Hey all! I am a novice at cookie decorating, I have tried some but I know I need some practice. My question is what is your favorite cookie icing to use for decoration. I see many use the royal icing, but I am just not a big fan...but is it the best? I need to make some cookies for an upcoming charity bake sale and I want them to look beautiful. Thanks for posting any suggestions.
Royal usually isn't good because some recipes leave out the flavorings. It is good if you add some of your favorite extracts. Toba's Glace is very good also...just a different consistancy. I am a royal icing fan. Most cookie icings are very similar...it's all about the extracts you use. IMHO.
I love Antonia74's royal icing recipe. It's fine on it's own, but you can easily add any flavored extract you want (I've tried lemon, almond, vanilla, peppermint, maple, caramel, chocolate, raspberry, etc.).
It dries hard enough to stack after 12-24 hours, but on the cookie it is NOT rock hard. It's not a "break your teeth on it" RI that I think of when I think of Royal icing used for gingerbread houses....
Another CCer shared this recipe a while back, and I love it!! It dries hard enough that you can stack the cookies, but stays soft underneath so that the cookie's pleasant to bite into. It tastes great, too!
Mix 3 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 Tbsp. milk and 3 Tbsp. light corn syrup. Add 15 drops of Brite White, then whatever color you want the icing to be. This is just about the right consistency for outlining the cookies, then add a little more corn syrup for flooding consistency.
Antonia's Icing on here is a fantastic recipe. It's all I use.
I do add extracts to it also.
If you make it right it is not hard at all and has such a nice texture combined with NFSC. You get icing with every bite!
There are several good recipes, and everyone likes them for different reasons, I am all about it looking good, but it has to taste good too, so my favorite is a variation of Toba Garret's Glace icing. I use it almost exclusively. I do like Antonia's modified Royal icing if I'm going to use royal though. Then there's rolled BC , I've only tried it once and I had problems with the recipe I used being greasy, I will have to try a different recipe, because using rolled BC is a wonderful way to decorate large quantities in a somewhat timely manner
Toba's Glace:
1lb 10X Confectioners Sugar (sifted) Sifted after measurement!
3 oz . milk (warmed)
3 oz light corn syrup (with vanilla flavor added if you can find it)
* 20 drops white food coloring (Americolor Brite White or Wilton White White)
In a mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the powdered sugar and the milk first.
The icing should be very soft and have a heavy-cream texture before you add the corn syrup.
Add the corn syrup all at once and mix just until combined.
Mix in the white food coloring.
Divide into several bowls/cups
Color each as desired
Cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying and let rest, your colors will deepen with time and this allows a lot of air bubbles to escape ( I usually mix up my icing first, then it has plenty of time to rest while I get the cookies made)
*20 drops is just a general number I find works, a little more or less and you shouldnt have a problem. The added white keeps the icing from developing spots or a cloudy appearance when dry.
Outline Glace:
**If you need a thicker consistency for outline,
4 oz Glace icing
6-8 Tbsp 10X Confectioners Sugar
Mix until combined, the icing should be pretty stiff, if its not stiff enough, add additional PS until you have a medium stiff consistency.
Also if you need it a little thinner add CS a tiny bit at a time.
With Glace I only use bottles to outline and flood. Best of luck! Andrea
I love and only use Antonia74's RI. Her MP has vanilla in it, whereas ours in the U.S. does not. Therefore, I add all-natural flavorings that I found - Lime, Orange, Cherry, Lemon, Coconut, Clear Vanilla ( 
Whoo Hoo! An all-natural clear vanilla!.. excuse the enthusiasm) and Pumpkin Pie Spice that I just paired with a Spice Cookie for Thanksgiving. More flavors to try, but I get rave reviews and I really love the workabiltiy of Antonia's recipe. I do mix mine to creamy and thick, not fluffy, but that (other than the flavorings) is the only change I make to it.
Wow thanks you guys, it sounds like I only need to decide between Toba's and Antonia's I was afraid of the RI being too hard to bite into the cookies (I hate it when that happens), but these recipes sound fabulous. Tracy, the pumpkin pie spice you are talking about...is it the dry kind you bake with or do they make a liquid form of that somewhere? Also, just to clarify...you are putting that in the icing and then matching it with your spice cookie? That sounds incredible! Thanks for all the tips! I will have to post some pictures after the bake sale.
I like the royal icing best. I use a simple royal icing recipe with flavorings to compliment the cookies. I don't like the glace icings at all -- they don't do well with any decorating technique I've ever used. I'm also a big fan of fondant on cookies, which gives me greater mobility as a decorator. The fondant can be flavored to compliment the cookie as well! 
So those of you that are using fondant on your cookies, are you frosting the cookie in BC first? Putting the fondant on the warm cookie hoping it melts a little and stick? I have tried putting it on a warm cookie with no BC under it and it does melt some, but after it cools it just pops right off again. What are your suggestions?
I use melted and strained preserves as glue for the fondant on my cookies. It adheres beautifully and adds a little extra flavor (not a bad thing!) It's easy to do, get a small jar of whatever preserves you like, dump into a small saucepan, take the empty jar and fill halfway up with water, dump into the saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain and pour back into the jar. Store in the refrigerator and it will keep up to two months. Hope that helps!
I really like the poured icing in the WIlton Yearbooks. It dries shiny and firm but not chrunchy. You can do some beautifull designs in it for holiday cookies. I just really like working with it. Oh and it works great with Edible Images as I found out yesterday.
I love and only use Antonia74's RI. Her MP has vanilla in it, whereas ours in the U.S. does not. Therefore, I add all-natural flavorings that I found - Lime, Orange, Cherry, Lemon, Coconut, Clear Vanilla (
Whoo Hoo! An all-natural clear vanilla!.. excuse the enthusiasm) and Pumpkin Pie Spice that I just paired with a Spice Cookie for Thanksgiving. More flavors to try, but I get rave reviews and I really love the workabiltiy of Antonia's recipe. I do mix mine to creamy and thick, not fluffy, but that (other than the flavorings) is the only change I make to it.
Tracy I love your cookies! I have used Antonias icing before but made it incorrectly 
I made it again last night correctly and fell in love.. Just a lil FYI on meringue powder.. Chefmaster brand meringue powder has vanillin in it.. I don't know if you use wilton meringue powder, but there is a noticeable diff in taste between the two.. I have also used Ateco brand, it tastes better too, but I don't know if it has vanilla in it
I love and only use Antonia74's RI. Her MP has vanilla in it, whereas ours in the U.S. does not. Therefore, I add all-natural flavorings that I found - Lime, Orange, Cherry, Lemon, Coconut, Clear Vanilla (
Whoo Hoo! An all-natural clear vanilla!.. excuse the enthusiasm) and Pumpkin Pie Spice that I just paired with a Spice Cookie for Thanksgiving. More flavors to try, but I get rave reviews and I really love the workabiltiy of Antonia's recipe. I do mix mine to creamy and thick, not fluffy, but that (other than the flavorings) is the only change I make to it.
Tracy, where did you find the clear vanilla. All I find is the imitation one. Thanks,
Thanks, Liltthorner! I did not know Chefmaster had vanilla flavoring in it.
Rosiecast - I swear by the Clear Vanilla from Spices, Etc. I just got a 32 oz. bottle and am all set to start my snowflakes, snowmen and all things white! I highly recommend it and love the difference it makes in taste and in not tinting the RI. Here is a coupon code for Spices, Etc. for a first time order, if you want it:
CC9 flat rate shipping of $4.95 for orders within the US only
AKT9 15% for US or international orders (discount taken before shipping costs)
Choose the one code that applies to you or what you want and enter it at the beginning of checkout and then continue on.
The Flat Rate shipping will be the first option for shipping under the billing information and the 15% off will show up when looking at the summary.
If you need it, here is a link to the page on their all-natural flavorings and extracts:
http://www.spicesetc.com/category/Natural-Flavorings/a
I have also used and liked Lime, Lemon, Orange, Two Fold Vanilla, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Coconut and Cherry. I just got some Peppermint that smells wonderful as well and will be playing with that soon.
I agree with bobwonderbuns. Glace for me is not reliable and RI always seems to be (aside from the pockmarking i'm getting when piping dots). I am able to use the same consistency for flooding and piping decorations and i don't need to worry about cracking while drying if it's moved too much like it does with glace.
Having said that, i like how soft the glace is when taking a bite out of the cookie. The RI can be very crunchy and candylike.
I also like that it can keep nicely for a longer period of time and still be used nicely. With RI, i find it easiest to work with while it's freshly made.
I use fondant when i absolutely have no choice (for last minute cookies) and then detail with RI. Putting it on a hot cookie works at first but then seems to pop off later while decorating, so i either pipe a trim of RI around the edges for it to stay or i'll use corn
syrup or piping gel to stick it on.
I guess it's really all a matter of prefefence with toppings. I would recommend for anyone who's new to all this, to use all methods a few times and then you'll see what you like to use best.
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