Greendale's New Sweet Spot: Linen And Gray Artisan Sugar Cookies

GREENDALE, WI — Greendale mom Emily Loggans owns and operates Linen and Gray, a new artisan sugar cookie decorating business in the village.

Sugar cookies of all shapes and sizes are her canvas, and royal icing is her medium as she meticulously applies curves, ribbons and designs to make her cookies come to life.

Her portfolio includes cookies that look just like Georgia peaches, triple-scoop ice cream cones, Belgian waffles, avocados, and delicate rainbows among many others.

"It was supposed to be a project," she said, when telling Patch about how she made her start. "I started realizing as I got more into the world of cookie decorating, it was a big market and that people buy specially-decorated cookies for special occasions."

Emily said her artistic talents took a leap forward after watching instructional videos in the How To Cake It series by Yolanda Gampp.

"I learned how to use royal icing - it's really complicated. The videos really taught how to master the technique and get the consistency," she said.

Royal icing is the key to any artisan cookie design. A combination of powdered sugar and egg whites, and sometimes meringue powder, royal icing can be squeezed, looped and traced into intricate sugary designs. It also dries rapidly and solidifies into a rock-hard shape.

"Put it in a piping bag, and you can make a lot of possible designs with it," she said. "You can do a lot of artistic things with it."

How To Order

The Linen and Gray website features Emily's full cookie portfolio. It also serves as a storefront where customers can place orders, which are either delivered via porch-pickup or via shipping within Wisconsin.

Linen and Gray is also a cookie maker's resource that contains inspirational designs, cookie-making tutorials, educational tips, business tips and related products.

Linen and Gray is also on Instagram.

Baking and cooking has always been a part of her life ever since her mother allowed her to help her out in the kitchen when she was younger. Emily told Patch that she's always had a loving connection with Greendale. When she was a child, her family would take her to walk about the shops in the Village.

Her first date with her future husband came at the Broad Street Coffee Co., 5635 Broad Street in the village. It's also the site where he proposed to her.

"When I got married, my husband and I moved to Greendale," she told Patch. "I loved the town, and it's been fun living here."

Today, Emily lives in Greendale where she is busily making a go of it as an artisan cookie decorator while also raising her 1-year-old son Noah. She also works part-time at the Village Paper and Ink shop.

"Sometimes I decorate in-between naps. It's tricky balancing a small business with having a baby," she said.