A couple of questions:

1. For how long is royal icing good? I made Wilton's recipe on Monday and put it in plastic containers and today it smells weird. It's been humid...should I have put it in the fridge? Can you freeze it?

2. Wilton's royal doesn't taste very good at all. Would adding vanilla or almond help or hurt it? What's the best recipe out there?

Thanks!

It stays good for quite awhile. Just re-beat it on low speed until it gets mixed again.

I think Wilton's royal icing smells like a wet dog anyway- so who knows. I use the recipe on this site (Antonia74's recipe) and add a little vanilla and almond flavorings and it tastes really good, smells like almond, and there is not even a hint of wet dog scent anywhere!!!!

Anyway, the recipe is called "Royal Icing for Decorated Cookies" and it's in Antonia74's cookie tutorial (which is also great if you haven't checked it out).

I don't know how long it stays fresh.. I used a mix made by Country Kitchen and I added almond flavoring to it and it tasted really good.. All I had to do was add the water and the flavor... It was very shiny and easy to work with.


Dawn

I use the recipe posted by Antonia74, and I can tell you I've kept mine for about a week before. I store it in an airtight container on the kitchen counter. I've never tried to store it longer than that, becuase I'm really anal when it comes to food safety, but I think it can be kept longer...

I use a traditional royal icing recipe of icing sugar, egg whites (yes, real ones - we can get eggs here that are assured salmonella free) and liquid (I use lemon juice to cut the sweetness and add flavour). I will never use anything else, I tried Antonia74's recipe and didn't like it at all - took far to long to dry and was horrible to work with (sorry all you fans, but that was my experience!). My royal icing will last for ages in or out of the fridge if kept well-covered and air-tight and is always beautiful to work with, stiff or thinned.

Your problem may be that you stored it in a plastic container. Plastic / oils are kinda taboo for royal. I use the recipe mentioned in the above post only usually add some type of citrus juice for 1/2 the liquid and it tastes yummy. My favorite thing is to add lemon flavor to my cookies and lime to my royal. If you keep it in a glass jar (I use canning) the icing should last at room temp for about two weeks. I opened some (to throw away) yesterday that had been sitting out for longer than that and I didnt notice any bad odor. Just wanted to get rid of it cause I knew it had been there too long. I don't know if this helps but I hope so.
Melissa

My Wilton 2005 yearbook (page 106) says royal icing made with meringue powder " can be stored in airtight grease-free containers at room temperature for 2 weeks . Air dried decorations last for months."

Thanks for all of the help!

So, the humidity won't bother it and it shouldn't be kept in the fridge? (It did kinda smell like wet dog. Yuck!)

I like the recipe itself b/c it dries so fast and was wondering if I could add some sort of flavoring. If so, what kind and how much?

Maybe a teaspoon of almond and a couple of teaspoons of vanilla (use the clear stuff if you need it to be really white).

If you need the icing stiffer for outlining, then you can replace a few teaspoons of water with flavorings. I use Antonia74's icing recipe (as I mentioned before) and I don't outline with a thicker consistency first, so I don't use any less water than the recipe calls for.

I'd like to try Antonia74's but there seems to be some people who love and some who don't. How long does it take to stiffen and can they be stacked?

Antonia's royal icing is my favorite. it dries pretty quickly - the exact amount of time depends on the consistency. Mine are dry usually to the touch within an hour or two and completely dry and stackable within 12-24 hours.

Maybe I'll giver hers a try then. I just have to remember to give myself plenty of time to let them dry. I ended up throwing out the icing I had made - even DH thought it stunk and he can't smell things very well! Blech! I even tossed the containers! I'm going to purchase some new, air-tight containers and, hopefully, that will help. Thanks!

Btw, can Antonia's be used for flowers on cakes or won't they set up right?

I wonder why Wilton's tastes so icky. I mean, it's just sugar and water! So, what else can I use to make violets and such for my cakes? I really don't want to use Wilton's.

OK, I guess I'm a little dense...so you're not supposed to eat the RI flowers on cakes? I haven't gotten to that part in Course II yet! I was planning on eating all parts of the cake! LOL

i just made a cake the other day for my mil with Wilton royal icing drop flowers. she took the cake to work and was worried about eating the flowers but the BC on the cake made the flowers softer, i guess they absorbed moister from it. her co workers loved the flowers. i do add vanilla to my royal, i add a tsp of vanilla and then decrease the water by a tsp. decrease the water amount added to equal parts flavoring, you can play around with it. i dint refrigerate mine, i leave it out on the counter in a air tight container, you just have whip it back up. i think the smell is because there isn't a flavoring in it. my royal sits out at the most 2 weeks.