Have you ever been to the grocery store and seen those sugar cookies that are so intricately decorated. I bet you're wondering how bakeries and stores get there frosting thin enough to make design like pumpkins, turkeys, santa, lucky clovers or faces on those types of cookies. The answer is quite simple, Royal icing, and the greatest part is it's not hard to make at home.
Below are examples of designs and projects you can do with your batch of royal icing.
(Scoll down for the recipe)
Use the recipe below to decorate your favorite cookies, and cakes alike.
Ingredients
1 box confectioners' sugar (1 pound)
5 tablespoons meringue powder, or 3 large egg whites
1 tspn of pure vanilla extract or
1/2 tspn almond and 1/2 tspn vanilla extract (stirred together)
1/2 tspn of lemon zest (optional)
Procedure
In a large bowl or using your stand mixer and whisk attachment, whisk together your egg whites until at a soft peaks; when you pull the whisk the foam should hold for 2-3 seconds and then fall.
Sift then add your powdered sugar, 1 Cup at a time until the whites are a glossy white color.
Next, add your flavorings and food gels to make whatever color you desire, or you can keep things plain and use it as is; white icing.
When adding the zest be sure to use a microplane to ensure that you won't have large pieces of peel when you pipe with the icing or when it dries.
You can use this icing on cakes, cookies and all types of fun projects To use just transfer the icing with the tip of your choice into a piping bag or a makeshift piping bag with a small hole to pipe from. Enjoy and have have fun!