Once the edges were set up a bit, I spooned a slightly thinner version of Glace Icing into the centers. Gently pushing the icing to the edge, the border acted as a dam that contained the icing and did not let it overflow onto the table.
I googled "hexagon images" and came up with several size choices for the shape. I cut it out, traced it on thin cardboard and had my desired pattern. The approx. 1 1/2-inch pattern was used to trace the hexagons on all of my cookies (with the thin tip of a sharp knife). I found it was really easy to mark the lines while the icing was still slightly soft. It would have been much easier to use a
hexagon cookie cutter to create the same indentations, but I wasn't thinking far enough ahead to order one in time.
Day Two: Once the white icing had an opportunity to harden, it was time to tackle the black icing. I used a whole bottle of black food coloring for a half recipe of
Glace Icing. This assured a nice, dark black color. I was careful to make the black icing thick enough so that it would hold its form through a thin tip but thin enough to get through the hole of the tip easily. I should mention that I used liquid food coloring, which made the regular icing recipe super thin. I simply added additional powdered sugar until it reached the desired consistency.
This was the messiest and most difficult part of the whole process. Messy, because my hands were blackened with the whole process but all rinsed away without a problem. Difficult, because you really must have a steady hand and you must be careful not to drip the black icing onto other parts of the cookie or onto other cookies.
I carefully edged every imprinted hexagon- as shown in the picture- and then let those edges set up until slightly hardened. The nice thing about this part is that if you get tired at any point during decorating, just slip the icing tub into a ziploc bag while you relax for a while.