Royal Icing
Here is our go-to recipe for royal icing! Today, royal icing is most often used either to decorate sugar cookies or for decorative accents on cakes.
It dries with a nice, firm finish which is perfect for cookies, or for decorating gum paste or fondant accents for cakes. This is because the decorations can be piped, dried, handled, or stacked without worry of smudging.
Royal icing is also great for small, make-ahead details that can be piped onto parchment, dried, and later added to cakes and cupcakes.
Table of Contents
Royal Icing and Cake Decorating
Aside from decorating sugar cookies, I personally don't decorate with royal icing very often. Frosting entire cakes in royal icing is not common in the US, although in Europe it has been a tradition for centuries.
In cake decorating, you will most often find royal icing used when adding decorative details to fondant or gum paste. You can also add dried royal icing pieces to frosted cakes just before an event.
This could mean piping accents directly onto a fondant-covered cake, as we did with our Gold Drip Cake, or it could be used for piping decorative accents, as with our Royal Icing Snowflakes.
*Just as a side note, a crusting buttercream frosting like our Classic Vanilla Buttercream recipe can be used for adding details to fondant or gum paste as well, you just have to be careful not to smudge it.
Royal Icing Consistency
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
- ¼ cup (30g) meringue powder
- ½ cup (120ml) warm water
- 1 lb. (4 cups or 453g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
- ½ 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.
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!!