1 cup (240 milliliters) butter, cubed, room temperature
1-1/2 cups (360 milliliters) icing sugar
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon (1 milliliter) vanilla extract
1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) almond extract
2-1/4 cups (540 milliliters) flour
1 teaspoon (5 milliliters) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 milliliters) salt
Icing:
1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) meringue powder
3 tablespoons (45 milliliters) water
2-1/2 cups (600 milliliters) powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon (1 milliliter) vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 milliliters) almond extract
Purple gel food colouring
Tiny gold or silver sugar beads, to decorate
Directions
Cookies:
Cream butter, then gradually add icing sugar, mixing until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract to the butter mixture and continue mixing until evenly combined.
To a separate bowl, add flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Continue mixing until dough is combined. Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured counter. Divide dough into two pieces and pat into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes
Roll out disks to six millimeter thickness on a lightly-floured counter. Cut rounds out of dough in the sizes and numbers listed below and place on parchment-lined baking sheets: 2.5 centimeter circles - 4.25 centimeter circles - 6.25 centimeter circles.
Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 10-12 minutes, or until light golden brown around the edges. Transfer cookies to a cooling rack. Let cool completely.
Icing:
Beat meringue powder with water until slightly foamy. Add vanilla and almond extract. Gradually add icing sugar and continue whisking until fluffy and light (about two to three minutes). Pour 3/4 of mixture into one bowl and add enough purple gel food colouring to create a lilac colour. Add more water to thin for flooding consistency, if needed. Transfer lilac-coloured icing to piping bag fitted with small tip. Transfer the remaining white icing to a second piping bag, fitted with a small tip.
Decorate:
Cover the top of each cookie with the lilac-coloured icing. Drag a toothpick through the icing to coat any uncovered sections. Allow these to set for a few minutes.
Create ‘wedding cakes’ by stacking two large cookies, followed by two medium cookies, followed by two small cookies in one stack. Pipe a small amount of icing in between cookies as glue. Continue until you have created six wedding cookie cakes. Let these set before decorating.
Decorate ‘wedding cakes’ by piping dots of white royal icing and affixing silver or gold sugar beads.