I have a question about brushed embroidery. I'm going to try the method this weekend, but I want to use the glaze recipe that bake at 350 uses. I can't stand the taste of Royal Icing, and mine always just dries off and cracks in pieces. Anyway, for the brushed embroiedery, could I just add more powdered sugar to the glaze in order to make it thick enough to try the brushed embroidery or does it need to be RI? Also, the cookies are for Wed. I was thinking of baking them on Sat, and icing them as I am able on Sat, Sun, and Mon...will they stay moist that long if they are in a tupperware container? Sorry...kinda a newbie to this!

I agree about glaze being tastier than royal icing, but the thing about glaze is that it is harder to push around than royal icing, especially if you thicken it (which, by the way, you CAN do). Is there any way you can make just a test batch of your glaze and practice the brush embroidery on some waxed paper or some other non-cookie surface (a plate or whatever)? That way, you could see for yourself if the glaze lends itself to this technique. If it doesn't, you could always resort to royal icing. On the other hand, if it does, you're good to go. I don't think you'll have any problem with your cookies staying fresh from Saturday till Wednesday. On the contrary, I find that cookies need a few days to "mature". I'd keep them in something airtight, not because they might dry out, but becuase, on the contrary, lots of cookies tend to absorb moisture from the atmosphere and get too soft. Once you've decorated them, though, I'd leave them out for a day or so, so that the glaze can harden - since it contains corn syrup, it takes longer for it to dry than regular royal icing. Best of luck, and let us see a picture when they're done!

If the brush embroidery is just used for decoration, there's not really very much royal icing to taste. Do you add a little vanilla or lemon juice to your royal for flavor?

I'm not sure if this will help as I have not used the glaze recipe, but when I made my wedding cake I royal iced a brushed lace pattern on it, in the royal icing mix I mixed in some piping gel which makes it easier to brush the icing, maybe you could tryout mixing in some of the piping gel in your glaze before piping. HTH.

http://cakecentral.com//gallery/1758801

A very lovely cake, mmmmmmmmcake1954! The brushed embroidery lace gives it a nice elegant touch. And the piping gel added to the RI sounds like a better idea than the glaze, which is basically RI with some corn syrup.

Thanks for all your advice! I ended up using Bake at 350's royal icing recipe which does include some corn syrup. I also added almond extract, and the icing did taste much better. I think the cookies turned out great, I've added them to my pictures, but I don't know how to add them to a post Sorry

You can do brush embroidery with anything that will hold it's shape. I've seen it down with buttercream, royal icing and even melted chocolate.