Last year for Christmas, my family and friends (including site contributor AL) received Cactuar cookies. Someone was selling a set of incredible Final Fantasy cookie cutters on Etsy, so naturally I had to lean all the way in.
Look at them! The cookie cutters make these beautiful indentations in the dough that give them a real Cactuar-like texture. However it was very easy for these things to turn out accidentally nightmarish instead.
This Amigara Fault-lookin ass Cactuar is what happens when you accidentally stretch the dough while trying to transfer it to the cookie sheet. I kind of like how this looks and almost considered making one like this, but it clearly wants to die.
These are tricky cookies to ice, because even though it’d be easy to do a nice thick layer of icing, I wanted the detail of the cookie to come through. I experimented with icing thickness and tried to make something thin enough that I could brush it onto the cookies without them losing their definition. It did not work.
These four Cactuars, clearly suffering from some kind of skin condition, didn’t dry even after over 48 hours. Whatever infernal icing I made—which was more like sticky milkwater than icing—refused to accept its responsibility. The Cactuars were still delicious, and they welcomed the sweet release of death.
I finally just decided to use heavier icing and use a toothpick to carve out the lines. And it looked great!
That right there is a Cactuar that is thrilled to be alive.