Tea Cookies

• 8 tbsp (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 None eggs
• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup flour
• 1 pkg (16 oz) white fondant
• None None Cornstarch, for dusting
• None None Purple, pink, blue, green and yellow food colors
• 1 None egg white
• 2 tsp white sugar pearls
• None None FOR THE ROYAL ICING
• 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 None egg white
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice

1. Beat butter, granulated sugar and vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until combined (do not overbeat; mixture will curdle at this stage, but will come together later). Stir in combined sifted flours in 2 batches; mix to a soft dough. Knead dough on floured work surface until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 30 mins.
2. Preheat the oven to 350u0b0F. Grease and line 2 baking pans with parchment paper.
3. Roll dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper to 1/4-inch thickness. Using teacup and teapot cutters, cut 10 of each shape from dough, re-rolling as necessary. Place shapes about 1 inch apart on prepared pans.
4. Bake for 15 mins, or until firm and browned lightly. Cool on pan 5 mins. Remove from pan; completely on wire rack.
5. Knead fondant on work surface dusted with a little cornstarch until it loses its stickiness. Divide into 5 equal portions. Tint each portion with one of the food colors. Wrap separately in plastic wrap.
6. Roll each fondant portion separately on a cornstarch-dusted work surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Using cutters, cut 10 teacups and 10 teapots from fondants, re-rolling as necessary. Reserve all fondant scraps and wrap separately in plastic wrap.
7. Working with 2 or 3 shapes at a time, lightly brush tops of cookies with egg white; position fondant shapes on cookies.
8. For the royal icing, sift the powdered sugar through a fine sieve. Lightly beat the egg white in a small bowl with an electric mixer until mixture is just broken up; do not whip into peaks. Beat in the powdered sugar, 1 tbsp at a time, until you have the required consistency. When icing reaches the right consistency, mix in the lemon juice using a wooden spoon.
9. Fit piping bag with small plain tip. Fill the bag three-quarters full with royal icing. Pipe outlines and lines on cookies, as pictured.
10. Re-roll fondant scraps on work surface dusted with cornstarch to 1/16-inch thickness. Using blossom cutters, cut 20 small and 10 large blossoms from fondant. Secure 10 small blossoms to large blossoms with a little royal icing; secure to teapot cookies. Secure remaining small blossoms to teacup cookies with a little royal icing.
11. Pipe a dot of royal icing in the center of each flower. Using tweezers, position a sugar pearl in each flower center. Pipe dots around flowers on teapots; pipe dots in teapot lids.
12. Once decorated and dried, layer the cookies carefully between sheets of parchment paper in an airtight container. They will keep for about 4 weeks at room temperature.

butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs, flour, flour, white fondant, cornstarch, purple, egg white, white sugar, icing, powdered sugar, egg white, lemon juice

Taken from recipes-plus.com/api/v2.0/recipes/30196 (may not work)