I am so frustrated with Royal icing.........
I just use the recipe that is on Wilton site. It takes FOREVER to mix. My first batch was horrible. The second time I made it, I swear it was in the mixer for at least 15-20 minutes. Just follow the directions exactly, make sure everything is grease free and then beat the heck out of it.
It might be considered cheating 
but I use a premade powdered mix that you just add water to and beat in your mixer. It's made by CK.
http://www.ckproducts.com/productdetails.asp?getresults=3728
I just made some today. It's the Wilton recipe as follows:
3 level Tablespoons of Meringue Powder
5-6 Tablespoons of water
1 lb. (approximately 4 cups) powdered sugar
Make sure all the ustensils are grease free, so it doesn't break down.
Place confectioner's sugar and Meringue Powder in a bowl. Stir or mix at low speed until blended. Add water and mix 7-10 minutes at low-medium speed until icing loses its sheen. To prevent drying, be sure to cover the bowl with a damp cloth while working with icing.
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. To reuse, beat on low to restore original texture.
Hope this helps. Also, you can substitute one of the Tablespoons of liquid for one Tablespoon of vanilla or any other flavoring. This helps a lot when it comes to the taste!!!
Take care and good luck.
can you use the viva method for royal icing?
ROFLMAO!!!!! (at the topic title)
Ok, here goes my 2 cents worth, cuz I got this from (the queen of royal icing, lol) missbaritone....you could follow the recipe to a "T" everytime and it still won't come out the EXACT SAME way.
The only way you can tell it's right is by it's peak & how it holds its peak. If you're trying to make flowers, you should be able to see it peak and stay that way. If the peak goes back down, its not ready for roses.
You might want to try a search on here for her, she's great when it comes to royal icing.
BTW, Good Luck!
I tried the VIVA paper towel icing and method the other day because everyone was raving about it. It was ok, very sweet, but of course anything that crust must contain more powdered sugar ratio than fat, so I sort of expected it. I flavored it heavily with khalua and cinammon. It has a bit of crisco on the tongue feeling and taste, but not bad as some of the others. I doubt I will use this recipe again.
Regarding Royal Icing, it all depends on the moisture or lack there of in the air, which is why some are reporting that it was great one time, and not so the other. You really have to pay attention to the texture, which is a hard thing to do sometimes.
If it peaks, it's good....and it should be the consistency of that marshmallow fluff in a jar, when you've beat it enough. My stand-up mixer takes about 10 min's, but my hand mixer took a good 20 at least!
Royal icing is the way I rationalized spending way to much money on a kitchen appliance!! (To my DH anyway 
)
Alicia, I wouldn't frost a whole cake in RI. It'll harden and basically be inedible. The viva method is really only for smoothing BC.
BTW I did hear somewhere that Wilton uses RI for the cakes in its books and sands them down to get a totally smooth finish 
. No wonder it's so hard to get our cakes looking that good!
Thank you all so much for your wonderful advice! I really appreciate it. I have always made my roses with BC and they have turned out good, but I think that I will get a better looking definition on my roses if I use a stiffer forming icing!
Again thank y'all very much, and HAPPY DECORATING!! 
Connie
I was going to ice the whole cake in royal icing but not for eating. I am doing a cake for the county fair. I can't do a buttercream because that will melt. I think I have changed my mind so I plan to use fondant instead. Thanks!
I was going to ice the whole cake in royal icing but not for eating. I am doing a cake for the county fair. I can't do a buttercream because that will melt. I think I have changed my mind so I plan to use fondant instead. Thanks!
Oh, I get it. If you DID use RI then, you could put it on thick and then use a light sandpaper to get the wrinkles out. Since RI dries so hard, I don't think the viva method would work. BC crusts, but stays soft underneath, which allows you to 'iron' out the wrinkles under the paper towel.
I had problems with my roses not keeping their shape too. The next time, I mixed it longer (10 min) and they kept their shape much better.
I think you'll find that most of us Brits are a font of knowledge when it comes to Royal Icing, we use it a lot and, yes, we cover whole cakes in it too! If you can get pasturised real (wet) egg whites, use those instead of meringue powder - it makes a world of difference to how long you have to mix and the results you get. I have tried meringue powder, and I never will again, in pales in comparison to the real deal. For those who can get pasturised egg whites (or who aren't concerned about using normal raw egg whites), here's the traditional recipe:
1lb icing sugar
10ml lemon juice
2 egg whites
plus (if you don't want it to get too hard), 2tsp glycerine
Whisk egg whites and lemon juice together for a few seconds, gradually add the icing sugar and beat until the mixture holds firm peaks and you can stand a spoon up in the icing. Add glycerine if using and breifly beat again.
Try this and see if it works better for you!
Edited to say: the traditional way to smooth RI is with a palette knife (spatula) dipped in hot water, used wet!
Just an addendum to Bonjovibabe's last post:
10 ml lemon juice is equal to 2 teaspoons, US measurements.
Theresa 
Duh me! I'd gone and changed all the other measurements (grams - pounds etc) for you too - stupid of me to overlook that 
! Must be having a blonde moment 
Bonjovibabe, if you use the glycerine is that how you keep the RI soft enough to cut? I'd like to try this--my DH usually scrapes off all the BC because he associates Crisco with lard . He might be happer if I ice the whole cake in royal.
Yep, it won't dry out quite as quickly or quite as hard if you use glycerine. You can even add a bit more if you just want it to crust over, but remain fairly soft beneath the surface. I used glycerine (the recommended amount) in the icing for my Christmas cake last year, and it took the whole time the cake was being eaten (over a month!), to dry out completely and even then it wasn't rock hard, it was a thick covering though!
So use the glycerine and lay it on thick. Can't wait to try it!
Nicholas Lodge & Toba Garrett (two of my favorites!) use royal icing A LOT to frost their cakes. And if you get into any of the foreign techniques such as the Australian Method or the Lambeth Method (British) then you have to learn about frosting cakes in RI, it's not mandatory for these methods but it makes the methods a WHOLE lot easier.
Rachel
i hate RI. its really nice for making flowers but the flowers get so rock hard and hard to cut and its sooo sweet. it really makes a pretty cake but i cant stand it.
with the glycerine can you make flowers too or is it just for frosting the cake?
Yeah, I think you don't want to use glycerine if you are using your RI to make flowers. It's just for icing you don't want to harden all the way.
I may be wrong, but I'm guessing not.
Rachel
one thing that might be causing problems if your RI is not coming out is the utensils you are using. If you are using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bowl (or anything non-metalic and not de-greased) then your royal will never set up and will remain soupy. This also goes for what you store it in. Don't re-use plastic containers. Plastic really holds onto grease. Use metal, glass, or brand-new plastic containeers (and mark them for royal only).
HTH.
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