lots of very thin layers. Ice the top first then let it dry 12 hours, ice the sides let them dry 12 hours . Repeat at least 3 times. In between ech layer scrape of any rough edges with a small sharp knife. Make your last layer very thin consistency so it just skims the icing and fills in any imperfections
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This is a great thread! I wasn't sure if I should use buttercream or royal icing on my wedding cake.
Okay, if I ice the cakes smooth a number of times with royal then let it dry, will my borders and other detail stick to the cake? I thought I would have to do everything in one shot.
I also need to add pearls to the cake, so would I glue them on?
I'd really appreciate any help! My wedding is a little over three weeks and I want to get the cake done.
Why oh why does everyone think cakes iced in royal are rock hard? The British have been icing them this way for years. When mixing the icing for every 1lb of icing sugar add 1 teaspoon of glycerine. Although this still feels hard when icing when you bite into it it has some 'give' and is fine. When the coating is dry what we do is to ice the borders in royal also. Any decorations we need to stick on (such as the pearls) we add just a dot of royal to the back of them and it does glue them in place.
Because we're all learning from wilton LOL. I had heard that people iced cakes in royal and I thought how weird, until of course I came here and found out.
So, does the royal with glycerin smooth better? Does it last as long or will it eventually break down? I'm just wondering in terms of icing a dummy. One of these days I'm going to try a cake with royal, it sounds yummy.
The glycerine has no effect other than from preventing the icing from being quite so hard. It still smooths exactly the same and lasts indefinately once on the cake. I have some dummy cakes that have been iced for about 4 years. I keep them in a carboard cake box in a warm dry room and they look just as good as when I made them.
I have used royal icing (without the glycerine) on a number of styrofoam dummy cakes and have not noticed any real difference in smoothing the royal icing with the same angled spatula I use for doing my buttercream or ganache icing cakes. One important thing I did learn is to first nail (yes, I mean a real nail that you put in with a hammer) the dummy to the board before begining your icing of the cake or decorating it. Attached is one of the dummies that I did with royal icing. Since I have a business making edible transfers, I was illustrating how they could be integrated in an engagement theme cake. You will be surprised, though, how easy is is to ice the cake. Let it completely dry before you take it anywhere.
I am using royal icing because I am making a dummy and need to transport it to another province.
Cshields, how fast do you work with the royal when icing it? I did a few smaller pieces for the castle and am now wondering how I am going to get the 10" and 14" round cakes done! (Your cake looks wonderful!)
My "soon to be" mother-in-law were thinking that we would do it in sections. One night, focus on the tops, the other night focus on the sides.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
yes do it in sections. do the first layer of the tops and let them dry, then do the sides and let them dry. Scrape off an uneveness then do the next layer in the same way. Aim to get at least 3 thin coats on. Make the last layer a thinner consistency than your other coats and it should just skim across the surface, filling any small holes and hiding any inperfections
royal icing tastes SO SO SO much better than fondant and buttercream too. I remember as a kid nibbling at royal icing on my gran's cakes. Although I use fondant myself I'm always disappointed when I eat a cake made with fondant icing - I always hope it's going to be royal! The crunch of the icing with the softness of the marzipan and cake underneath is gorgeous.
I am using royal icing because I am making a dummy and need to transport it to another province.
Cshields, how fast do you work with the royal when icing it? I did a few smaller pieces for the castle and am now wondering how I am going to get the 10" and 14" round cakes done! (Your cake looks wonderful!)
My "soon to be" mother-in-law were thinking that we would do it in sections. One night, focus on the tops, the other night focus on the sides.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
To be quite honest, I iced the entire dummy cake in one session. Then I let it get hard, that timing depends on your humidity and climate; however, use your finger to tap lilghtly on the dummy to test that the icing is hard. Then I put the final royal icing coat on and began to airbrush and decorate it. My royal icing is a medium consistency. The second coat completely covered the cake form and there was no styrofoam that showed through. In fact, it kept for a long, long time on the form. Since edible transfers do fade with sunlight, I tossed the form when the transfer began to show wear. Oh, by the way, I tried to wipe the icing off with no luck. Then I resorted to trying to chip it off, so that I could use the form again; however, I finally resorted to just tossing the dummy cake out. During my chipping attempt, big chunks began to fall away from the dummy and since the cost for the dummy was really not so great, I decided that the garbage was the best place for it. 
to remove royal from a dummy simply soak in the hottest water you can. You sometimes have to change the water 2 or 3 times as it gets cold but keep going and the icing just dissolves away
Do you cover the dummy with plastic wrap first? This is what I was told to do when doing it with BCF and believe me, it's a trial to keep the frosting from pulling the plastic. I never thought of doing it with royal, or of icing a whole cake with royal. I confess, I always thought it would be rock hard, too. Question...can the royal icing be flavored and if so, how much to add so it doesn't compromise the consistency? Thanks!!
No you don't need to cover in saran wrap as royal dissolves in hot water. Although the icing has a crunch to it it's not rock hard as everyone seems to think. I've never tried flaouring it but I don't see any reason why you can't.
You only need to flavor the royal icing if you are putting the royal icing on something that you will be eating. Since Americans do not normally use royal icing on cakes, the major thing we flavor royal icing for is when we ice cookies and decorate them. Coordinate the flavoring with the type cookie (i.e. a butter cookie that contains vanilla would taste great with clear vanilla extract flavoring, an almond cookie would lend itself to almond extract, a lemon cookie would be well accented with lemon extract).
Thanks! Another question...is there a formula for how much royal icing to make to cover the various sizes of cakes/dummies?
Truthfully, I have not planned ahead that well prior to decorating the cakes because I just use the theory to "eye ball" what I would need. Sometimes it works perfectly and other times I fall short. If I find that I have not made enough icing, I just pull out my CK Meringue powder (1/4 cup) and sift at least 4 cups more of confectioners sugar to start another batch. The back of the CK meringue states to begin by adding 1/2 cup cold water and beat the 1/4 cup meringue powder until peaks form. Then you add the confectioners sugar until you reach the desired consistency. I usually add more sugar to make a stiffer icing when I'm doing a dummy cake.
If you really must be more exact then this, proceed to measure the amount of royal icing you produce after mixing the meringue powder, water and sugar (in whatever manner you will be doing it . . . Wilton's way is different than the CK way). After you have that amount, refer to the CakeCentral.com articles under the GENERAL topic. Note the two slightly different articles on "Cake Baking, Cutting, & Serving Guide" for either 3" or 2" pans. In whatever article you choose, go to the farthest right column "Approximate cups icing to ice and decorate 2 layer cake" in the cake shape that you are using and that number should approximate the amount of icing that you will be needing.
MissBaritone ~ you are full of some great information!
What keeps the royal icing from being so hard underneath? Is is moisture from the cake?
Also, do you ice your cakes completely with royal icing or do you put a layer of buttercream or marzipan on first. I have admired cake decorators from England since I've been making cakes (which is about 2 years now). I'm wondering if the difference is royal icing.?. 
Glycerine in the icing (1teaspoon to evry 1lb sugar) prevents it from being quite so hard. It is still crunchy but not rock hard. I cover the cake with marzipan before icing. Most English celebration cakes are a rich dark fruit cake and this would stain the icing if we didn't cover with marzipan first. English cakes can be a lot more elaborate. Beacuse the cake only improves with keeping and theres no filling to go off it means we can make our cakes well in advance which gives us much more decorating time. It isn't unusual for me to make a cake a year before a wedding and I usually start decorating about 2-3 months before. The cake is always ready a fortnight before the wedding. All I have to do on the wedding day is walk into the reception and put the cake on it's stands. None of the last minute hassle that you seem to have in the states
I have a book that I learned about fruit cakes in. Too bad they're not more popular here. It would be so much less stressful to have more than 3 days to put a cake together. Thanks for all your help!
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