Can I Ice A Cake With Royal Icing?
Decorating By lishajijo Updated 19 Jan 2014 , 3:53am by sarahgale314
I want to ice a cake in Royal icing and i havnet done it so far..
I read it will be very hard. Is there anything that i can add to make it lil softer.. Should i apply anything on teh cake before i apply the royal icing?
Also can anyone give me a good royal icing recipe which tastes good?
Lisha 
I may be wrong but I think Royal Icing is not toxic but isn't recommended to eat.
I use Royal Icing for my dummy cakes because once it drys you can move it, bump it and it stays in place.
Our local decorating shop has a dummy cake done in Royal Icing that has been there over 25 yrs.
It is all sugar and egg whites .. why isn't it recommended for eating ?
Is it health reasons ? because of all the sugar ? all icing have a lot of sugar..that is probably one characteristic of icing or frosting.
RI is usually used in decorating sugar cookies. Isn't Royal Icing very popular in icing cakes in Great Britain ? I think I've heard that somewhere. I don't see why you can't. Just add less sugar so it won't be too stiff and won't get too hard. 
I have done this but back in the days when I didnt know better lol I did it on a pony cake for my daughter and although it looked nice it was hard to cut as the RI kept cracking but all the kids loved it cause it tasted more like candy than icing. Now I use it to do things like the eyes or small things like feet or such that way when I cut it I cut where the bc is and the kids still get that candy part if they want.
lishajijo:
I would check out Ron Ben Isarel or Toba Garrett books. They both add a little piping gel to the Royal Icing so it won't shatter when cutting.
Then check out many of the Aussies and UK cake artists since Royal Icing is very popular outside of the USA.
To ice the cake in royal, you should make sure and put a layer of marzipan on the cake first. Then, you can add a little corn syrup to the royal icing before you ice with it. It is not toxic because royal icing is used on 99% of the cakes in the Caribbean, England, and Australia.
You will have to apply the royal icing on more than one day though. You would cover the cake in marzipan and spread a layer of royal as smooth as you can today. leave a day to dry and then add another layer of royal in another day or two and let that completely dry. A third layer may or may not be necessary depending on thick you applied the first two layers. Also, you may have to sand it a little smooth, they make a special rpyal icing sander that I've seen somewhere.
Good luck, I grew up eating cakes covered in royal and it was not hard at all. The marzipan halps keep it sof underneath, just crunchy on top!
My mistake - I should have worded differently.
Personally, I wouldn't want to frost and serve a cake with Royal Icing because how hard it is when it dries. I personally don't use it on my cookies.
I guess I'm cautious because I have broken a front tooth eating something hard. To me it's just easier for me to use the Buttercream.
When I decorate a cake with Royal Icing flowers I always tell the people eating it, that the flowers won't hurt you but I don't think you would want to eat them. That is all I need someone chipping a tooth eating a cake I made.
I also find it harder to smooth.
RI is a beautifull covering for a cake, providing the base is correct. Im quoting a RI expert that gave me some advise on another message board. This person has actually written books on RI so she def knows what shes talking about.
Glycerin is added to royal icing (when coating as it attracts moisture) so that you will be able to cut through the icing on the cake ie not need a hammer and chisel.
To coat a cake with royal icing you need a firm surface - a sponge cake does not have this - too much spring plus the fact a sponge cake has too short a shelf life (seven days). Correctly speaking a cake has three coats of royal icing - one per day (so that's half your shelf life gone).
In the UK a cake would always be covered with marzipan before coating in royal icing. If someone opts not to use the marzipan, then they are in the same position as person covering a cake with butter-cream - the cake crumb can work its way to the surface (which looks awful)..plus the fact with a fruitcake you would get discolouration in the icing because of the moisture in the fruitcake
The glyserine ratio is 1 teaspoon for every lb icing.
Hope this helps someone
An expert can correct me if I'm wrong but the essential difference between marzipan and almond paste is just the almond content. Store bought stuff should work just fine. When I learned to decorate using royal icing though we rolled it out like fonadnt and put it on the cake. I have never tried the method where you smooth it on like you would with buttercream.
The royal icing they are using to decorate cakes is different from the royal icing we use for making flowers. They have added lemon juice and glycerin. The lemon juice takes away some of the sweetness and the glycerin is used to soften the royal icing (just as it does in fondant).
Someone borrowed my copy of the book (without my permission) but you can find the receipe in "Fabulous Cake Decorating".
Thanks everyone. i'm making the cake tonight..
Will let youknow how th icing came out.
I saw couple recipes for RI which you roll out like fondant and put it on the cake..
I have an eye on that also as i have worked with fondant.. I took the wilton course 1 and 3..Didnt get a chance to take 2 yet..
Lisha
~~To ice the cake in royal, you should make sure and put a layer of marzipan on the cake first. Then, you can add a little corn syrup to the royal icing before you ice with it. It is not toxic because royal icing is used on 99% of the cakes in the Caribbean, England, and Australia."
I can only speak for Australia and question the accuracy of 99%?? Royal Icing is mostly used for fruit cakes , which used to be the traditional wedding cake. You had the layer of marzipan to make it smooth and then 2-3 layers of royal icing on top. It's not common practice anymore to cover a cake with royal icing, but it is still popular for piping.
I you homemade cake with royal icing is vey hectic to do and it requires lot of hardwork so its better to you to buy it online that give you lot variety I oftenly used to buy cake online that give fast delivery and make my work bit esier. Online Orlando Grocery store will save individuals time, money and quick delivery at your doorstep.
AIf you want the effect of Royal icing but without the difficulty in cutting, you could try doing a layer of marzipan, then a layer of white fondant and then a single layer of Royal icing. I have never tried it but have been told that it works well :-)
AI was advised that once the cake is not rich... as in soaked with alcohol or contains plenty fruits u can ice with just royal icing. I used a pound of the ingredients i.e. flour, sugar, eggs, butter and 2 lbs of ground fruits (combined) and soaked in liquor. I did one coating and allowed it to dry over night...I applied 2 more coats allowing each to dry in between with the final application containing glycerine... Was perfect! I'm all the way in the Caribbean.... Trinidad to be precise :)
They claim it isn't good for you because a few 'doctors' a while back said egg whites are dangerous... yes, its stupid, your more likely to get salmonella from fruit then from eggs...
Dried egg whites are food safe.
Hopefully, the fruit is washed, and then cooked in booze. I can't imagine salmonella can survive that>
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They claim it isn't good for you because a few 'doctors' a while back said egg whites are dangerous... yes, its stupid, your more likely to get salmonella from fruit then from eggs...
Can any of the 'Food Scientists' here confirm that most of the bad buggers are in the yolk and not the whites.
[ You know how it must be true cause I read it on the internet.]
Mmm... I love royal icing. I'd rather eat that than suarpaste! (fondant)
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.... but I know you won't be able to get it very smooth with royal icing.
With practice, royal icing can be perfectly smooth!!! I'm not saying it's something I have done, but I know many cake makers who have!! 
As has already been advised, you can add a tsp of glycerine per lb of royal icing to stop it setting has hard as concrete! And it's not normally used to cover a sponge cake, because there's too much 'give' in sponge which could lead to cracking of the icing. BUT, in saying that, I'm sure I've heard people HAVE done it... so if that's what takes your fancy, then why not try it?
Suzanne x
A
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lishajijo:
I would check out Ron Ben Isarel or Toba Garrett books. They both add a little piping gel to the Royal Icing so it won't shatter when cutting.
Then check out many of the Aussies and UK cake artists since Royal Icing is very popular outside of the USA. [IMG]/img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif[/IMG]
I second Toba Garrett. Her professional cake decorating book has step by step instructions for icing a cake in royal icing - very traditional in many countries other than the US.
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