This icing is mixed to a stiff consistency for outlining cookies, then can be thinned with warm water to fill in the cookie shape. I like to dry my cookies for at least 24 hours…and up to 48 hours before packaging them. This icing can be kept at room temperature in an air-sealed container for literally weeks, with a good re-mixing before you use it again. I haven’t had great results with keeping it in the fridge…but un-tinted icing (i.e. white) seems to be okay from the freezer.
Antonia74 Royal Icing
Ingredients
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) of warm water
- 5 Tablespoons meringue powder
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar
Instructions
In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened…about 30 seconds.
Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more.
Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer.
Using the paddle attachment on the LOWEST speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.
Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying.
Tint with food colourings or thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency.
Anxious to try this royal icing recipe.
Fantastic recipe and advice; my first batch was brutal (another recipe) - yours definitely saved the day. :)
I've never had much luck with royal icing until I tried this recipe. Thanks for posting!
Can you add flavoring to your RI?
What type of coloring do you use to tint it with?
Can u cut this recipe in half?? Can u use meringue powder from the bulk barn??
Thank you for this great recipe! Easy to make, easy to use! What could be better!
yes, you can cut it in half. I did and it turned out just fine. awesome recipe!
I can't wait to try this! Finally a recipe that is both standard and metric!
Can someone tell me what "cream of tartar" is? I'm from Holand and I've never heard of it... I've tried Google, but it didn't help me. :(
his74 ... here is a website that will tell you about cream of tartar http://www.ochef.com/933.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061120075029AA69pvE
I make this recipe without cream of tartar all the time. It works just fine without it. I'd love to see Holand some day.
Thanks cdavis! :) I'm just gonna try it without... And I'd love to see the USA some day, but my husband won't. :( It's white out here at the moment, hoping for a white christmas! :)
Has anyone noticed that if you make your RI with warm water, it is more like meringue than royal icing? I've had problems 1 out of 4 times, with air bubbles or color drying dull Using cream of tartar is something new to consider. I actually used dry premixed royal icing from Fancy Flowers recently and it turned out beautiful. It contained cream of tartar. I also think I may be mixing too long, which creates air bubbles. Can anyone give me the lowdown on C.of T. ???? Thanks
so excited to try out for my valentine cookies
Can anyone tell me how many cups 2.25 lbs is?
smf-tls - there are 16 ounces in a pound or 2 cups. So 2.25 lbs would be 4 1/2 cups. I hope this helps.
Prillie, I'm not sure your calculation is correct. I've consulted numerous websites and they all say one lb of powdered sugar equals 3 1/2 to 4 cups depending on sifting. The general consensus is 3 3/4 cups per lb. so for this recipe, you would need just shy of 8 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
I just use 2 lbs. and it turns out great, less water to add for thinning. I don't use cream of tartar because my meringue powder already has it.
Awesome recipe! It's the only one I use for royal icing on my cakes. Next week I am going to try it with cookies :)
I love this recipe for flooding cookies! Thanks!
I've never used Royal Icing so defi will try this! Will be fun to flood the cookies - been dying to try it! :) Dee x
I just made this for the 1st time and it is a great consistency. I'm in Louisiana and I only had to use 5 cups of sugar. I also added a small bit if almond extract. Great Royal icing recipe!
This recipe is fantastic - I used 4 1/2 cups of powered sugar. It was great for flooding the cookie - however I will use 5 cups of sugar next time. THANK YOU for this recipe - it is fantastic and always successful.
Hi all! I've never used Royal Icing...so i'm really looking forward to using this! However, just wanted to check that is it safe to use meringue powder in terms of egg risk etc? Sorry for my ignorance! Thanks a alot! Dee x
Is icing sugar the same as powdered sugar! I know dumb question!!! Didn't know if it mattered!
StasiaDoza, I was wondering the same thing! I'm pretty sure that it's just powdered sugar because from what I've seen royal is always made with powdered sugar, but just wanted to double check.
In Canada we call it Icing Sugar and in the USA, they call it Powdered Sugar but it's the exact same thing.
Hi all. I was wondering if anyone has tried this on a cake and how it stood up? I'm from the caribbean and they use RI on fruit cakes all the time. I think it would be great (the lemon flavoring in the icing sets of the flavor of the cake) if it didnt harden so much. Hence why I'm asking the above question. Thanks.
does anyone know what kind of consistency this is? Im looking for a stiff consistency for making roses and flowers, thanks!
Bluejeannes, this is not a thick icing and will not work for making flowers. This recipe as is allows you to flood the center of a cookie which would be way too runny for flowers. You'd need to add a significant amount of additional powdered sugar to this recipe to achieve the consistency to make flowers. Hope that helps!
I love using this on my sugar cookies. My friends have voted and this is their preferred icing recipe so it is not the only royal icing recipe I use. I just wish it dried quicker.
I have an order for monogram chocolate sugar cookies. Can't wait to try this recipe.
Hi can anyone tell me what is actually in meringue powder please as I can't get it here in Australia I am assuming this is powdered egg white which I can get but I was wondering if there is another magical ingredient? Thanks in advance.
Meringue Powder is powdered egg whites. The ingredient list on the can says: Cornstarch, egg whites, sugar, gum arabic, calcium sulfate (milk product), citric acid, cream of tartar, silicon dioxide and artificial flavor (egg product). You could check the ingredient list on your powdered egg container and I bet they'd be close.
This might be a silly question, but what is the yield on this recipe? I have a small batch made with a whisk recipe that works very well, but if this one is big enough, when I do large numbers of cookies, this is the one I'll turn to. Thank you for your help :)
How does this taste? Ive had royal icing cookies and they have been horrible! I would love to try this...
This recipe is awesome, I added a tsp of wilton's clear vanilla extract.
can someone please tell me why this recipe is different from the Wilton Royal Icing. I know it has cream of tartar in it, what does that do for the icing? here is the Wilton recipe. * 3 tablespoons Meringue Powder * 4 cups (about 1 lb.) confectioners' sugar * 6 tablespoons warm water
TIA
Is this recipe hard like royal icing once you bite into the cookie?
i tried this for the first time and i had LOTS of air bubbles. i used Wilton Black gel coloring but it didn't get completely black. and when i added a little more water to flood, the water eventually separated. what did I do wrong?
Ok I made this and I wasn't pleased with the taste. Do I need to sift the powdered sugar? Sorry for the silly question but I am new to this.
Is there a way to make this icing glossier?
Can someone tell me if you can freeze the cookies after they are decorated with Royal Icing? Or is there a problem when defrosting? Any suggestions. I want to make ahead for a wedding.
mommydearest1965 - I would think you'd have to add corn syrup. jenroc - add cocoa powder to get it to a dark colour, then add the black colouring. - Tails
can you make thiis without the meringue powder? my grandaughter is allergic egg? so meringue powder is no good?
So do the cookies dry out when you leave them out while the icing is drying? should I put them under cover while they are drying?
Hi........anxious to try this recipe. What exactly if flooding? I have an idea it is thinning of the frosting? Am I correct, and if so, how do you do that?
MOGRISER I have never had a problem with the cookies being dried out. In fact, the icing keeps them soft. Don't cover them because it will take longer for them to dry. Vicki3 flooding is when you thin the icing down to a fairly thin consistency so you can fill in large spaces after outlining. Your outline icing will be thicker than flood icing. You pipe the outline of the cookie first then after it dries, or sets up for a bit, you can flood the cookie with the thinner icing. Hope this helps.
Can anyone tell me if this icing hardes like a rock like other royal icing? What to try it!
Does this icing recipe dry softer that regular royal icing so that the cookies are edible,
@Holland, Im american and live in Denmark =) Creme of tartar is Nitron
this is the link hon. http://www.oetker.se/oetker_se/html/default/debi-66sqmw.se.html
Just curious - has anyone added any type of flavoring to the RI recipe? ie vanilla/almond extract? Going to practice flooding a bunch of cookies for a baptism in two days :)
thanks in advance!
This is the best Royal Icing recipe I have ever used. In the past my RI puffed up like puff paint and all my flowers imploded before I ever finished them. THANK YOU FOR SHARING! :)
Would this icing be suitable for string work?
is there a way to make a smaller amount i need for maybe one dozen cookies :)
You can divide the recipe any way you'd like....1/2, 1/4, 1/10.....etc
It just gets more difficult to mix in the capacity of the mixing bowl when it's really small. I usually make 1/2 or 1/3 if I just need a little.