As some of you know, I've been curious about using glace on cookies for a while now because I see such wonderful cookie creatiosn by some of you who use glace and I've been exclusively a royal icng user on my cookies. So, this week I conducted an experiment to compare glace icing and royal icing. During the experiment, I tried to control for things that might affect the outcome, such as the amount/types of coloring, extract, mixing process, piping process, set time, etc.
The recipes I used were glace (GI) icing from GeminiRJ and royal (RI) icing (my modified version of Antonia74s RI recipe, replacing about ¼ of the water with corn syrup). If anyone wants more specifics about the recipes, Id be happy to share. thank you Susan and Helen for sharing your recipes!!!!
I attempted to compare the consistency, the usability, appearance, ingredients, drying time/hardness and pack-ability, taste, and pitfalls (specifically air bubbles, splotchiness, bleeding, and craters).
Remember, this was my first time using glace, and Im sure there is a learning curve. But, heres what I found
Consistency:
the consistencies are very different between the 2 types of icing - .the GI was much, much thicker than the RI
although GI was thicker, it has a lower count until it is reabsorbed
GI more runny/flowed more into itself
I used one consistency of each type of icing for everything (outline and flood) however, the counts for re-absorption were not the same between the 2 types of icing.
Usability:
both RI and GI worked well for getting close to edges
GI held its place better on the outline. Didnt move as much when pushed by next line of icing (not sure I liked that for all purposes)
GI took much more effort to pipe
RI worked better for holding its shape in designs (like the bites on the watermelon)
The GI was pretty think; Im not sure Id be able to pipe it out if I had made it much thicker, so I dont think it has the flexibility of use to be able to pipe shapes that will hold their shape or have texture.
Appearance (color, shine) :
Colors are different, even with the same coloring amounts used
GI is more translucent, so it seems more glossy (and feels slightly glossier when dry), but I dont think its really shinier. I specifically compared the pinks on the watermelons - they seemed no different after 24 hours in terms of shine, but GI had a glossier, more translucent appearance
Both shiny when wet
Both less shiny when dry
GI great for a more translucent effect (like membranes on limes or glass)
I really liked that the colors and appearance were different, even using the same ratios of icing to coloring. It gives me many more choices for the future.
Ingredient comparison:
the batch of RI is bigger (enough for me to do between ½ and a full batch of NFSC cookies, depending on the colors and details needed)
GI is a simple ration, that can be made in small or large batches as desired
GI had no meringue powder or cream of tartar
GI has more corn syrup
drying time, hardness and pack-ability :
GI took more time to crust over, so it was more forgiving when you needed to fix something, pop bubbles, do wet-on-wet, etc.
GI slightly longer to dry (after 4 hours RI dry to touch, but GI still tacky), but by 24 hours both dry enough to bag or stack
I dont have any reason to think that the GI covered cookies will fair less well during shipping, but I kept a few of each aside and will experiment with a mock shipping experience later this week.
taste:
personally I find icing of any kind too sweet and I dont ever eat the cookies I make once they are iced. But, I did a taste test and didnt think there was a noticeable difference between the two.
I had several people do blind taste tests comparing the two both on and off of a plain cookie. Though there was some preference (nothing significant) there was no clear winner and most people could NOT tell the difference between the two, they just randomly chose one.
pitfalls (specifically air bubbles, splotchiness, bleeding, and craters).
Splotchiness: I had no problems with blotchiness, even when comparing white icing (both with and without the brite white added) in either RI or GI. IT has been cool for June here (in the 70s) the last few days. It rained all day today, so the air is a bit humid (Im in Maryland), but the house is a comfortable temperature
Air bubbles: I didnt have much problem with air bubbles in either RI or GI - no noticeable difference between the two. I let my icings rest overnight after adding the color to them, which helps I think. It was easier to see the air bubbles (when wet) in the RI than in the GI. One important note in my pink GI the air bubbles I did have seem to look like small white spots when the icing is completely dry.
Bleeding: I did some wet on wet and some side by side colors and had no problem with color bleeding with RI or GI. I used black RI on pink RI and pink GI with no noticeable difference between the two. It was easier to do the wet-on-wet with the GI base, though (I think because it has a longer time until it crusted, so I had more time to do the wet-on-wet and have it meld). I also had no trouble with darker colors and white in either RI or GI or a combination of the two. I think the consistency and letting the colors set overnight really help with that a lot.
Craters: I had crater issues only with RI during this experiment, but to be honest, I think its because those particular colors were too thin a user error, Im afraid, and one I sort of expected.
All in all, Im glad I did the experiment, because I think I will certainly have times when I want to use glace instead of royal because of a final appearance that I want to achieve. But, the Glace was so much harder to pipe, that Ill probably stick with my Royal recipe 95% of the time.
Thanks for putting up with my rambling, long-winded results!! I hope this information is helpful to someone!!
The recipes I used were glace (GI) icing from GeminiRJ and royal (RI) icing (my modified version of Antonia74s RI recipe, replacing about ¼ of the water with corn syrup). If anyone wants more specifics about the recipes, Id be happy to share. thank you Susan and Helen for sharing your recipes!!!!
I attempted to compare the consistency, the usability, appearance, ingredients, drying time/hardness and pack-ability, taste, and pitfalls (specifically air bubbles, splotchiness, bleeding, and craters).
Remember, this was my first time using glace, and Im sure there is a learning curve. But, heres what I found
Consistency:
the consistencies are very different between the 2 types of icing - .the GI was much, much thicker than the RI
although GI was thicker, it has a lower count until it is reabsorbed
GI more runny/flowed more into itself
I used one consistency of each type of icing for everything (outline and flood) however, the counts for re-absorption were not the same between the 2 types of icing.
Usability:
both RI and GI worked well for getting close to edges
GI held its place better on the outline. Didnt move as much when pushed by next line of icing (not sure I liked that for all purposes)
GI took much more effort to pipe
RI worked better for holding its shape in designs (like the bites on the watermelon)
The GI was pretty think; Im not sure Id be able to pipe it out if I had made it much thicker, so I dont think it has the flexibility of use to be able to pipe shapes that will hold their shape or have texture.
Appearance (color, shine) :
Colors are different, even with the same coloring amounts used
GI is more translucent, so it seems more glossy (and feels slightly glossier when dry), but I dont think its really shinier. I specifically compared the pinks on the watermelons - they seemed no different after 24 hours in terms of shine, but GI had a glossier, more translucent appearance
Both shiny when wet
Both less shiny when dry
GI great for a more translucent effect (like membranes on limes or glass)
I really liked that the colors and appearance were different, even using the same ratios of icing to coloring. It gives me many more choices for the future.
Ingredient comparison:
the batch of RI is bigger (enough for me to do between ½ and a full batch of NFSC cookies, depending on the colors and details needed)
GI is a simple ration, that can be made in small or large batches as desired
GI had no meringue powder or cream of tartar
GI has more corn syrup
drying time, hardness and pack-ability :
GI took more time to crust over, so it was more forgiving when you needed to fix something, pop bubbles, do wet-on-wet, etc.
GI slightly longer to dry (after 4 hours RI dry to touch, but GI still tacky), but by 24 hours both dry enough to bag or stack
I dont have any reason to think that the GI covered cookies will fair less well during shipping, but I kept a few of each aside and will experiment with a mock shipping experience later this week.
taste:
personally I find icing of any kind too sweet and I dont ever eat the cookies I make once they are iced. But, I did a taste test and didnt think there was a noticeable difference between the two.
I had several people do blind taste tests comparing the two both on and off of a plain cookie. Though there was some preference (nothing significant) there was no clear winner and most people could NOT tell the difference between the two, they just randomly chose one.
pitfalls (specifically air bubbles, splotchiness, bleeding, and craters).
Splotchiness: I had no problems with blotchiness, even when comparing white icing (both with and without the brite white added) in either RI or GI. IT has been cool for June here (in the 70s) the last few days. It rained all day today, so the air is a bit humid (Im in Maryland), but the house is a comfortable temperature
Air bubbles: I didnt have much problem with air bubbles in either RI or GI - no noticeable difference between the two. I let my icings rest overnight after adding the color to them, which helps I think. It was easier to see the air bubbles (when wet) in the RI than in the GI. One important note in my pink GI the air bubbles I did have seem to look like small white spots when the icing is completely dry.
Bleeding: I did some wet on wet and some side by side colors and had no problem with color bleeding with RI or GI. I used black RI on pink RI and pink GI with no noticeable difference between the two. It was easier to do the wet-on-wet with the GI base, though (I think because it has a longer time until it crusted, so I had more time to do the wet-on-wet and have it meld). I also had no trouble with darker colors and white in either RI or GI or a combination of the two. I think the consistency and letting the colors set overnight really help with that a lot.
Craters: I had crater issues only with RI during this experiment, but to be honest, I think its because those particular colors were too thin a user error, Im afraid, and one I sort of expected.
All in all, Im glad I did the experiment, because I think I will certainly have times when I want to use glace instead of royal because of a final appearance that I want to achieve. But, the Glace was so much harder to pipe, that Ill probably stick with my Royal recipe 95% of the time.
Thanks for putting up with my rambling, long-winded results!! I hope this information is helpful to someone!!
