I don’t use a lot of royal icing decorations in my cake decorating, but when I do, this easy royal icing recipe is my go-to. We also pull it out whenever we are decorating sugar cookies too!
As with any royal icing or buttercream recipe, consistency is key. If you are piping, you may need to slightly thicken up the consistency of the royal icing with additional powdered sugar.
If you are flooding cookies or just need a softer consistency, simply add more liquid.
Royal Icing
We use this royal icing recipe to decorate sugar cookies! You can also use it for piping details onto fondant or gum paste, or for creating decorations to place on cakes and cupcakes.
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (30g) meringue powder
- 1/2 cup (120ml) warm water
- 1 lb. (4 cups or 453g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon clear vanilla
Instructions
This royal icing is piping consistency… but you may still need to add a little more powdered sugar to thicken, or a few drops of water to make it thinner, depending on the consistency you are going for. This recipe can also be halved.
- Add meringue powder to warm water in your mixing bowl.
- Whisk by hand until meringue powder is dissolved –about 1 minute.
- With the paddle attachment on your mixer, add the confectioners’ sugar and clear vanilla and mix at low speed until the sugar is incorporated. Increase speed to Medium-High and beat for 7 – 8 minutes until stiff peaks form.
- The stiff peak stage is ready for piping or you can make it slightly stiffer by add more confectioners’ sugar a small amount at a time — it becomes a matter of preference and you will determine what works best for you.
Stiff Peak stage is when you lift your spoon out of the bowl the icing stands in a straight peak.
Soft Peak stage is when the spoon is lifted the peak is straight with a slight curve at the end;
For Flooding you will need to add water a little at a time until because the consistency will change very quickly.
Will this royal icing dry hard like the regular Wilton recipe?
I haven’t used the Wilton recipe, but yes this recipe does dry hard.
BeBe
How long does this recipe keep once it’s made and also once it is decorated with? Should I refrigerate the cookies if I don’t need them for a couple of days?
How long can you keep royal icing stored? What should you store it in ( fridge? plastic container?) Thanks :)
im new to using royal icing i was wondering how would you store it and for how long
thanks
What brand of royal icing do you use?
the recipe from above
I keep the royal icing in a covered bowl in the refrigerator. It can be stored up to 12 days. It does separate when stored so just stir to bring it back together.
Does this royal icing have to be prepared with oil free tools?
Yes, oil on your whisk or the paddle attachment of your mixer could prevent your egg whites from reaching the proper volume.
I’m confused because there is no mention of egg whites in the ingredient list!
This is the first time I’ll try royal icing and I need it today. It’s 12 noon in GA and I’ll be working all afternoon and night. (Bake Me Joy on FB or email, or reply here would be helpful.) Thanks.
Hi Acerola, the meringue powder is powdered egg whites. If you want to use real egg whites here is a link to an Alton Brown recipe that is good . Read the reviews and you will see a comment about using real egg whites if you don’t have access to pasteurized egg whites. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/royal-icing-recipe/index.html
Hi Melissa,
I have a cake to make with satin ice (gum paste) ruffles, however it has been raining for over a week and all my gum paste flowers have now wilted and look really sad. The gum paste ruffles I made last night are holding up better (because they just need to look like ruffles, not petals) however they have that wet look. Would I be better to use royal icing or will this also look wet and sticky. Or would I be best to place the cake in the fridge once ruffles are done? Any other suggestions are welcome.
Hi Emma–I’m so sorry that you are having issues…it must be REALLY humid for your gum paste to have a wet look. I haven’t experienced that before with Satin Ice gum paste. Are you storing them just at room temp (and not in an airtight container)? —
Gum paste would be my first choice because royal icing is effected a lot by humidity. You could try it…but I’m afraid they may take a really long time to dry…and will probably be more on the soft side. —
Some people use multi-tray food dehydrators with their gum paste pieces. Not sure if that is an option for you–maybe in the future? But for now, another trick that people use is to put their gum paste pieces on a parchment lined tray (parchment breathes better than waxed paper) and into the oven with only the oven light on. It couldn’t hurt! (just tape a big sign on the oven so nobody will turn it on ;0) )– When I’m desperate, I’ve even sprinkled a layer of tylose onto my parchment and laid my pieces right into it. Not sure that it helped…but it made me feel better :0) –
I hope that your gp pieces from last night firm up for you.
Placing the cake in the fridge does keep things firm…but I think you would be better off with leaving the gum paste ruffles at room temperature–condensation on top of the humidity you already have going on could make them even softer.
You could also post your question in the message boards–maybe other cakers who live in really humid areas will have more tips— good luck!!
Thank you Thank you Thank you. I’ll try anything at this stage. Let you know how things turns out.
hi Melissa , do you have any idea how to pasterize the egg white , or the link .I’ll appreciate for that , thank you .
going to give the decorating cookie thing and run this coming week, to color our royal icing, can we just use our regular fondant paste dyes?(Wilton Icing Colors) Or does royal icing require the oil candy colorings?
Hi Jules–just the regular coloring that you use with fondant or buttercream is fine!
thank you! Kinda what I thought, but truly don’t have time for too many mistakes this week, lol Thanks again and as always, your site is amazing and membership worth it’s weight in gold!!:)
Geez, leave it to me to begin with a ridiculous color like RED! Any tips on getting royal icing a true red? I’m on my second bottle of paste coloring and it’s still not really red. I know letting it sit may help to deepen the color, anything else I should do? THANKS!!
Hi Jules, I’m sorry you are having trouble! Has the red intensified for you? It really should deepen a good amount. We’ve had the best luck with Americolor Super Red because it is more concentrated than Wilton and some of the other brands.
Hi! I wanted to know what consistency should I leave the royal icing , I wanted to cover a fondant cake with the damask stencil. Any help would be great! Thanks
Hi me too, same question above me,, i want to know the consistency of the royal as i will be covering fondant with damask stencil, and how can i achieve jet black royal icing? Should i leave it overnight to intesify the color? Does it dries well on fondant if i leave it out room temperature? Will be my first time making royal thats why, thank you so much melissa!
Hi–sorry I missed the above question! This royal recipe should give you a good medium consistency for applying to a stencil. You don’t want your royal to be runny, as you won’t be able to apply it neatly. I really recommend doing a trial run on parchment, paper towel, etc. with the stencil before applying to your cake so that you can get a feel for it. If the royal seems to runny, just add a little more powdered sugar. It should be soft enough that spreading a thin layer across the stencil comes easily.
As for achieving black royal icing, I have good luck with Americolor Super Black. Yes, you will want to add the black to within a couple of shades of the desired color…it will intensify over the course of several hours. Yes, it will set up so that it is dry to the touch at room temperature. Good luck!
Hi melissa, I will be using royal icing for a wedding cake this upcoming weekend. The cake will be all white. One 10″ tier and one 8″ tier. I plan to put two large red flowers on front. The design that will be on the front of the cake will be long black stroked lines with soft curves or loops. Lines will be stroked at least 6-8 inches on the tiers. Very loose. Not tight. Not like cornelli or the swirley loop design. Each long stroke will only have one loop or one slight bend at end. Kinda like a beautiful Japanese design. Can you visualize? I apologize if im not doing the best job of explaining. Im being so descriptive so that you will be able to visualize and let me know if these lines look more sharp with royal as opposed to buttercream. If so, will the royal be difficult for cake cutting? Thanks melissa!
Hi again melissa, one thing I wasnt too clear on…only the lines will be in royal. The cake will be iced in buttercream. Im sorry!
Hi Terri— Your cake design sounds beautiful! Since your cake will be frosted in buttercream, you’ll want to use tinted black buttercream rather than royal for your piping. This is just the safest bet, as sometimes royal icing and buttercream do not play nicely together and I would be afraid that the fats in the buttercream would cause the royal to break down a bit and leave you at a little higher risk for bleeding. — This is the reason why I also always apply dried royal decorations to the cake as close to the event as possible. I hope this helps!
Hi again Melissa, what if i cover the cake in white fondant…would using black royal icing for the lines work best? I want to have nice, clear strokes. For lines, thinner thick should the royal icing be? For the lines, I will be using a tip 4 or 5 and a tip 10. Thanks Melissa!
Im so sorry ladies, the above should have said “how thick or thin should the royal icing be?” Sometimes my cell phone types words it “thinks” you meant to say and I dont know how to turn the feature off! *lol! But thats a totally different class! Thanks so much!
Hi Terri–I think that royal on the fondant will work great. I would just go with a medium consistency frosting that will hold it’s shape nicely but still flow easily from the piping tip. So, if using our royal icing recipe from the recipes section…it should be the right consistency for piping…but if it seems a little thin, just add a bit of powdered sugar. I would do a few practice lines on parchment or waxed paper before working on the cake. —
Let us know if you have any more questions! I’m sure it will be beautiful!
which do you prefer royal icing or frozen buttercream transfers?
Hi Deb– I think that both are great options. I use frozen buttercream transfers and chocolate (candy coating) transfers most often because they can be done much more quickly. Also, I don’t refrigerate royal icing decorations because they sometimes soften when chilled (or even when applied to a non-crusting frosting)… so if you’d prefer to decorate in advance, buttercream or chocolate transfers may be your best bet.
How long does this recipe keep once it’s made and also once it is decorated with? How long can I make cookies in advance with the royal icing?
Hi Kelly, We have kept the icing for 12 days (refrigerated). It will begin to separate at about day 7 and you will need to mix it well to recombine. We have not tested beyond a week. Here is a link to sweetopia’s cookie site, I think you will find it interesting, http://sweetopia.net/2012/02/how-long-do-decorated-cookies-stay-fresh-what-is-the-shelf-life-of-decorated-cookies/
Hello Melissa and Bebe. I have an unopened can of meringue powder and one that is open. The opened one is 2 years old. It smells good. Can I still use it?
I have Gingerbread men to dress up. I’m making some yellow hair ones too. /smile.
Hi Scott, Good question. I would say one year for meringue powder, but I googled the question and google opinion was 2 years. So I would go with the unopened can. My Wilton can has no expiration date and I forgot to date the can when I opened it so I’ll be replacing my meringue powder also. Love the picture…… still laughing……..save the gingerbread man!!
Thank you Bebe!
Now I cannot find my clear vanilla. Sheesh…….
I think I’m going to make a batch anyway sense I’m just doing outlining.
With that rich spice taste of Gingerbread I think I can get by.
Maybe I will use lemon or peppermint extract. I could blame the lemon taste on the yellow hair. Okay I’m still thinking. Second thought I guess I will use nothing.
Thanks for the replace Bebe.
Hi! I’m making a splatter cake. Will this royal icing work well for that project? I will use it on crusting butter cream.
Hi Debra, We have never made a splatter cake, I think they are very cute. I think the royal icing would work best on fondant. However, I think it could work on a crusting buttercream as long as you don’t seal the cake in an airtight container. My worry is that the color could begin to bleed. Also, you should probably serve it by the next day, the longer it sits the more likely the dark colors could begin to bleed. I’m sorry I can’t give you a definite answer on this. Let us know how it goes.
Thank you so much I have learned are lots