Hi everyone,

I have been asked to do 200 sugar cookies flooded with white royal icing and then a black logo on top.  My questions are:

1.  Any tips on how to make black royal icing without it tasting bad?

2.  When I last did something like this I flooded the cookies then had to use a toothpick to even out the icing on EVERY cookie which took FOREVER.  Is there a better technique?

3.  I purchased these bottles with tips to put the royal icing into so that I could decorate more easily but after the 100th cookie my hand was cramping so badly I had to take multiple breaks which wasted time.  Is there a tool or technique I can use to make it easier now that I have to do double the amount?

Thanks :)

Rhea

You may want to try looking at this site and even sending her an email. She has YouTube videos and some great how-to tips. She may have some advice for you on that. I commend you for making beautiful cookies! I don't have that kind of patience! 

http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com

AI use americolor super black. It makes awesome black royal icing and I can't taste it.

If you get your icing to the proper consistency, you should not have to use a toothpick unless it's for finer details or sharp corners. 15 second consistency, you should be able to shake or tap to level. If you do a separate outline, you can make your flood a bit more runny. But I think working in a single consistency would be a bigger time saver.

I don't like working with the bottles. They never seemed all that convenient to me. I'd go with a good old piping bag. Don't overfill it. That will hurt your hand too. I close the top with a rubber band and a larks head knot and it keeps it sealed in, but very easy to undo and refill.

With 200 cookies, my biggest issue would be where the heck to set them out to dry! :)

Terrific suggestions!  Thank you!  I a just going to have to do the cookies over two or three days because of counter space AND drying time.

I will try that Super Black.  Flooding cookies is a new thing for me so I am still learning - I will have to look for a video tutorial on that one...

YouTube has a bunch of flooding technique videos. I tried it for the first time last year with my Christmas cookies. They came out okay, but I don't think my icing was the right consistency. I'll leave royal icing to the masters! 

AMontreal confections is another great one. Hanielas does hers with zipper bags Tons of bloggers with great info too

For flooding cookies, I usually use one consistency of royal icing to outline and flood, about the consistency of Elmer's glue.  I like the larger squeeze bottles for this because they are easy to fill and I feel like I have more control than I do with the bags.  Draw your outline, then "scribble" back and forth a few times in both directions to apply a sufficient amount of icing.  Instead of a toothpick  I use a small, rather pointy offset spatula to sort of "push" the icing around until the cookie is covered.  (Like this:  http://img.rakuten.com/PIC/42822210/0/1/250/42822210.jpg)

To avoid messing up the edges of a freshly flooded cookie, I place the cookie on a small square of paper towel (a little bigger than the cookie) before icing it.  Then I can just turn the piece of paper towel without touching the cookie as I spread the icing.  When finished, I use a small square spatula to lift the cookie and place it on the drying rack.

I hope these suggestions help.  Good luck!