One of the most important things to me when I'm painting my cookies is my palette. I like using a 'wet' palette. Since paining a cookie with food coloring is very much like watercolor painting, striking the right consistency is key for me. Food colors dry very quickly, and working on a dry surface means you have to constantly be re-wetting your colors. A wet palette is not wet wet, instead the surface is cool and damp. This keeps the colors from drying out and crusting up. Since they don't dry as quickly, I can keep a small pool of slightly diluted color on my palette while I work with a set.
A wet palette is very easy, and I know you'll probably already have most of the supplies to make one on hand! You'll need:
1. A non-pourous plate or surface (this means water can't soak into it). I like using a ceramic plate, but you can even use styrofoam. You'll also want to use something white or light colored.
2. A paper towel cut into a square about the size of your plate.
3. A piece of parchment cut about the same size as the paper towel.
4. Water.
That's really all you need!
You'll want to position the paper towel on your plate and get it wet. I like to wet it, and then pour off any excess water into the sink. The towel should be soaked but there shouldn't be pools of water on the plate. Then top with the parchment, and press down with your hand until the parchment sticks to the towel.
That's it! Can you believe it? It's that easy. The parchment is slightly water permeable. You might see a bead or two of water on top. It will stay cool and moist for several hours. When you need to, you can peel off the parchment and add some more water to your towel. Cleanup couldn't be easier either- just throw the parchment and towel away!
Happy Painting!
~Jenn
