Easy Royal Icing

Everything I know about baking comes from the expertise of my Auntie Lisa. We made 300 cookies and decorated them with royal icing, which pretty much means I’m an expert.  So now that you’ve made some of the best cookies for cut outs, let’s talk icing. Royal icing is very versatile. It’s pure white and dries hard. Icing is a tricky thing but it’s really forgiving and easy to fix an icing that’s too runny or too stiff. Grab these 4 ingredients and make this easy royal icing.

 Here’s what you need:

2 egg whites at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 teaspoons water

1 pound icing sugar

Here’s what you do for white icing:

-place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat slowly until blended.

-beat on medium speed until the icing forms stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Add more sugar if icing is not stiff enough or a few DROPS of water if it’s too stiff.

Here’s how to colour the icing:

-food colouring is often liquid but liquid can change the consistency of the icing so if you can find gel food colouring, it will be easier to work with.

-either way, counter balance the added moisture with small amounts of icing sugar to regain the consistency you desire.

Here’s how to flood:

-flooding is a method of icing where you draw and outline with a slightly stiffer royal icing and let it set then using a thinner, more fluid icing, flood the inside of the outline.

-flooding means you’ll need to colour a batch of icing then split the icing into 2 bowls. Take one bowl and thin it out to use for the flooding. The second bowl being used for the outline.

Storage of royal icing:

-keep unused royal icing in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

-stir icing to restore it’s original consistency after being stored, do not rebeat.

-do not freeze royal icing even after it’s been dried on a cookie

-if using royal icing in a piping bag, keep the tips covered with a moist cloth between uses.

I hope that answers all of your royal icing questions. If not, pop into the comments below and post your questions. I probably won’t have the answer but my Auntie Lisa will!

–