fight in honor of those that fought before us.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
“We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and we lie
In Flanders fields.
“Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.”
– Major John M. McCrae

The decorative technique

I used brush embroidery to get the texture and raised effect on the flowers. I have never tried this technique before but I LOVE it! It was so easy but looks really impressive.

It does take quite a while, though. The technique itself is quick but drying is imperative after each step.

On this cookie, I flooded the background with the blue royal icing. The cookies dried for about 4 hours and then I piped on the shape of the flower in red. This step was just a simple outline and flooding with red icing.

After that dried, I piped on the green stem and bud. By doing these at this point, they appear to be more in the background after the petals are piped on.

The next step was to pipe on the back (top) two petals. I used outline consistency royal icing for this. First, outline the edges of those two petals and use a clean, dry paintbrush to drag the icing in towards the center of each petal. I used the paintbrush to push the icing around the edges to create a raised edge. The icing should be brushed over the surface to cover the whole petal to create the texture of the petals all the way to the flowers’ center.

The black centers went on next. Then the yellow dots.

Finally, the larger two petals (the bottom two) were outlined and shaped, dragged, and brushed to create lots of texture and lines. It is easy to play with the icing to get the look that you like.

After a bit more drying, I used a fondant tool to make some lines in the little green bud on the top left. A little petal dust was brushed on to create even more depth and texture. (This step is completely optional.)

Would a demo video be helpful?

I thought about doing a video while I was decorating these cookies to show you the steps and easy it is. But I got caught up in the excitement of playing with the icing and forgot!

Would a video tutorial be helpful? If you would like to see a video of how to do brush embroidery, please comment below to let me know! If there is any interest, I will put together a video and post it soon!

UPDATE! HERE IS A VIDEO SHOWING THE BRUSH EMBROIDERY TECHNIQUE!