Blog: Julia M. Usher

Need one of Julia’s foolproof recipes? Some stunning cookie decorating ideas? Or a quick fix on Julia’s latest news and events? Well then, you’re in the right place! Here, you can stay up-to-the-minute current on everything that’s happening in Julia’s kitchen and studio – and in that always-churning mind of hers! IMPORTANT: Julia is still formatting blog entries prior to 2021 to conform to the new site layout. Please don’t be surprised if some back entries look a little wacky, and please be patient as she edits them over time.
Julia M. Usher

Vintage Gift Tag Place Cards

Call me a cardaholic, and I won’t argue with you. When I’m not cookie decorating, one of my favorite pastimes is scouring antiques malls for vintage postcards and gift tags. In this video, I show how to repurpose these finds into

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Julia M. Usher

Pecan Dacquoise

The country cousin of the fancy macaron, dacquoise has all the same great flavor and texture, but none of the hassle! Layer these nutty disks with buttercream or other fillings to make elegant tortes, or stuff them to overflowing with ice cream for a more rustic summertime dessert

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Julia M. Usher

Super Chocolate-Rosemary Ice Cream

Originally written for Chocolatier (now Dessert Professional) magazine, this recipe is wonderful (and easy) with or without the rosemary. But seeing as I grew up with a mom who had a predilection for all things green, I’m partial to the rosemary myself

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Julia M. Usher

How to Melt Chocolate Without a Microwave

This week’s video is pure technique, folks! Because my chocolate lace and doily videos stirred up so many questions about how I melt and handle my chocolate, I decided to answer you all with a video! In addition to covering how

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Julia M. Usher

Playing Cookie Catchup

Tsk, tsk! I’ve been so captivated with making cookie projects over the last few months that I’ve been remiss in posting them to my very own website! Time for some much-needed cookie catchup! My latest fixation has been 3-D cookies

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Julia M. Usher

Molded Cookies 101

Lately I’ve been on a molded cookie kick! Did you notice?! I’ve been using these lovely textured cookies left and right on so many of my cookie projects that I thought it was high time to REALLY explain how I

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Julia M. Usher

Christmas Ornament Name Tags

It’s holiday cookie swap time! After you’ve spent all that time making your favorite cookies, you can’t just toss them on a plate without any fanfare. No, no – even a great cookie needs a little dressing up for Christmas

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Julia M. Usher

Seven Steps to Flawless Rolled Cookies

Any cookie decorator knows that a decorated cookie is only as lovely as its underlying cookie “canvas”! In this video, I reveal my seven steps to flawless rolled cookies, including how to cut to minimize distortion and bake for even browning.

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Julia M. Usher

Holiday Sweets Video Roundup

As you may or may not know, I’ve been religiously producing one YouTube video per week for about a year now, and as it turns out, I’ve amassed quite a collection of Christmas-themed ones! With holiday baking at the forefront

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Julia M. Usher

How to Rubber-Stamp a Cookie

Today, I’m releasing one of the original videos in my 16-video decorating techniques DVD, which was discontinued last month. I’ll be migrating a select number (no more than half) of these videos to YouTube over time. My app (available for

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Julia M. Usher

2-D Royal Icing Transfers – Part 2

More royal icing transfer-mania! In a recent video (in the “Also See” section, below), I showed you how to make basic round and oval transfers for placing, piecework-style, on cookies. In this video, I show how to make more complex traced

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Julia M. Usher

2-D Royal Icing Transfers – Part 1

If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve had transfer-mania lately. My cookie perfume bottles had them; so did my cookies necklaces; and so will the cookie tiaras that I’ll share next week. So . . . what exactly are transfers and how

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