What's the difference between a glaze and royal icing? Taste? Thickness? Hardness? I have always used RI but I have seen a lot of post saying they only use glaze for base on cookies. Getting ready to do some valentine cookies and wanted to have the best taste I can make. TY CC'ers!

Chippi

I believe the difference is that RI has meringue powder, while glace does not. Toba's Glace will dry firm enough for stacking and bagging, but it won't be rock hard like RI. I think glace will take slightly longer to dry to the "bagging" stage as well. Hope that helps!

Thank you very much GeminiJr appreciate the help!

is using glace harder/easier? I love using royal icing, but dont like the hardness

I stopped using royal a long time ago and not only glaze my cookies as a base, but also use snack-size baggies filled with all my colors to do any detail work. Its true you will not get the crisp look of RI, and you certainly couldn't do any drop flowers out of it, but the glaze is so much easier to work with AND you don't need to whip out the kitchenaide for it each time! LOL

I keep a big batch mixed up in my fridge all the time, and then pull out small amounts as needed. I've even used it for some simple piping on some of me cakes.

If you add slightly more corn syrup than milk, you will get a beautiful shine AND it does harden slightly faster. But be careful, much like RI it will 'seem' dry enough, but its like that 3rd coat of nail polish... gotta be patient for all the layers to dry. If you try and fill in with a large amount of isolated glaze - like an eyeball, you could wake up to find airbubbles have popped and left a crater. Happens periodically, so its better to do lots of thin layers than one big blob for those types of areas.

Hope this helps! I make a TON of cookies and am staring at an order of 250 Valentine hearts right now! Mixed up eight batches of glaze last night so as soon as I get settled in today, I'm ready to rock and roll with the fun stuff!

can you send me the link to a recipe?!?!?!

[quote="Lambshack"]I stopped using royal a long time ago and not only glaze my cookies as a base


Are all of your cookies in your profile made with glaze? They look super! I have 75 v-day cookies to make that are due Sat. and was planning on bagging them separately. Even after they are bagged will any bumps transporting cause indentions and cracks? I also heard that you can add a small amt. of corn syrup to RI to keep it soft inside but shell on the outside has anyone done this?

Chippi

I wouldn't mind the glaze recipe either...can you post it Lambshack?

Toba Garrett's Glace Icing


1 lb. confectioners' sugar
3/8 cup milk
3/8 cup light corn syrup
flavoring as desired


In a mixing bowl, mix the sugar and milk first. Add corn syrup just until combined. Divide to flavor and add color.

With using Milk do they not go bad if left out of fridge? sorry so many questions.

My question also..Can you sub water in case someone has allergies to milk?

Thanks for posting the recipe AngelaM....

Chippi,

Some time ago I started adding just one TBL of butter to my RI recipe and it keeps it from getting rock hard. It still gets hard enough to stack, but it will stay softer on the inside.
Also, I started flavoring my RI with vanilla and butter flavoring and it tastes like buttercream.

The amount of sugar acts as a preservative so the iced cookies can be left out without spoiling.

Sorry Kiddiekakes, I don't know about subbing water for the milk in this recipe.

I don't exactly use a recipe as its more of a 'look & see' kinda thing for me, but if I had to break it down it would be something close to this.

I use the large 2 lb. bags of powdered sugar, and then 1/2 cup of milk and 1/2 cup corn syrup, with anywhere from 1tsp to 1Tbsp of extract. Sometimes I will use a little lemon juice and less milk, or even orange juice, but that sometimes conflicts with mixing colors.

I always add a few squirts of the liquid white coloring once combined to get that opaque look, although if you are mixing dark colors you won't need this. When I had to make a ton of milk bottle cookies, I left the white out so it would look 'milky'. (It worked!)

Obviously, depending on where you live and how 'fresh' your sugar is, there might be more moisture - just like flour - so you will need more or less liquid. Some people 'count' while it dribbles off a spoon... can't really do that, but you will quickly learn when its too thick or too runny.

I use small bowls (like the Chinese soup takeout containers) and a very tapered spoon - my favorite is one that came with a cheap mug & cocoa holiday gift set! It doesn't have a big 'bowl' to it - really flat - like a really cheap spoon at a really old diner? Does that make sense? But its tiny like a demitasse spoon and I just scoop up some glaze with the spoon and use the BACK of the spoon to sorta push it and guide it to the edges. If its too runny you will know because the glaze won't stop at the edge. The corn syrup helps tremendously with this part. Makes it just thin enough to spread but not to run off the edge. I can't tell you how many DAYS, possibly months of time this process has saved me on some HUGE orders. 600 cookies for Mother's Day at a country club would have taken forever to border and fill. Not to mention would have gotten stale before I had a chance to finish them! LOL

I hope this helps in some small way!
Happy glazing!
Lisa

Thanks Lambshack..that is very detailed and helps!! I have always used RI bt it takes too long to make and if left for more than a week the cream of tartar and liquid separates from the icing and then you have to re-beat it..Grrrrr

does it handle like ri? Ive got some cookies to try it out on lol

I ALWAYS add brite white to the icing, regardless of the colors to be added, because this icing doesn't like to get cold, especially while it's drying. The white food color will help prevent spotting and crackling of the icing. You can also use water instead of milk, but I had more problems with colors bleeding while using water. (Again, adding the brite white seems to help with preventing some bleeding).

I wish I knew all this BEFORE I made a ton of Valentine cookies using RI(lol).

i always use water in toba's glace instead of milk.
love, love, love glace. so much tastier and easier to eat than RI (IMHO).
diane

I use Antonia74's icing recipe (royal) with the addition of a little bit of corn syrup. It does dry hard enough to stack and bag, but it does NOT dry to be "rock hard" like you would think if RI for a gingerbread house. The cookie keeps it soft inside.. no cracking teeth!

Here are some past threads about royal and glace...

glace & royal
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-623143.html

http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-623816.html

i think i will try the corn syrup thing first.... when do you add it?

if I already have some made, can I add it now?

Chippi -

I believe the link is in her article (Antonia74s article
http://www.cakecentral.com/article54-How-To-Bake--Decorate-Cookies.html) as well as the recipe section here on CC.

I started using a little corn syrup waaaaaayyyy (at least a year) after I started using that RI recipe and the only difference I, or anyone else, have noticed is that it is a little less matte in appearance when dry. The texture, consistency, drying time, etc. area all the same as without the corn syrup.

I usually let it mix for about 7 minutes, then add in the corn syrup while it's still mixing for the last 3 minutes. There's no exact science to it - I've added it at the very beginning, too - especially if I'm adding a lot of corn syrup for more shine (which I have done with up to 1/2 of the water called for in the recipe). I just like to be sure it is well incorporated.