Soft Royal Icing Recipes

ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Whisk the egg whites until lightly whipped. Add the icing sugar a few tbsps at a time, whisking continuously until all incorporated. Add the glucose and lemon juice.
• Continue whisking until the icing is thick enough to hold stiff peaks when you lift the beaters and is smooth and shiny.
• Use a palette knife to spread the icing over the top and sides of your marzipaned cake. For a snowy effect, make little dips and peaks with a teaspoon. Leave to firm up somewhere cool and dry (not the fridge) for 24 hrs before cutting the cake.

THE BEST ROYAL ICING RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the sugar, egg white, and water. Mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, until the icing is thickened and smooth, about 2 minutes.
• The icing will keep up to 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Before using, beat it with a fork. Stir in very small amounts of water if it seems too thick. Royal icing can be thinned simply by adding water (or lemon juice), or thickened by adding confectioners' sugar. Add liquid or confectioners' sugar in small increments, such as 1/2 teaspoon at a time, and mix thoroughly before deciding whether to add more. Use thinner, spreadable royal icing for "flooding" cookies for background work, and thicker royal icing for "piping" lines and making rosettes. To make your royal icing colorful, a few drops of food coloring will saturate your royal icing with any color of the rainbow. Just remember that a little coloring goes a long way-if the color isn't as dark or saturated as you want, keep in mind that it will darken as the icing dries.

EASY ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Beat on high speed with a portable mixer for 10-12 minutes or on low speed with a stand mixer for 7-10 minutes or until peaks form.

SOFT ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Beat sugar and egg whites in a large bowl using an electric mixer on low speed until evenly combined and shiny, about 3 minutes. Add the water gradually, beating on medium-high until icing is smooth and the desired consistency, about 5 minutes.

ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy. You can also use a hand mixer.
• Switch to low speed and gradually sift the sugar into the egg whites until it's completely incorporated. Because both ingredients are white, it's easy to miss lumps. Look carefully.
• Add the lemon juice and beat on high speed until the icing is very thick and forms stiff peaks, about 5 to 10 minutes.
• At this point, you can add the food coloring if you're only going to need a full batch of one color. If you need more than one color, separate quantities of icing into individual bowls and just stir in the coloring you want.
• Use the royal icing to decorate your cookies. Enjoy.

MY FAVORITE ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Watch the video of the icing above so you get an idea of what the final consistency should be.
• Pour confectioners' sugar, meringue powder, and 9 Tablespoons of water into a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5 - 2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it's too thick, beat in more water 1 Tablespoon at a time. I usually need 10 Tablespoons but on particularly dry days, I use up to 12-14 Tablespoons. Keep in mind that the longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it to introduce more air OR you can add more confectioners' sugar.
• When applied to cookies or confections in a thin layer, icing completely dries in about 2 hours at room temperature. If icing consistency is too thin and runny, it will take longer to dry. If the icing is applied very thick on cookies, it will also take longer to dry. If you're layering royal icing onto cookies for specific designs and need it to set quickly, place cookies in the refrigerator to help speed it up. See blog post above for make-ahead and freezing instructions.

EASY ROYAL ICING

Steps:

• Place powdered sugar in a medium bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, combine warm water, light corn syrup, and extract. Stir until corn syrup is dissolved.
• Add sugar water to powdered sugar and stir until completely combined. Mixture will be thick. The consistency you're looking for is a slowly dripping icing that disappears into the bowl within about 12 seconds. Add water by drop if you think it's too thick. If it becomes too thin, add more powdered sugar by the teaspoon. Use immediately.
• If you need to wait to use your icing: cover tightly, and use within 1 day. You will need to stir it up again and possibly add more water before using. Re-test the consistency before using.
• If you want to color your icing, I prefer gel colors: my favorite brand is AmeriColor. They have a huge and gorgeous collection of colors in a 12 pack or a 50 pack.

MAKING ROYAL ICING WITHOUT MERINGUE POWDER

Steps:

• Use your electric mixer with the paddle attachment. For the best results, it's a good idea to sift the powdered sugar, then add the pasteurized egg whites and lemon juice.
• Mix on low until it looks uniform with a glossy sheen. Kick up your speed to medium for around five minutes. Note that you may have to bump it up to a medium-high setting for a few more minutes.
• Your royal icing is ready when you notice stiff peaks forming. Shake the bowl a bit to make sure the peaks stay put before declaring victory.
• Store your icing in containers covered with plastic wrap. Leaving the icing uncovered can result in a crusty layer that ruins the batch.