The Sunshine Project and Why We Should All Do Our Best to Be the Light

Well folks, here we are. Near the end of what will likely and hopefully be the strangest and most challenging year of our lives.

Above was me sometime in April or May and below is me now. New house, new puppies, new state who dis?

I find myself in a totally new world, almost literally, happier and more grateful than ever, even though I can’t be at the shop due to COVID. I feel ready for the next war armed as an (even) saltier and mightier warrior. Sure I was wounded in the field, but I’ve mostly recovered and I learned a ton. Somehow though, I still feel terror know what’s to come as the short and cold days of winter approach.

How is that possible? To feel such opposite things at the same time, in the same body? I struggle every day with letting joy and sorrow, fear and bravery sit side by side at my table.

As many of you know, those few months of quarantine were pretty difficult for me….for the kids, for Andrew, for our marriage- it was ROUGH. We were blessed in many ways (being able to work from home and having Andrew’s job to cover my sudden lack of income), but living in a NYC apartment, in the throes of COVID, in a pandemic hot spot, with two little kids, with two small businesses on hold- put our marriage and my ability to be an optimist to the test. Then throw in the BLM movement, the riots, protests, bizarre curfews, and political landscape in general and it quite literally felt like we were living in one, big, hot pressure cooker. I felt myself scrounging for scraps of hope. Especially after finding out the building’s beloved doorman of 45 years (about to retire) was taken by COVID.

That scrap of hope finally came in the form of me baking little “Sunny” cookies and delivering with notes and promises of help to neighbors in our building.

The note was basically me trying to reach another human being during a time when getting in an elevator was so terrifying we once didn’t leave the apartment for 10 days; When walking down 76th street meant you’d pass the Lenox Hill refrigerated trucks full of body bags; when elderly people were starving to death inside their apartments, and when you’d curse the news every time the president or some other right wing loon would tell the country it was all a hoax and pretty much “like the flu”. Sure- it’s a hoax until it’s your uncle that gets the damn thing working as a painter for the MTA (please explain to me how painting was a job that couldn’t have been put on hold?) and we find ourselves seriously wondering if he’s going to make it. Well, let’s just say that for many of us the drink of the day was hopelessness followed by a shot of helplessness and a bottle of wine and that human contact of any form was terrifying.

But I digress, the note simply stated that I was really sad and scared, but refused to drown in the darkness. I mentioned that we could be the light for each other and offered grocery shopping help and cookies in exchange for them simply telling me they wanted some, thus giving me purpose and a chance to feel the joy of spreading joy (my favorite brand of happiness).

A short while later I rebranded TKT including a happy little sun into our logo (my nickname was Sunny growing up) and changed our slogan to “Baking the World a Better Place”. Once TKT reopened in June, we were intent on sending out ripples of kindness. We dropped cookies of at the Ronald McDonald house and donated portions of our proceeds to 3 charities. I focused on being the light for others, when I couldn’t see the light for myself. If that feeling was then projected by them, we would eventually all light the world for eachother, and ourselves. I know it sounds super hippie dippie, but does that make sense?

See, it’s a powerful thing to know you are needed. I think if we all knew how much we needed each other- and therefore how much we are needed- our lives would be so much more meaningful. We would finally understand that each one of us has the power to change our own lives and the lives of others based on how we choose to live our lives. Even in the smallest of ways, a ripple can become a wave, a tiny bit of a snow, an enormous crushing ball of force.

I believe it because I’ve seen it. As a student of the universe, the oldest of the old schools, I have learned that we are all inextricably linked and that kindness is the most powerful force of all the forces. Part of its power is that it’s completely free. Anyone can afford it. We can all give it freely. It doesn’t run out.

Now I’m not saying we all become Mother Theresa and devote our lives to only helping others- I get how ridiculous that sounds and when so many of us feel as if we are about to burst at the sheer load of life right now. Plus, I curse like a sailor so I’m not sure I’ll ever be canonized- but I’d like to take today to challenge you to use kindness as your weapon against the dark for the rest of 2020 and moving forward as well.

This can happen in tiny ways. Learn the name of your local store clerk, and your UPS driver, and anyone else you see on the daily but treat as just a commodity (hard to hear- but we are all guilty of this). It takes very little time and effort and makes a real difference.

Raj for example owns the country store by us on Route 33. He and his family work there and are always so friendly. They have two gas pumps, split firewood, household staples, their business is so helpful as we can go there for many of our needs and it’s just 4 minutes away. By knowing his name and being friendly, I become a positive in his day and his warm reaction brings me joy too.

So many people treat the humans they come into contact with as personal punching bags (this includes the people in and out of your households). Being short or rude and just generally taking out our frustrations on other people may make you feel better in the smallest short-term, but it’s a rabbit hole of awfulness. Kindness on the other hand is quite the opposite. The effect lifts the recipient AND the giver up. Joy begets joy. Now you just have to find ways to spread it. Sprinkle that shit everywhere. Like glitter, but even brighter.

An easy way to start is by downloading this free little note and leaving a pile of drinks and snacks for your delivery people who are surely working harder than ever before and putting their own lives at risk so we can grocery shop online and making Jeff Bezos richer by the minute. It doesn’t cost much. I get a giant box of snacks (healthy and indulgent) and little water bottles from Costco and we are talking maybe $.10- $.15 per item. You could also bake something or just leave a nice note for them thanking them.

The medicine that is kindness is what I prescribe myself when I’m feeling the crappiest. I check in on my loved ones, randomly Facetime someone- whatever. As we head into the unknown and with winter coming of our time (who knew Frozen and GOT would be foreshadowing 2020), I urge you to just reach out and touch someone with kindness and with your mask on and from 6 feet away, because when you can’t see the light- you can still be the light and that, when it all boils down, is #thesunshineproject. Tag someone else in the movement and let’s see if we can make the world a little brighter.

Truly and sincerely yours, with love and hope for a better tomorrow,

Marisol

Tiny's Tips- A Nerd's Guide to Becoming a Sugar Artist

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Hi there!

My name is Marisol Morley and I am the founder, CEO, and creative director at Tiny Kitchen Treats (sometimes I am the baker, sugar artist, and customer care rep, too- though not as often nowadays).

I went from self-taught home baker to royal baby shower cookie maker. That’s right. This girl right here started out, just like you maybe- with no pastry background and absolutely no royal icing experience. But armed with my passion for the art of royal icing and the way I approach it, I’ve gone from crying on the floor of my tiny kitchen (true story) to owning a not-so-tiny bakery in Brooklyn, NY that makes cookies for the world’s top brands and clients.

So whether you've been bitten by the cookie bug and are hoping to learn the basics to make cookies for friends and family or you want to start your own business, I've got you covered. My approach is 1 part instinct and 1 part science. Yup, I said science.

We’re going to get pretty nerdy here. I’ll teach you the science behind cookie craters and color bleed so that you understand WHY these things happen- which is the only way to really know something deeply and therefore avoid it.

I also aim to teach you how to build a business that actually makes you money. There are several ways to do that in our world- and we will explore them all: production, content, classes, and products. We will talk about opening a storefront, assembly lining your production (whichever form of production you choose) and where to place your efforts (put down the scribe to all my OCD decorators out there!)

My goal is to post once a week and answer all questions and comments within 48 hours. We will announce posts on social media and via our mailing list. I will link up our go-to’s and alternatives, always staying true to you by giving you the full low-down on methods, products, etc. and many of the posts will be accompanied by Youtube videos on our channel since so much of this stuff really requires a visual.

And while I do my best to answer DM’s- I do ask that questions pertaining to the blog posts stay here since a question asked by someone, with an answer posted- has the ability to help many others. If you want to stay in touch and be notified of new posts, be sure to follow us on Insta and Youtube.

Alright, let’s get started!

xx

Tiny

Want to hear more about my story and how this all came to be? Check out my 2019 interview with MONEY magazine.

Royal Icing Transfers

About four years ago, I launched the first ever donut sprinkle. To date, this tiny little lump of sugar and happiness is still our most popular Etsy offering.

The picture that made the internet lose its mind.

We received endless messages asking if the donuts were tiny cookies. And while making a 1/2” cookie would be insanely adorable, it would also be 10x the price. So what WAS it?

That tiny bit of happiness was just the rebranding of a royal icing transfer. That’s right. Our “sprinkles” were just transfers, as they’re known in the cookie community.

Transfers are nothing more than royal icing piped directly onto a variety of non-stick surfaces. Once dry, they’re peeled off and affixed onto the cookie, cupcake or cake…. or, if you’re like my Etsy clients, you can just pop it in our mouth “like it’s candy”.

Other than icing and a non-stick surface, all you need is time. And that’s where we run into trouble with transfers. Time is the most valuable and difficult-to-find of all the commodities. And when I say they take time- I mean I’ve had transfers take 3 days to fully dry. Who has time to plan ahead like that? Definitely not all of us procrastibakers. Yes, unfortunately-in order to be safely removed from their non-stick surface-transfers need to dry for what feels like FOR-E-VER.

Epic drying time is one factor that I think makes many sugar artists shy away from adding this cute, yet deadly, tool to their arsenal of weapons, but this fear can be remedied by investing in some insurance (more on that later).

A few other elements play a role- the consistency and freshness of the icing and even the material on which you are making the transfers- with breathable materials allowing for faster drying times than their plastic/cellulose/silicone counterparts.

Breathability as a factor is also why the same design will dry more quickly on your cookie. A baked good is porous and although it may not seem like it- that porosity speeds up the drying time from beneath. It’s why the transfers will always look dry from above, but when you go to peel them off, the bottom and inside is still soft.

The best way to remedy this problem is to invest in a dehydrator While relatively expensive compared to your average decorating gear (around $200), this machine quite literally allows you to buy time- as it shortens royal icing drying times by more than half in most scenarios, and that’s a REALLY good return on your investment. This is the exact one we use.

Excalibur 2900ECB 9-Tray Food Dehydrator with Adjustable Thermostat for Temperature Control Patented Technology for Faster and Efficient Drying 15 Square Feet Drying Space Made in USA, 9-Tray, Black Buy on Amazon

If investing in a dehydrator is not in the books for you right now (hey, we didn’t get ours til about a year ago!) then be sure to follow at least ONE of the following transfer golden rules:

1. Use fresh Icing- fresh icing has more air incorporated. All this air intermingling with the sugar and egg molecules will ALWAYS make fresh icing dry faster.

2. Use the thickest consistency icing you can manage- piping consistency has less water than a flood which means more body (a puffy transfer is MAGIC)- if you can manage a stiff piping consistency by jiggling as you work and working quickly- your transfers will dry much faster, will be puffier, AND are less likely to crater. Which is a triple slam in my book.

3. Use a porous non-stick surface- not as transparent, but if you’re doing a basic shape, like an eyeball, then way more doable.

4. Use a fan- We have a small one that clips onto our racks when we just need a little push on drying for the next step and the dehydrators (yes, I bought a second when I saw how they changed our ability to turn around SAME DAY orders for cookies). It will also aid you in preventing craters on cookies and transfers alike. Linked up here in our decorating-must haves Amazon shop.

Think of it like this- the above are all insurance policies, the more insurance you buy- the better off you are. So whether you have that dehydrator or not- buy multiple insurance policies. You can thank me later.

Moving on- here is my list of conventional non-stick materials from the pastry world with some less conventional surfaces which I’ve grown fond of and employ at the shop:

• Parchment or Wax Paper- breathable and by far the easiest to find, though not very transparent. To prevent it from curling on you- use some masking tape to hold down to your baking sheet. BE AWARE- Parchment sheets tend to ripple and warp in dehydrators- even on the lowest setting. Avoid using in the dehydrator and instead let air dry with the help of. fan.

• Sheet Protectors-yes, like the ones you’d put in a binder-easy to find, cheap and ultra transparent, though they do get dingy after a couple of uses as they are not easy to clean.

• Mylar Paper- a thick plastic used with commercial grade cutting machines like Cricuts and Silhouettes. Expensive but heavy and durable with the ability of being used again and again. If you have one of these machines- then it may be something easily on-hand for you and eliminate the need to have two materials in stock.

• Acetate sheets- which is what we use at the shop and here’s why. These “plastic” sheets are made out of cellulose. Cellulose is the world’s most advanced biomass material. Just like plastic, it's lightweight yet strong and very transparent, but most importantly-by using plant-based material, we help reduce our plastic waste

• Non-Stick Baking Mats- these kitchen staples are composed of food-safe silicone and fiberglass mesh. The downside to this long-lasting material is that they are opaque. However, they are one of my kitchen must haves as they can be used endless amounts of times for a plethora of baking/cooking purposes. I’ll talk more about them and the ones we carry in our post about baking and cookie decorating must-haves, but in the meantime here are ours.

• A Laminated Transfer Template- while at first glance, a laminator may not seem like a necessary tool for cookie making, the fact is if you have shapes you regularly make, watercolor ovals for your PYO’s for example or Christmas wreaths for your gingerbread houses or doors, like the ones below- printing them and laminating saves time- then laminating those templates saves you time and effort as you can pipe directly onto the laminated sheet- just be sure to tape it to whatever surface it will be drying on (more on laminators and other unexpected office supplies turned cookie tools linked up at the end of this post).

This is a laminated set of our best friend tic tac toe peanut butter and jelly bread slices (what a mouthful LOL). We provided each student in our full-day cookie con classes this full set of cookies and the chance to work on their own transfers by taping them to a dehydrator sheet and making it the very first step we work on in the day. 8 hours later- they’re fully dry!

Our gingerbread houses and villages require massive amount of detail like wreaths. Here you can see how our staff member Betty pipes them onto an acetate sheet taped onto a dehydrator tray.

Every single one of the windows in our Harrod’s scaled replica is a transfer. It allows us to construct the structure and then place the details- sometimes on-site for an added touch of glamour to an event.

Now, if you find yourself asking- but why not just pipe this directly on the cookie where it will dry faster and not require any of the above items- then you’re in the right place. You should always question and test theories and ideas- you’ll find it will either prove it’s the best way or teach you a new way of doing something. Lucky for you- I’m giving advice based on years of tested, tried, and true methods. So here are a variety of reasons why transfers are a worthy tool for your cookier tool belt:

1. They’re waaaaaay easier than piping directly into the cookie since you can pipe using a template- ensuring each one of your “sprinkles” is identical. Like a projector but without having to turn off all your lights and work in the dark

2. It’s the best and easiest way to pipe clean shapes onto a bumpy or uneven surface.

3. To extend past the confines of the edge of a cookie. Precarious, but beautiful and works for food styling

4. To add a small bedazzled touch, since the transfer can be dusted all on its own allowing you to place a glittery bow on your cookie- without making the entire cookie sparkly

5. As a money saver since anything that is made in assembly-line kind of clusters saves you time and time=money

6. Transfers can be made ahead of time in bulk and saved for months

7. A great way to add detail to a cake without investing in fondant, gum paste, or molding chocolate.

8. They make complex designs taught in a creative classroom setting achievable- we often want to teach more complex designs, but even with a dehydrator, drying time is an ever-present factor when it comes to what we can teach. By using transfers, as you can provide your students with a pre-made way of adding detail in a short span of time and allowing

   them to achieve a more impressive design.

Their uses are really endless. Once they’re ready- you just attach with a little piping consistency icing and you’re done! Here are a couple of shots illustrating that, with a free transfer template download for the seastar below to reward you for reading this far!

Remember Elmer’s glue from grade school? A little goes a long way here! Don’t add too much or it will squish out of the sides.

I also used transfer’s for Jula the Mermaid’s bikini top. Students in my class get to decorate the whole mermaid and then either have the choice to use the provided premade transfers or pipe it on directly (spoiler alert: no one chooses option two!)

So how about you guys and gals? Do you use transfers? If so- is the reason listed about or is there yet another great reason?

If you haven’t used them, or tried and “failed”- then I hope I’ve given you enough tools and reasons to try and SUCCEED. My goal is always to help you work quickly and efficiently in order to reduce frustration and increase productivity.

Are you a visual learner? Watch our video tutorial below on much of what we talk about in this post.

FINALLY- and as promised, your reward! Click here for a free transfer template.

Now go out there and make the world’s cutest sprinkles and don’t forget to tag @tinykitchentreats so I can feel proud and help you troubleshoot!

xx

Marisol

Access our Associate Amazon Shop for: Decorating Must Haves (clip on fan, acetate sheets), Office Supplies (Laminator, laminating pouches), and Dehydrator Stuff (dehydrator, silpats for dehydrator use.

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