These sugar cookies have a little less sugar in them than many, so work well with a topping of very sugary royal icing.

-- Alice Leich, Parkhurst Dining

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

Beat butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium low speed until creamy but not fluffy. Add yolks and mix in thoroughly.

Whisk the flour and salt together. Add to the mixer, and mix on low speed just until combined.

Turn the dough out on a piece of plastic wrap and shape into a flat disk. Wrap and chill for 1 hour or more.

Roll on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4-inch thick. Cut desired shapes, and bake on parchment covered sheets at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes, until pale gold. Cool thoroughly. Ice with Royal Icing (recipe below)

Note: Cookies may be flavored with a teaspoon of orange or lemon zest or with almond extract to taste.

-- Alice Leich

Royal icing is a pure white icing that dries very hard, so is excellent for decorating cookies and gingerbread houses and for piping flowers and lace for cake decorations.

-- Alice Leich, Parkhurst Dining

• 1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted if lumpy
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Varies, as follows:

• Pasteurized egg white (in the dairy section, next to the eggs)

I add the following approximate quantities to one pound of powdered sugar when I'm mixing icing for various uses:

• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) egg white for stiff icing for writing or piping flowers or lace
• 4 ounces (8 tablespoons) egg white for medium icing for piping outlines on cookies
• 6 ounces (12 tablespoons) egg white for loose icing for dipping or flooding cookies

Place the ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer. Mix on low speed until blended, then increase speed to medium and beat about two minutes. Stiff icing should stand straight up when you lift up the beaters. Medium icing should have a soft peak, with the icing gently falling over but still holding a shape when you lift the beaters. Loose icing should be creamy looking, like lightly beaten whipped cream.

Check the consistency of your icing by piping or dipping a sample piece. If you aren't satisfied with the results, simply add a bit more egg white or a few drops of water to thin it or add powdered sugar a spoonful at a time to thicken the icing and test again.

Add food coloring as desired, using gel or paste colors available in small jars in the cake decorating section of craft stores. These colors are quite intense, and can turn your icing into brilliant colors, but should be added gradually. If you are coloring only a small quantity of icing or looking for a very pale color, it's best to mix the coloring into a small spoonful of the icing, then add some of the diluted color to your icing so that you don't overshoot the color you want. The icing may also be flavored with a few drops of clear extract.

The icing can be used immediately. It dries quickly, so keep the portion you aren't using in an airtight container or cover the bowl with a damp cloth.

Royal icing may be kept for several days in an airtight container at room temperature. Stir it thoroughly with a spoon to return it to a smooth, even consistency before using.

Allow decorated pieces to dry about 24 hours at room temperature.

-- Alice Leich

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