How sweet it is! Bradford cookie artist celebrates launch of new book

A Bradford cookie artist is celebrating the launch of her new book, coming to stores this summer.

Mary Valentino is the face behind Emma's Sweets, a specialty cookie-decorating business out of Bradford.

"I am very excited," Valentino told BradfordToday about her first book. 

In 2018, Valentino won $10,000 on the Food Network’s Christmas Cookie Challenge after being scouted by an agent who had taken note of her cookie creations online. 

The idea for the book came about shortly after appearing on the show, but Valentino had to shelve the idea for a few years to focus on her cookie business.

Within a few months after the show aired, she got so busy that she decided to stop taking custom cookie orders altogether, shifting toward teaching people how to decorate cookies. From there, she opened her own online shop, selling cookie-decorating tools and recipes for people to make their own sweet treats at home. Her business became so popular that her husband ended up leaving his job to help run the business full-time.

"We cater to cookie decorators and bakers. We've got everything and anything you could need to decorate a cookie," she said. 

The driver of the business is her custom cookie cutters, which she makes at home on her 3D printers. 

"We design and print all the cookie cutters here, made in Canada, using Canadian materials," she said.

Valentino also has a YouTube channel featuring instructional cookie decorating videos. It has more then 50,000 subscribers. 

Her new book, The Beginner's Guide to Cookie Decorating: Easy Techniques and Expert Tips for Designing and Icing Colourful Treats, is set to release on Amazon and in stores this July. 

"I believe I manifested it because, in January 2021, I was approached by a publishing company," said Valentino. 

A few weeks later, she signed a contract with U.S. publisher Quarto Group and began writing.

The book is designed for people of all skill levels looking to perfect their sugar cookie-decorating skills. She will go through step-by-step how to mix colours and perfect icing consistency for an appetizing and appealing taste and look. 

"It's really geared towards beginners. However, even if you're a tenured cookie artist or you've dabbled in it, there's something in there for everybody," she said. 

There are 30 step-by-step tutorials, with photographs to accompany each one. Not only did Valentino write the book, but she also took all the photographs for it.

"That was a huge undertaking," she said. "I am really happy with the way it turned out."

Valentino says she is grateful for the opportunity to be able to share her story and tips and tricks in book format. She says the timing for writing the book couldn't have been better. With the pandemic, she was able to stay at home and focus on the project. 

"There were no other things going on that I had to commit to. There was nothing going on that distracted me, so I was really able to put a lot of focus on the book," she said.

She reminds that none of her success has come easy, noting she spends countless hours recording videos for social media, blogging, answering emails and connecting with customers and followers. 

"There were a lot of hurdles," she said, noting it was those who doubted her abilities who helped her achieve her goals. 

"They gave me that incentive to push a little more," she said. 

Valentino started baking and decorating sugar cookies eight years ago. She was working at a corporate job and decided to take a cake-decorating class at Michael’s craft store only to realize she did not work too well with fondant icing.

"But then we touched on royal icing, and I didn't realize this other world existed with royal icing and cookie decorating," she said. 

Her daughter, Emma, often watched cookie-decorating videos, and Valentino decided to give it a shot. For months, she watched tutorials on YouTube and read blogs before starting her own cookie-decorating social media accounts, which gained traction from followers all over the world. 

"It's a lot of work, but I love it. I love what I do. I have a great following and great customers from all over the world," she said. "I am lucky. I love what I do and I have really good people around me that helped me."

Anyone who pre-orders a copy of her book before July 5 will receive a free 100-pack of tip-less icing bags. Valentino is planning a giveaway on launch day, giving away every cookie cutter used in the book with a box full of cookie-decorating supplies. 

To pre-order a copy of her book, visit the Emma's Sweets website here.