Royal Icing

I thought I'd dedicate this week's blog to Royal Icing. If you haven't used it you absolutely must! Although, I must admit it does take some practice to perfect and dominate this icing. If you have heard of it I am sure you have heard of it used for cookie decorating. It is most commonly used for this but can be used for cakes and other decor as well. Take the cake below for example. It wasn't my best cake in my opinion but I used royal icing to create that beautiful damask print (using a stencil of course). It hardens very quickly and tastes great. The secret to obtaining the perfect texture is to use the 5 second rule. The 5 second rule basically means that when you run a spoon through your royal icing it takes about 5 seconds for the icing to settle into a perfectly smooth surface. If it takes too long or it happens too quickly you either need to thin it out (by adding milk or water) or thicken it out (by adding more powdered sugar) It is so easy to make you just need merengue powder, powdered sugar (confectioners), flavor extract (your choice), milk/water, and a mixer. That's it! You can also use egg whites but you must "cook" them first to kill any bacteria that may exist in the eggs. It does harden quickly so you do have to work quickly but leaves a gorgeous end result in my opinion! Below is the baby shower cake I made using fondant and royal icing as well as some Minnie and Mickey Mouse cookies (buttons and bow made with fondant).

ouse cookies I made using royal icing.