The Dough Diaries: I'm New to Royal Icing!
It All Starts With a Good Recipe!
Just like with your base cookie recipe, your royal icing recipe needs to be delicious before anything else! The Cookie Countess royal icing recipe is an easy-to-make and yummy option that can easily be adjusted to your own tastes.
Pro Tips for Making and Using Royal Icing
- It's important to mix your meringue powder with warm water when you start your recipe. This helps dissolve the meringue powder.
- Corn syrup is optional. But it helps give your icing a subtle shine and a softer bite. No one wants to have to go to the dentist because of a cookie!
- Don't overmix! Overmixed icing may become grainy and/or not dry properly. If your cookies have been drying for 24 hours and are still not dry, then it's likely that your icing was overmixed.
- Royal icing can be stored on the counter for 1-2 days, in the fridge for up to a week, and in the freezer for months. See our blog about storing icing here.
- It is best to start with a stiff royal icing for a couple of reasons. If you are going to store the icing in your refrigerator, more liquid content will cause the icing to separate as it sits; stiffer icing does not separate as much. Also, adding color (depending on how much) can change the consistency of your icing, so starting with a stiff icing is safer.
- Dry your cookies in front of a fan or place them briefly in a dehydrator (10-15 minutes) to get a glossy finish. This can help prevent cratering as well.
- Do NOT cover or obstruct airflow around drying cookies. Royal icing needs good airflow to dry properly, and covering cookies can result in wrinkled-looking icing.
Royal Icing Supplies: Need to Have 'Em
Just like with cookie baking supplies, there are some things you need to have, and some things that are nice to have. Here's a list of tools that you would be hard-pressed to do without as you start working with royal icing.
- Meringue Powder—This is the backbone of a good royal icing and is key to achieving an icing consistency that can be used as both flood icing and flower petals. Genie’s Dream meringue powder smells fantastic and creates a royal icing that dries beautifully.
- Clear Vanilla Extract—When trying to achieve a bright white royal icing, using a clear flavoring like the Ann Clark Premium Clear Vanilla Extract is key. This gives great flavor without altering the color of your icing.
- Gel Food Coloring —Liquid food coloring (like the kind you find at a grocery store) can change the consistency of your royal icing, so gel colors are the way to go. Highly pigmented, but with less liquid, these colors can help you tint your icing any color of the rainbow.
- Scribe —A scribe tool is used to pop unsightly bubbles in royal icing. A toothpick can do in a pinch, but a reusable scribe can be easier to find amid the cookie detritus on your counter—not to mention cuter!
- Silicone Spatulas —Just keep mixing, just keep mixing…oops, sorry, I was just singing the anthem of icing-makers everywhere! Make mixing your royal icing colors nice and easy with these flexible silicone spatulas.
- Tipless Piping Bags —These disposable bags are designed for your convenience, meaning no couplers or tips to change out and clean. Offered in two thicknesses (40 microns and a thicker 55 microns), these bags also come in four sizes—8”, 10”, 12”, and 16". The larger bags are perfect for flooding, and the 8” bags are great for detail work and outlining.
- Piping Bag Ties —These silicone ties will close up your piping bags and keep you from having a royal (icing) mess on your hands as you pipe—literally.
💡 Did you know
You can make icing without meringue powder, but that is more commonly called "glaze icing." This icing sets up a little less firmly, so cookiers looking for a softer bite tend to like this option. Royal icing is typically a better bet for making designs that require a stiff icing, like florals.
Royal Icing Supplies: Nice to Have 'Em
Cookie decorating supplies are addictive! You most likely don't need every cute scribe you see, but it can be hard to say no. Here are some tools that are a great addition to your cookie decorating tool chest.
- Piping Tips —Tipless bags can make piping tips unnecessary for many things, but sometimes you just want the fine line or detail (basketweave, petals, leaves, stars, etc) that a piping tip can provide. Use with or without couplers.
- Easy Fill Piping Bag Holder — Available in four sizes, these custom holders are made to hold your specific-size piping bag open while you fill it with royal icing. Total game changer! But don't take our word for it, read the reviews! Cookiers are obsessed!
- Flavoring Emulsions — Emulsions aren’t just for cookie dough; you can use these in your royal icing as well to make some great flavor combinations.
- Instant Royal Icing Mixes—Are you looking to dip your proverbial toe in the water and see if this cookie decorating gig is for you? Cookie Countess Instant Icing Mixes can help! Just add water to these mixes for ready-to-use instant royal icing that can be used for flooding, piping, details, etc. The white mix can be tinted any color you like with gel food coloring. While not as economical as making your icing from scratch, it's a great option to also keep in your pantry for a pinch.
- Looking for a vegan option? This Ann Clark Vegan Instant Royal Icing Mix is fantastic and easy to use.
- Flexible Silicone Mixing Bowls —These bowls are great for mixing royal icing colors, as well as pouring icing directly into piping bags. Cute AND convenient? Win, win!
- Cookie Turntable and MiniMat —Great for spinning your cookie (and providing a nonskid surface) as you outline and flood your cookies, a turntable can be a useful addition to your cookie arsenal in that it keeps you from having to physically touch the cookie in order to turn it. Less chance of accidentally putting a finger in your fresh flood? Yes, please.
- Thingamagenie — Also occasionally called a “boo boo stick,” these dual-ended tools can act as both a scribe and a scraper. I know you won’t ever be making any mistakes, but it’s good to have just in case!
- Perfect Piping Bag Dispenser — Keep your piping bags organized and know at a glance exactly how many you have left with this convenience organizer.
- Notta Cookie —New to flooding/decorating cookies and looking for a way not have to bake constantly just to practice? The Notta Cookie is a plastic practice cookie that can be used over and over again.
- Piping Bag Tip Clips —Keep your tipless piping bags from leaking all over the place when not in use by attaching these cute reusable clips.
💡 Did you know
Don't be afraid to make additions and substitutions to different recipes to see how you like them. Don't like lemon? Fine-- swap it out for almond and give that a try! Think the recipe could do with some extra vanilla flavor? Go for it! Add some peppermint emulsion around the holidays, or some strawberry emulsion to go along with a lemonade cookie. Delish!
A huge part of cookie decorating is also about getting your icing to the right consistency for the task at hand. We have a blog all about consistency that you can read here. We also have a more in-depth online class you can take. Making royal icing can often seem intimidating, but with a solid recipe and some practice, you'll be on your way! Stay tuned for the next entry into The Dough Diaries!
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