It is so great that this thread got started.....I was kinda in the same boat as everyone else with the icing dilemma. So, based on needing to do a bunch of Valentine's Day cookies, I did a cookie experiment on Tuesday for this exact reason. This the first experiment I've ever done.....I hope it helps someone out there!!!
Here are my results (pictures below):
Recipe 1: Antonia74's "Royal Icing" (Green "S", White heart cookies)
Easy to make, takes 10 minutes in the mixer
Drys rock hard, crusts pretty quick
Can appear dry but it's just the top, really takes a while to dry
Drys to a "flat" appearance, not shiney at all
Don't care for the taste, just slightly better than plain RI
Takes color fairly well - needed quite a bit to make the green, couldn't get it dark enough though
Lots of air bubbles, raise to the top after letting icing sit in bowl for a little while, but still had lots of bubbles on the cookies.
Orignally very stiff, great for outlining. I added a little water to thin just enough to be able to cover the cookie without outlining (letters), I thinned a little more to fill in the hearts that were outlined.
Recipe 2: Tara1970's "Suagr Cookie Icing" (Red "C", Red Lips) (Notice the mis-spelling of sugar - makes it hard to find in the recipe section, so search for "suagr"!
Really easy to make, made by hand, I had to add more corn syrup
Drys hard but not rock hard, crusts pretty quickly
Can appear dry but it's just the top, really takes a while to dry
Drys to a "shiney" gloss
Tastes better than regular RI (still not my favorite)
Takes color very well
Still had air bubbles but not as many as #1, Bubbles also rose to the top of the container as it sat in the container.
After adding corn syrup to the original recipe, I covered cookies without outlining.
Recipe 3: Sweet Annie's Cookie Icing (White "H" and piping on lips) (See recipe below)
Really easy to make, made by hand
Drys hard but not rock hard, crusts pretty quickly
Drys to a "semi-shiney" gloss - kind of transparent to start - I added white coloring
Tastes awesome! So much better than RI
Takes color very well
Not very many air bubbles at all
Recipe as written was used to cover cookies without outlining.
On the letter cookies I covered without outlining. My most helpful tool was a damp 1/4" flat paintbrush. If the icing needed to be closer to the edge I pushed it with the brush, if the icing started to fall over the edge I pulled it back up with the brush. Worked like a charm. It also helped to flatten some of the higher spots as the icing was "melting" into itself.
I used all three icings "watered down" to brush on some of the cookies that were not completely flat or free of holes - all three worked very well.
All in all, I guess three things are really important when selecting which type of icing to use. Do you want it shiney? Do you want it to be rock hard when dry? What do you want it to taste like?
I didn't test the one icing/glaze that I use most often, that's Toba Garrett's Glace. It is similar to recipe #2, with the exception of almond extract, and it performs the same.
Recipe - I'd love to give someone credit for this recipe - but I can't remember where on the internet I found it.
Sweet Annie's Cookie Icing
3 lbs PS
3-4 heaping tsp. powdered egg whites
3/4 tsp clear vanilla
3/4 tsp. butter flavor
1/2 tsp. almond flavor
water to thin
Place 2 lbs of PS in mixing bowl, add powdered egg whites. Mix together and add about 1/2 c water or enough that the icing is somewhat thin. Add flavorings and then add the last 1 lb PS and enough water to get the right consistancy.
Anyway.....
