Not at all! Despite its detail, this 3-D castle cookie is completely attainable even for beginners. “But how can that be?,” you ask. Well, part of the reason is because this project calls for very little piping. The sides of the castle are mostly un-iced (except for the vines and grout), and their brick texture is made with the relatively quick and easy embossing technique. The other reason is that Julia clarifies every single step in great detail in two YouTube videos. Hurrah! The first video explains how to make the castle’s structural parts and put them all together. The second one shows the steps for making all of the acccessories – like the flags, trees, and so forth.