Use this tutorial on how to make royal icing recipe for piping and decorating sugar cookies. This quick and easy cookie icing dries hard and tastes great.
*Thank you Rodelle for sponsoring today's post so that I can share this tutorial on how to make royal icing recipe for cookies. As always, all opinions are mine.*
When I FIRST started cake decorating, I didn't know how to make royal icing or what the heck it was used for.
Well, imagine my SURPRISE when I decorated a dozen cupcakes with this icing, resulting in such WEIRD and crusty tops ....hahaha.
Thankfully, I have LEARNT a lot since then and today, I am sharing everything I know and answering the most common questions I have gotten over the years.
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fThey are great for the upcoming HOLIDAY season.
Once the icing dries, you can stack them, pack them and SHIP them to family friends.
I am really fond of Rodelle extracts and use it a lot in my baking and especially frostings.
I truly believe that your recipe is only as good as the ingredients you use and Rodelle products are high quality with strong flavor and aroma.
CLASSIC royal icing uses vanilla extract but Rodelle has so many other AMAZING extracts that you can use as well.
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to use their pumpkin spice extract, which smells HEAVENLY!
You can also add some turmeric or cinnamon powder instead of extracts.
However, keep in mind that turmeric will give your icing a natural yellow color.
What's royal icing? What does royal icing taste like? What is royal icing for cookies?
This icing is a type of frosting that is most commonly used for decorating sugar cookies and piping and doing intricate scroll works on cakes. It dries hard and dried fast and tastes VERY sweet and usually has a vanilla flavor.
Here are TWO of my most POPULAR cut out cookie recipes that are perfect for cookie decorating with this icing:
- Perfect sugar cookies (small batch recipe that can be doubled if you want a bigger batch)
- Perfect chocolate sugar cookies
How to make royal icing with meringue powder?
This icing is made by mixing together egg whites or meringue powder (dried egg whites) with powdered sugar (also known as icing or confectioners sugar) until soft peaks form. It can then be tinted in different colors.
Why use royal icing? When is royal icing used? What is royal icing used for?
This icing is used for any type of cake/cupcake/cookie decoration that needs to be dry, hard and not spread. This is why cookies decorated with this icing are so popular as party favors. This icing is also commonly used to decorate traditional wedding cakes that require a lot of detailed scroll work.
How do you color royal icing? How do you make black royal icing?
This icing should be colored with gel food coloring. Liquid food coloring is not recommended since that can change consistency of the icing. For black icing, use black gel color but it's very important to let the icing sit for a about 6 hours and allow the color to develop and deepen.
How much royal icing do you need to cover a cake?
You NEVER use this icing to cover your cakes. You have to use soft buttercream frosting for that. Royal icing dries hard and will create an awful crust on your cake. But that being said, this icing is excellent for adding decorations on your cakes such as flowers.
Here are some of my SOFT buttercream frosting recipes (these won't dry and harden!):
- Classic American buttercream frosting
- Best cream cheese frosting
- Seven minute frosting
- Healthy coconut cream chocolate frosting
- Mocha frosting
- Mango frosting
- Seedless strawberry frosting
- Orange buttercream icing
- Cooked buttercream icing (with flour)
- Cooked chocolate buttercream icing (with flour)
How to make royal icing flowers?
Any flower that you can pipe in buttercream icing can also be made with thick royal icing. The only difference is that flowers, which are made with this icing will dry hard and can be stored for months (in a cardboard box at room temperature, away from moisture, humidity and sunlight).
Here is a tutorial on how to make easy icing flowers.
Why is royal icing not hardening? Why royal icing won't harden?
There can be 4 reasons for this problem:
- The mixing bowl and any other utensils you might have used to make your icing had some grease and oily residue from oil, shortening or butter that interfered with this recipe. This icing MUST be made in squeaky clean equipment.
- Your egg whites were not fresh or your meringue powder was too old. Consider replacing them and making the recipe again.
- You might have used oil based extracts and those delay the drying time and in some cases, your decorated cookies will not dry try at all.
- You might be living in a place with very humid climate and the moisture in the air is interfering with the recipe and delaying the drying time of your decorated cookies.
Why is my royal icing too runny?
You probably added too much liquid in your recipe.
Is royal icing safe to eat?
Yes, this icing is safe to eat. Some people are concerned about the use of egg whites and meringue powder but since they are pasteurized, they are safe for consumption.
Why is there lemon juice in royal icing? Glycerin? Cream of tartar?
Glycerin is sometimes added to prevent the icing from becoming too hard. Lemon juice or cream of tartar is also sometimes added to make the icing more stable. My easy royal icing recipe does not use lemon juice, cream of tartar or glycerin and it still works PERFECTLY!
What is thick royal icing? What is flood royal icing?
Thick icing is used for piping outlines on cookies and and it's also great for making flowers. Flood icing is simply thin icing that's used to fill the insides of the cookie outline. Royal icing for flooding is thinned out by adding more water into the recipe.
Where to store royal icing?
This icing must be stored in an air-tight sealed container (I like to cover the container in saran wrap too). It should be placed at room temperature away from humidity and sunlight. If exposed to air, it dries very quickly.
Where to dry royal icing flowers? Where to store royal icing flowers?
The flowers can be dried at room temperature or a fan can be used to speed up the drying process. Once the flowers have dried and hardened, they can be placed in a cardboard box, away from moisture, humidity and sunlight and they will last for months and can be used to decorate cakes and cupcakes.
Are royal icing and fondant the same? Is royal icing like fondant? Are royal icing and buttercream frosting the same?
The answer to all three questions is NO. They are not the same. Royal icing icing is a type of frosting that dries hard. Fondant is a thick sugar dough that's soft and pliable and can be rolled out. It's used to cover buttercream frosted cakes. Finally, buttercream icing is made by mixing butter or shortening with powdered sugar. It's very soft and creamy and used for filling and frosting cakes and cupcakes. It does not dry or become hard!
What are royal icing transfers?
This is a cake and cookie decorating technique in which you pipe the design on a sheet of wax paper and let the icing dry. Once the design is dry, you can carefully peel it off from the wax paper and stick it onto your cookies, cakes or cupcakes.
Can you make royal icing without electric mixer?
No, this icing needs to be beaten until stiff peaks form and you definitely need a stand mixer or an electric mixer for that.
Royal icing vs. Glace icing?
Glace icing is also used for cookie decorating. It dries hard but has a glossy finish. It's also egg-free (no egg whites and no meringue powder), making it perfect for people with egg allergies. It can also be made vegan, if dairy-free milk is used. I have heard people say that Glace icing is like a royal icing recipe without eggs...lol. This is my glace icing recipe.
How much royal icing is needed for gingerbread house?
This icing works as a great GLUE for sticking all the gingerbread cookie pieces together. But, the amount of icing needed truly depends on how big your gingerbread house is. For basic small gingerbread houses, my small batch icing recipe that I am sharing today is more than enough.
I have a very detailed tutorial for making a gingerbread house that you should check out during Christmas time!
Recipe
How to make Royal Icing (For Cookie Decorating)
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoon Meringue powder
- 3 tablespoon Warm water NOT hot
- ½ tablespoon Light corn syrup
- 2 cups Powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
Instructions
- In a deep bowl, add meringue powder and warm water.
- Beat this for about 1 minute until you have a white and frothy mixture.
- Add powdered sugar, corn syrup and vanilla extract and start mixing at medium to medium-high speed.
- Continue mixing until your icing becomes thick and peaks start forming, as shown in this picture. This usually takes about 5 minutes of mixing at high speed.Note: This icing is at the “thick consistency stage.” You can add some water to thin it out if you need your icing to be thinner. Please remember that a little water goes a LONG way. Add only ¼ teaspoon water at a time and make sure to mix properly again.
- You can now color your icing with gel colors. Use a toothpick to add gel colors into your icing.
- Mix with a spoon until the color is fully blended into your icing.Note: The color of your icings will get deeper and better the longer they sit.
- This icing dries very quickly, if exposed to air. Make sure you store it in a plastic container with a tight lid.
- Also, cover your entire container in saran wrap.
Video
Notes
- Use this icing immediately for your decorations OR allow it to sit at room temperature (fully sealed) until needed.
- Use within 1 week. But, remember that you will have to whip it again because this icing has a tendency to separate into sugar and water, the longer it sits.
- This is a small batch royal icing recipe and yields about 1 ½ cups of icing. It’s great for times when you just need to decorate a few cookies.
- Recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.
- Outline icing should be the consistency of toothpaste and filling or flooding icing should be the consistency of corn syrup.
- For true white icing, use clear extract to avoid discoloration OR use white gel coloring.
Nutrition
An automated tool is used to calculate the nutritional information. As such, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information provided for any recipe on this site.
Well, that's all for today.
Until next time, take care my lovelies!
nana Sharon
Want to try this as a transfer for a child’s birthday cake. Can it be made ahead and stored. Or placed on cake and frozen? Want a bit of lead time as I have many responsibilities for this party and lots of other cooking. Thanks!
Abeer Rizvi
This recipe will work great for a transfer and should be made ahead of time so that it times to dry completely. However, I don't suggest putting it on the cake and freezing it. Moisture from the freezer can damage the transfer.
Kaylee
Does it have to be gel color?
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, I highly recommend that because it's thicker and it won't affect the consistency of your icing. Liquid food color makes the frosting very thin, especially if you are using it for outlining cookies.
Samantha
What is the purpose of the light corn syrup in your recipe?
Abeer Rizvi
It adds a very subtle shine but can be omitted.
Carrie
If I'm using eggs instead of merangue powder do I use one egg white and omit the water making sure the egg is room temperature? If not then what?
Abeer Rizvi
I have not made this recipe with egg whites and I am sorry but I don't know how to alter this recipe to make that version work. You can use my glace icing recipe, which has no eggs, if you like: https://cakewhiz.com/glace-icing-heart-cookies/
Katy
Can regular corn syrup be used instead of light corn syrup?
Abeer Rizvi
Yes, you can use that but since it's darker in color, your frosting will not be super white.
Jan
where can I find meringue powder?
Abeer Rizvi
Amazon, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Michael's all carry them.
Colleen
I don’t use corn syrup in my house. Is there something else I could use or could I just leave it out?
Abeer Rizvi
You can just leave it out
Melanie
If im replacing the meringue powder with fresh egg whites do i use the same amount and use the water as well?
Abeer Rizvi
This is not a liquid egg white recipe. The recipe for that is entirely different.
Heather
I've never done sugar cookies so just wondering if there's a trick to spreading the icing onto the cookies?
Abeer Rizvi
I make an outline around the cookie first with thick royal icing and then I fill the inside with thinner royal icing and spread it out with a toothpick. You can see it in the video too. That's the easiest way for me.
Kathy lopez
Where do u find meringue powder?
Abeer Rizvi
You can find it on Amazon, Hobby Lobby, Michaels.
Heather
How long should it take for the icing to harden?
Abeer Rizvi
That depends on the humidity in your area. The more humidity and moisture there is in the air, the longer it takes to dry. Mine typically dry overnight and I live in Chicago. You can also turn on the fan and face it in the direction of the cookies to speed up the drying process.
Julie
I laughed reading this. Never have I ever used royal icing on my cakes. If you make your buttercream properly, it will be stiff enough to do all the steingwork, flowers and details.
Miranda
They never said to use it for cakes, in fact they said they had made a mistake and used it on cupcakes and it got weird and crusty so your snotty reply is pretty out of place. Yikes.
Kate
I think Julie must have misunderstood what you meant by decorating cakes with royal icing or maybe she didn’t read the article fully... adding details with royal icing to a cake is a technique just like adding details w buttercream, fondant, chocolate etc.. it’s just about personal preference. WHO CARES
Thank you for your thoughtful post on royal icing. I can’t wait to start experimenting on Christmas cookies this year. Happy Holidays!
nicole
I love your detailed recipe thank you so much very helpful..cant wait to use this on some melted snowman cookies..
Rebecca
How do I store a cake that I have decorated using this icing? In a fridge?
Abeer Rizvi
I am actually concerned. This icing is meant for cookies and not cake. If you decorated a cake with it, the icing will dry hard.
Angie
Can you substitute maple syrup for the corn syrup?
Abeer Rizvi
No because that would change the color of the icing and you won't have a white icing any more. You can omit corn syrup altogether, if you like.