An amazing collaboration that I’m proud to be part of celebrating the beauty of Pakistan. Hosted by Faiza Sherjeel of Gateau: The Sugar Art Studio. When searching for beauty in Pakistan, many images caught my attention but when I saw this photo of the Monal Pheasant, it took my breath away and I immediately knew that I wanted to recreate it. This glorious bird is found in the Himalayan region of northern Pakistan. This large bird is regarded as having the brightest and most colorful plumage in the entire bird kingdom! So for this vanilla sugar cookie, I created a rustic wood grain background using the crackle technique and then hand piped the borders and the bird with stiff Royal Icing. Each individual Royal Icing ‘feather’ was meticulously placed to make it look as natural as on the real bird itself. Then came the most fun part, adding the gorgeous colors! :) I mixed in some luminescent colors as well so that the colors would glow in the dark! Be sure to stop by the collaboration’s page, Spectacular Pakistan: An International Sugar Art Collab, to check out the other beautiful designs.