How to make royal icing
I have received many questions about how I make my royal icing. When I make my royal icing I make it with eggwhites (pasturized) only because meringue powder or dried eggwhite powder is not commen use here in Denmark. Some of the cake decorating shops may have it though but I stick to the eggwhites.
If you do know how to make royal icing but are having trouble getting it runny for flooding your cookies then take a look at the photos maybe they can be helpful to acchive the smooth look on a flooded cookie. I can tell that I always start out with a stiff royal icing and then I thin it down with water to either soft for piping and runny for flooding.
Always remember to cover up your royal icing with either cling film or a wet cloth as this will prevent the royal icing to dry out. Also if your icing gets too thick add water or if it is too wet add more icing sugar. So here is the tutorial on how to make royal icing.
This is what I use:
2 eggwhites
2 lb icing sugar sifted (Not all may be used)
1 tsp lemon juice
Large bowl
Handheld mixer with hooks or kitchen mixer with paddle attachment
Cling film
Step 1:
Combine eggwhites and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add some of the sifted icing sugar to the mixture and start the mixer.
Step 2:
Keep adding icing sugar a little at a time. When the mixture looks like thick whipped cream and makes soft peaks when you push down the hooks/paddle in it, you can use it for piping.
Step 3:
When you have the soft peak icing, you start to only add 2 tbsp of icing sugar at a time because from now on the icing will get more and more stiff. When you can pull out small stif peaks the icing is ready. Cover the icing with cling film and a lid or wet cloth and store it in the fridge.
Runny icing:
If you want to make runny icing for flooding cookies or making run-outs then take some royal icing (stiff made) into a bowl and start mixing it with water, a few drops at the time. Continue this until the icing it thin and liquid. It should be smoothing out when you lift the spoon. The mixing with the water will most likely cause many air bubbles in the icing, so it is always good to cover up the icing and let it “rest” for 30 min. Then give it a slow stir and you have reduced the amount of air bubbles in your icing.
I hope you can use this 
Happy Caking
Louise
1. Paola
May 8th, 2008 10:40 pm
Thank you Louise! Perfect timing: I’m going to prepare a cake for my boyfriend’s mom and I did not know wich coating I could use. I will try your royal icing: the tutorial is really detailed and the pictures are really helpful!! Thank you very much
Paola
2. Mika
May 8th, 2008 11:34 pm
Thanks for this…I didn’t know the best way to do royal icing was to use handheld mixer with hooks…and the problems with bubbles…maybe is for this reason that my royal icing is always not smooth at all..
3. Min
May 9th, 2008 1:17 am
Thanks Louise for the great tutorial, as always !
4. silvia
May 9th, 2008 6:17 am
Thank you Lousie for this ultrausefull post
I really didn’t know where to start with this icing so I appreciate your help and expecially the photos that really clear up my mind!
Thank you from the bottom of my heart
Silvia
5. Rita
May 9th, 2008 3:03 pm
Thanks Louise for posting this! I’m going to start icing 300 cookies today, so this was perfect timing! I enjoy seeing all that you do. I’m learning loads from you!
6. Roseanna
May 9th, 2008 3:11 pm
Thanks, Louise. This is a lot of help.
7. OO
May 9th, 2008 3:27 pm
Thanks again!
8. Adeline
May 9th, 2008 3:43 pm
Thanks, Louise. Excellent directions. Only one question: how do you pasturized the egg whites?
9. Virginie
May 9th, 2008 4:29 pm
Do you pasteurize the egg whites yourself? And if so, how? Thanks!
10. Amy from NY~USA
May 9th, 2008 6:16 pm
Thanks so much for this Louise! I cant wait to try this out! I think Ill like using the egg whites rather than the Meringue Powder. The pictures help alot too! Hugs!
11. Paola Lazzari
May 9th, 2008 6:28 pm
Thank you for this, Louise…today I have just prepared some cookies for a wedding. I would like to show you them, they are no excellent, but I think good. You always helps us.
Paola, Roma
12. Dawn
May 9th, 2008 6:47 pm
Thank you so much! I’ve attempted numerous cookie icing recipes but none ever seem to come out as beautifully as yours. I look forward to trying this!
13. Geraldine
May 9th, 2008 7:54 pm
Dear Louise, thanks so much for the fantastic photos and tutorial. I’m sending you work off to several friends. Lovely to have you out there.
Cheers, Geraldine
14. Geraldine
May 9th, 2008 7:55 pm
Thanks Louise. Well done!
Geraldine
15. Louise
May 9th, 2008 8:13 pm
So nice to hear that many found the tutorial usefull. About the pasturized eggwhites I get those from the grocery store. Using raw egg products in non cooked food is different around the world. Here we use pasturized egg product for things there wont be cooked/baked over 75C.
So if you cant get pasturized eggwhites then use dried eggwhite powder.
Paola: I would love to see them. Can you send them to me??
Thanks!
16. June
May 9th, 2008 9:48 pm
Hi Louise, I have been avoiding doing anything with RI as it is humid here in Hawaii & we have a good amount of rain. I know RI will just melt away, but was wondering if there is anything I could add to it to stop this or at least delay it happening. Any ideas would be welcome. Thanks
June
17. Mari CCS
May 10th, 2008 3:13 am
Louise… Thanks A lot you don’t know how I appreciate this!!!
I’ll be trying it out very soon!
Thanks again…and I hope my cookies look just like yours!!!
Greeting from Caracas,
18. My Sweet & Saucy
May 10th, 2008 4:21 am
What a great tutorial on royal icing! Now whenever people send me questions about it I will send them your way!
19. Andi
May 10th, 2008 11:04 pm
Tak Louise! Your site always inspires me! We have nearly 100% humidity here in Florida and I know that I have to turn our air conditioner on about 65 degrees to get the kind of results I want from royal icing. I have never been to Hawaii, June, but I think if you have A/C you can get professional results!
Have fun everyone!
Andi
20. jackie
May 11th, 2008 3:05 am
Hi, Louise, thank you very much for the tutorial, the pictures are very very helpful to get the ideal consistency for each steps…
21. Louise
May 11th, 2008 6:38 pm
June: I had to ask one of my friends she gave me this recipe for a RI with gum arabic. She have not tried it yet but told me that it is used by Geraldine Randlesome. It should dry very hard up so maybe you should try just to use a smaller amount of the gum arabic and see how it work?
8-10 oz confectioner’s sugar
1 egg white
1/4 t gum arabic
1/4 t glucose
Mix glucose with egg white, Gradually add sugar with gum arab., one Tablespoon at a time, whisking by hand.
Continue mixing by hand…should take about 20minutes to mix properly
Do let me know how it was….
Louise
22. Shira
May 13th, 2008 6:37 pm
Hi Louise,
Found your blog when I’m doing some research on how to make a fondant cake this week for my friend. Really amaze on how good looking are your cake. Also you tips helps me a lot.
I want to ask if I can use cheese cake as a fondant cake base, coz I know fondant can’t be refridgrated. My friend’s daughter love cheese cake, so what am I going to do?
shira
23. Shannon
May 14th, 2008 1:44 pm
I found this blog on the Blogger’s Choice Awards page, voted for best food blog. Without a doubt, this site has gotten my vote! I am so glad that I came across this site. Your cookie templates are beautiful and this blog is definitely well written. Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with the world! You have a new loyal subscriber here!
24. Louise
May 14th, 2008 7:33 pm
Hi Shira: Do you know the company Elegant cheesecakes? http://www.elegantcheesecakes.com/ECC_Homepage.asp They make the most fantastic cakes using cheesecake so it could work.
I always keep my fondant covered cakes in the fridge, I just put them in cardboard boxes and they will be fine.
25. Louise
May 14th, 2008 7:40 pm
Hi Shannon,
Thank you for the vote that was very sweet of you. Well I do try to do my best with the site and getting comments like yours surely shows that I am doing the right thing
26. Ana
May 15th, 2008 5:45 am
Louise,
The anlo thing I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! A friend showed my your website a couple of days ago and I cann’t thank you enough for all the information you give and for inspirering us with so beautifull thing. I love baking as all your fans and would love to share my projects with all of you!!!
keep up the excellent work
anita
27. Bianca
May 15th, 2008 1:06 pm
Hi, I would like to know more about paint cakes.
28. Shira
May 15th, 2008 6:40 pm
Louise,
Thx for yr advise and glad to hear that the fondant cake can be chilled. I think I’ll make mango cheese cake then and will post the “cake” in my blog in few days time. Will let u know how will it turn out to be.
cheers
shira
29. Louise
May 15th, 2008 7:19 pm
Shira: Just remember to buttercream it first before you cover with fondant. Because the fruit acid can melt the fondant. If it is very humid it will likely sweat but it will dry up a electric fan cna help.
Good luck!
30. Louise
May 16th, 2008 8:31 am
Bianca: you can paint on cakes with either food color paste or petal dust mixed with a few drops of clear alcohol. Or you can melt some cocoa butter and mix it with petal dust not paste or liquid colors.
31. sisterart
May 18th, 2008 2:33 pm
nice… thanks so much louise!!!
32. Shira
May 21st, 2008 9:43 am
Louise,
Your tips really helpful. But I miss the last one that u wrote to me because I tot it is ok to use “mango” cream chesse icing to cream the cake before laying the fondant. Like you said, the fondant melt and starting to leak when the cake arrived my friend’s home. Also it sweeten the cheese cake. It looked fine thought.
I’ll try again next time! Feel free to go to my blog http://shiraschoice.blogspot.com to take a look of the cake photo!
Many thx!
shira
33. Louise
May 22nd, 2008 10:04 pm
Shira: How sad that the fondant melted. I still hope it was great tasting though. The cake is sweet with the little bees on it.
34. dayanara
May 31st, 2008 6:03 am
Hello…I wanted to say your cookies look amazing with this frosing. Do you use the watery one or the stiffer one? how do you frost the cookies? I have never made cookies or used royal icing before…Thank you sooo much!!
35. dayanara
May 31st, 2008 6:28 am
Oh one more question how do you color your icing? :}
36. Louise
June 1st, 2008 10:47 pm
dayanara: I use the stiff icing for the outlining of the cookies and then I fill in with the runny icing. I color my icing with food color gels or pastes. Take a look at this site it have many great recipes and how to’s on cookie decoration: http://www.karenscookies.net/shop/index.php
37. dayanara
June 4th, 2008 9:47 pm
Thanks for the response and the site..you are the best!!!
38. yaneee
June 5th, 2008 6:39 am
hey louise. nice tutorial, i really like it:D thanks. perfect timing, me and my twin sister are going to bake a cake for our friends. we really loved your tutorial, and i’m sure our friends will really love the cake especially your royal icing. thanks again:D
39. elouise
June 9th, 2008 9:27 pm
hey i didnt know where i could ask this so i decided this would be the best section. how do you make frosting? i’ve tried to make two frosting recipes from the magnolia bakery books. and they always came out not thick enough. i followed everything to a T but then again, they were vague as to when to stop beating it in the stand mixer. it comes out runny when i pipe it, it doesnt have that creamy thick texture. especially not the texture i need to make swirls on my cupcakes do you think you could help? and do you know which paddle im supposed to use on the stand mixer? is it the whisk or the paddle?
thanks so much !
40. melinda
June 18th, 2008 3:24 pm
hey. if you don’t mind can you mail me a picture of a cupcake with royal icing on it? i’m learning to bake cupcake for my grandma’s birthday and hope that i can bake cupcakes like yours that have such wonderful design. do you mind sharing? if you do not. mind mailing me?
are royal frostings the coloured ones i see on your cupcakes pictures?
41. Mary Lou
June 21st, 2008 10:53 pm
Help!!! I have just thrown out my second batch of cutouts. The flood went on beautifully: shiny and perfect. The next morning I came down to find the cookie surface bumpy and sweaty looking, the icing looking crystalized. Why is this happening? I have a picture of the ruined cookies if anyone thinks seeing it will help them diagnose my problem. Would be MUCH appreciated !!!
42. Louise
June 22nd, 2008 12:27 pm
yaneee: Thank you:-)
elouise: I have not tried the Magnolia frostings, but when I make frosting I use the paddle and I use the amount equal parts of butter and icing sugar. If its too thick I add a few tsp of milk and offcourse I add flavourings aswell.
melinda: you can find some of my cupcakes that have been decorated with royal icing in my cake gallery here: http://www.cakejournal.com/flickr/album/72157600186762989/photo/1466487063/Cupcakes–Mini-Cakes-Chocolate-cupcakes-close-up.html
Sure you can use my desings as an insperation.
Mary Lou: Could you have used to much water to thin down the royal icing??
43. Tripti
June 22nd, 2008 6:08 pm
Hi Louise!
this is the first time i’ve visited your blog…. Amazing cookies and cup cakes… and great tuturial…
i’ve been baking cakes for some time now… and wanted to learn new techniques…
I have never used Royal Icing…. I wanted to know that is it possible to make royal icing without egg….
I would also be greatful to you if you can forward me some Eggless cakes and cake decoration recipes….
Thank you!
44. Bertilla Baker
June 26th, 2008 1:28 pm
Help!!! I just iced some cookies with royal icing made from fresh egg whites which I had kept in the freezer for a few months. They were from fresh eggs I separated myself. In the past I’ve used frozen pastruized egg whites commercially packaged with great success. I made it as I always do, and always without fail. I thinned the icing to flood the top of the cookies. The icing behaved nicely and went on perfectly. However, it still has not dried 24 hours later!! It remains very sticky to the touch. I made another batch of icing with fresh pasturized egg whites that I bought from the grocery store. That batch I used to pipe on flowers on top of the glazed cookies. That batch has set up perfectly hard, like always. The weather was perfect. Not too hot, no humidity. What happened?? Why won’t the glaze dry? Any ideas?
45. Bertilla Baker
June 26th, 2008 1:29 pm
The cookies are for a wedding on Saturday. Is there anything I can sprinkle on top of them to at least take away the sticky feeling?
46. Louise
June 26th, 2008 7:49 pm
Tripti: the only thing that you can use as an subsitute for eggs is flax seeds that is boiled with water. I have been told that it looks really gooey but it can work to use it in royal icing. Email is on the way.
Bertilla Baker: First I would personally not use fresh egg whites. I only use pasturized egg whites. I dont know what can have caused the problem with them. I once tried to make royal icing with Meri-White powder and the next day they looked fine hard on the surface but the RI was still runny under.
I dont know what you can do so they dont stick. I am sorry to say it but I think that you will have to start over again
((( or can you scrape the icing off and re-decorate??
I hope it works out for you. There is nothing more anoying when things goes wrong.
47. annie
July 4th, 2008 8:27 pm
Hi Louise,
Thanks for your website. It is such a wonderful information for me to learn as a starter. Ive been wanting to make frosting the traditional way like my mom used to make when she is baking cake and frost it by herself when i was little looking at her seems too complicated but taste so much better, the homemade style. I forgot how she did it. Searching on the internet, i found your site , exactly the way how i wanted to make my frosting and in easy way step by step. Thanks a lot! More power to you!
48. Louise
July 4th, 2008 9:44 pm
annie: Nice to hear:-) Just a note this is “frosting” is mostly used for piping, decorating cookies. It can be used on cakes but it will dry hard.
49. chloe
July 7th, 2008 5:33 am
hi!
i absolutely love your site! the tutorials are great.
just a quick question, im making a cake for my sons 2nd birthday (lots of youn kiddies so the thick icing like plastic stuf is out really). is it the this royal icing you can pour over buttercream and and it makes a kind of crust that you can paint? or is there some other type of icing that you use? i really wanted to paint some animals on it.
i hope you can help me! i only have 20 days to go!!
50. chloe
July 7th, 2008 5:34 am
oh i forgot to say that the crust type thingy is quite thin, like about 3mm
51. Louise
July 12th, 2008 10:42 pm
chloe: If you want to paint on your sons cake. I would use rolled fondant icing over the buttercreamed cake.
52. Alaina
July 23rd, 2008 3:16 am
Finally, an icing recipe that does not use milk products. My son is allergic and all the recipes I have call for either milk or butter (which is a milk product). Thanks.
53. Helen
July 31st, 2008 11:31 am
Hi Louise,
I love your website, it’s given me so much inspiration. I was wondering if you could help me. I’ve got landed with making my own wedding cakes and all was going fine. I have baked them, covered them in marzipan which i left to dry for a week, then a friend who worked in a bakery said it should be covered in egg white to seal it and stop any discolouration. I have just started to ice the cakes and now it is drying brown patches are appearing on the icing. Do you have any ideas of what i can do about this? My wedding is in 23 days and i am starting to panic! Thanks.
54. Louise
July 31st, 2008 3:57 pm
Hi Helen,
So sorry that this has happend to you.
I have looked in my books and if the cake is going to be covered with RI I dont say anything about covered in egg whites only that the marzipan should be left to dry completly. It says nothing about there can appear discolouration.
How many layers of RI have you made on the cakes? maybe you can carefully scrape the RI off. Brush with egg whites and re ice again?. If you want to be safe the only thing is to start all over again. Maybe you can re-use the cakes if they are fruitcakes?
Or you could cover them with rolled fondant icing? if so then you need to brush the marzipan covered cakes with clear alcohol to make the icing stick.
I hope you find a way that works best for you
GOOD LUCK
55. Louise
July 31st, 2008 9:10 pm
Alaina: I dont think I have seen a royal icing that calls for milk or butter. It is always nice when you find something you can use if someone has allergy.
56. siami
August 29th, 2008 8:42 am
can u pls explain what is flood icing, i have seen cake pictures decorated stating that they have use flood icing technique.thank you
57. Louise
August 30th, 2008 11:46 pm
siami: Flood icing is a very thin icing that will spread out even when added to cookies or to color flow motifs.
58. zaitgha
August 31st, 2008 3:30 pm
thanks for sharing, always wanted to try this on cookies….
59. Louise
August 31st, 2008 4:07 pm
zaitgha: Your welcome:-)
60. Luz
October 23rd, 2008 5:17 pm
Would you please tell me if its the same work with merengue powder instead of eggs, because I used christmas red from wilton and I only get a pink even I used very much red. if you can made a tutorial for decorate cookies with royal icing I will appreciate very much.
Thanks,
Luz
61. Louise
October 26th, 2008 5:58 pm
Luz: I have never tried meringue powder but I think that it is.
I only use either Sugarflair extra red or the one you can get from Americolor. A good trick is to colour your icing 2 days in advance (dont use to much color at this stage) Then let it “rest” to mature the color. You can then always add more if it needs it
62. Siri
October 29th, 2008 2:43 pm
Hei!
I’m “brand new” at cake decorating, so much that I’ve actually never decorated a cake, only cupcakes. I’ve bought quite a lot of supplies from the US, but I was wondering if you could make a post with “beginner” equipment? Like, what to buy first, things you could’t do without and such. There is so much stuff out there, and I really cant buy everything at once.
I’ve kind of decided that I should start practicing my piping, using buttercream and RI. How did u practise your decorting? Have you always decorated cakes, or do you practise on the table/a board? What would you recomend me to start with?
I’ve seen your cakes using color flow. Do u use color flow mix (from Wilton), or do u just thin down your RI?
Is it possible to make a plaque out of marshmallow fondant? I’m thinking that dont want to be dependent of fondant bought in a shop/onlie, since I live on an island with no place to buy special supplies.
I have so many questions, and I just love your site. I hope you have the time to answer some of them! You are my Cake Decorating Idol! I love the way you use your colors, and that the decorations are kind of subtle. I’ve seen so many cakes online that are just 2 much, and yours are always just right. I’m hoping that I can be as talented as you once in the future.
Thank you,
Siri
63. HK
October 30th, 2008 3:59 pm
Hi,
I love your site… I would like to know if its possible to make royal icing without eggs… Could you please email me some good eggless recipes for cakes and icing and stuff…
Thanks
64. isi
October 31st, 2008 6:50 am
thank you so much for this
65. Louise
November 11th, 2008 10:17 am
Siri: Your idea on making a post on what is most important to have is great and I will look in my tool boxes and collect for a post soon.
Now I have not really taken any piping classes, I would if I could get Jean Michel to teach me ;o) But I have many times just made a batch of RI and used my kitchen counter and just piped all over the table. Then I scraped it off again with a scraber and started over again.
Its important that you keep your un used RI under a wet cloth or it will dry out to fast. Ri with small bits of dried icing is not good for piping. You could also use Nutella? or any other chocolated spread as this is always soft. Only remember to use a disposal piping bag because of the fat/grease in the Nutella so it dont ruin your “real” piping bags.
You can easily make a fondant plaque out of MMF and just thin your RI down with water.
You are always welcome to send me an email if you have any questions.
66. Louise
November 11th, 2008 12:03 pm
HK: I am not sure… I have though read on several vegan sites that you can use flax seeds to replace eggs. But how it works with RI I dont know sorry!
I dont have any eggless recipes. You will have to Google them
67. kayenne
November 17th, 2008 9:56 am
Pasteurized eggwhites are not common here, although suppliers guarantee their eggs are 99% salmonella free. In fact, I’ve yet to find a local supplier who has them. Is it possible to start beating the eggwhites and a bit of the sugar over a double boiler to pasteurize them at home? I could buy royal icing powders locally, but I’d like to learn the basics before taking a shortcut in case of “emergencies”.
Thanks!
68. Louise
November 24th, 2008 12:19 am
Kayenne: I would not personally trust even if they say 99%. For your question about the heating the whites over a double boiler, im not sure if it would be good if you want to make RI. I know some says it “cooks” the whites when you make a swiss meringue buttercream but I would still not use fresh egg whites. I would go for RI powder.
69. sham
December 1st, 2008 7:31 am
hi Louise…
love your website !
& thanks for your tips & tutoriol ..
we use your royal icing recipe for all -of our Royal-icing project…
.. the results were fantastic…!
tq
70. Louise
December 1st, 2008 11:42 pm
Sham: Thats great
71. Fanny
December 6th, 2008 3:39 pm
Hi Louise,
Great website u have!! and u are so generous in sharing your knowledge. I just had some disaster with RI today! Wanted to make x’mas tree, by using flower corn and RI. Some one told me it dries faster if I put in the oven at 100dec C for 5 mints, which i did. And what I get was ruined xmas trees!!!
((((. These were supposed to be my toppers for my xmas cuppies.
anyway, if I frost my cuppies directly with RI, what is the best way to dry it apart from leaving it at room temp? (worried about ants getting the first bite on my RI+cuppies he he he)
On the other hand, can i crumb-coat my cuppies with BC before layering the top with RI? or apply deco with RI?
Tks Louise. Keep up the fantastic work. Hope to be like you someday. Cheers, Fanny
72. Dhanya
December 8th, 2008 4:19 am
Hi Louisa,
Can i keep the royal icing flowers in the fridge ? I am making a buttercream iced cake with a lot of royalicing flowers.
Thanks
dhanya
73. Eva
December 11th, 2008 6:46 am
Thank you so much for your tips and tutorials
74. Louise
December 15th, 2008 12:37 am
Fanny: Hmm i would not use the oven to dry my RI
whenever I make RI deco. I just let them dry on a tray.
If ants is the problem then keep the RI cuppies in a cardboard box. It is not airthight so the RI can still dry.
Dont crumb coat with bc first. Just use RI also to apply deco use “wet” RI.
Dhanya: If they are all dry there should be no problems putting them on the cake that is going in the fridge.
75. Fanny
December 15th, 2008 3:18 am
Hi Louise. How long does it take for RI to completely dry? I frosted my cuppies yesterday afternoon, but it is still soft as of this morning
(
So much questions!!! anyway, thank you for your reply. appreciate it a lot!!
76. Louise
December 26th, 2008 11:21 pm
Fanny: If there are high humidity it can take long for the RI to dry. Normally it will only take less than two hours depending on how much you have used of course.
77. DIINI
January 27th, 2009 12:19 pm
Thanks for the information, it really great and helpful.
78. Louise
February 3rd, 2009 4:07 pm
DINI: Your welcome
79. Eva
February 6th, 2009 6:26 pm
Sikke en dejlig side og hvor sjovt at du er fra Danmark.
Just looking for ideas for Valentine cookies and found your site – great tutorials. Thank you soooo much. Knus og kram
80. Louise
February 8th, 2009 10:51 pm
Eva: Hejsa og velkommen til
81. Luv2cake
February 12th, 2009 8:15 am
Hi Louise,
Lovely cookies! I just finished piping and flooding some Valentine’s cookies and found that my runny RI ran over the top of my piping bag while it was sitting in a glass (with the inside edge folded out a bit) – so I’m keen to try the plastic squeeze bottles – do youbguy a special kind of bottle? As I can see you fitted a coupler over the tip. If you know where I can buy some that would be great!!!
82. Louise
February 14th, 2009 10:35 pm
Luv2cake: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5_view_item.html?m5:item=154
83. lærke
February 26th, 2009 8:10 am
hey louise so im from denmark to an di was wondering about two things i didn’t know if u could help me, one the confectioners sugar in this recipie is it just ( flormelis?) or what is it and where did u get the cookie cutters u use for the cakes? ( the cupcake shaped one?!
84. Louise
February 26th, 2009 10:13 am
Lærke: Ja confectioners sugar er flormelis
Lige netop de cookies/cupcake er nogen jeg selv har tegnet. Det er ikke så svært at skære ud i hånden når bare man bruger en lille skarp kniv og dejen er godt kold.
Der er et link til mine cookie skabeloner i bunden af posten “Vanilla sugar cookies” se efter “cookie templates” de er lige til at printe ud.
85. lærke
March 9th, 2009 11:56 am
lige for at være ekstra besværlig hvor køber du dine farver og de der pinde til at lave de der kage ’slikkepinde’ ? sys nemlig de ser ultra fine ud men ved ikke lige hvor man kan få det!
86. Louise
March 9th, 2009 12:48 pm
Lærke: Jeg vil anbefale dig kigge på http://www.kageportalen.dk dels er den det bedste sted hvis man kan lide at dekorere kager men der er også en masse tips at finde + links til shopping. Generelt køber jeg mine ting fra England da det er noget billigere. pindene får jeg fra denne butik nævnt her http://www.cakejournal.com/archives/cookie-cutter-texture-set
87. Gloria
March 17th, 2009 5:00 am
Hi Louise,
Do you know the shelf life of the above royal icing receipe?
Can I refrigerate it when I was not piping all??
Thanks,
Gloria
88. MaryHeart
March 23rd, 2009 3:20 am
Hello Louise,
I would like to ask if i could substitute cream of tartar(powder) to 1 tsp of lemon juice?
How much Cream of tartar would i add to the mixture?
Hoping for your reply… thank you so much!
89. Gloria
March 23rd, 2009 4:41 pm
Hi Louise,
Is gloria again. I have used the above recepie for decorating my cookie. It was so amazing. Thanks for your sharing.
The colour faded in my cookie day after tomorrow. How is the correct procedure?
Pls reply. Thanks
90. Louise
March 23rd, 2009 11:05 pm
Gloria: I go by the expiration date on my egg whites. There are no problems keeping the RI in the fridge. Just cover it well with plastic wrap so it wont dry out.
I have not tried that problem with my cookies was it flooded cookies? could you have used too much water to thin it down with? what brand of colors do you use?
MaryHeart: I am not used to cream of tartar powder but try out with 1 tsp at a start.
91. aundreah
March 25th, 2009 8:22 pm
On some of your cookies in the gallery pics, you have listed that they are decorated with sugar icing. What is this, is it like RI? Would you mind sharing your recipe for sugar icing. Thanks
92. MaryHeart
March 27th, 2009 1:22 am
Hello Louise,
Thank you for your reply… I’m trying the run outs today… Hope everything goes well… i’ll post the pictures on my flickr soon…
93. Olga
March 28th, 2009 1:02 am
Hi Louise,
I love your site, I came across it by accident. I like to make some cookies for my niece’s bridal shower but I like to know what is the life of royal icing once it hardens? I greately appreciate you reply.
Thank you,
Olga
94. Louise
April 5th, 2009 9:53 am
aundreah: I decorate my cookies with either rolled fondant icing (sugar icing) or royal icing (RI) I dont have a recipe for the rolled fondant icing but if you search on Google you will quick find one.
Olga: I use pasturized eggwhites and when I make royal icing I store it will covered in the refrigerator. I use it within the expiration date of the whites.
95. Snickle
April 21st, 2009 8:26 am
I just wanted to say I think it is brilliant how you are able to describe your cake-craft abilities in a friendly manner!
All the cake people I have ever met have all been bitter snide people who look down at beginners.
It has put me off ever taking classes entirely, so I rely on reading posts like these online.
Piping is my prime issue, as I haven’t found an icing that I am good at working with yet.
So I primarily stick to molding fondant for my cakes and such.
Next time I make a cake (coming into my mini cake season – all the nieces and nephews birthdays!) I’ll try this recipe and see how to goes.
I prefer the taste of butter cream frosting but the buttery colour is kind of annoying when you’re looking for a pure white icing.
I know there are whiteners and such, but I have yet to buy some.
One problem I have (and it’ll probably sound silly to those who are used to making icing) is that when I make icing, it is usually too runny.
But when I try to make it firmer, so it doesn’t lose its shape, it then loses it’s sticky-ness and when im piping it onto the cake, it doesn’t stick to the rolling fondant.
It’s very frustrating to work with and I always make a mess of it.
Do you have any tips?
Anyway, so thank you for your posts!
These are all so brilliant to read and they remind me of why I love making cakes!
96. angie
April 27th, 2009 5:48 pm
Hi my name is angie i love your site i never make any icing or shortbread cookies bebore but am going to try to make question can i but the shortbread cookies at the store or any store that sale
97. Louise
April 27th, 2009 9:52 pm
Snickle: I am assuming that you referer to royal icing right or do you mean buttercream? Anyway with RI always start out with stiff/firm icing and then make it more loose/runny by adding drops of water a little at a time. For piping you would go for a soft consistency, soft but not too soft either. I should hold it shape afterwards. The soft icing will be slightly sticky but nothing more than it will stick to the cake but not run.
Its soft when it have peaks that fall over.
I hope it works for you, dont give up, practice is the best way of learning
angie: Well you can of course use ready made shortbread only go for those that are not crumbly in the surface. Its not nice getting crumbs in your icing.
98. buthiebunny
April 29th, 2009 7:07 am
hi Louise..
– but your site was so interesting to visit again and again..there’re so much beautiful pics of cakes…and i can’t help to not put my comment here for your great job..
i found your lovely website accidentally when Googling 4 something else. And i love it..!! Although i’m not a baker and never spent my time make some cake – I’m a dentist actually
i appreciated your kindness to share your knowlegde to others..And i wish i can make such a beautiful cake like you did someday
nice to be here..
buthie bunny
99. cakeNewbie
May 7th, 2009 9:59 pm
Excellent recipe, really easy to do, especially for a beginner like myself!
100. brandy
May 13th, 2009 3:46 pm
Thanks for the Tutorial. It’s always nice when there are pictures.
I have to make cookies for my nieces graduation and wanted to flood them!
101. Steph
June 13th, 2009 2:15 am
Hi! Thanks for this recipe. Is this icing stiff enough to pipe flowers?
102. Miss Muffin
June 18th, 2009 9:09 pm
Hello,
I was wondering …
I don’t get pasturized eggs overhere in Germany – at least I don’t know where I would get them – but also don’t get meringue powder easily. Is there any other way I can still safely make this recipe? Or is there another icing recipe which I could use (and which I can similarly use to decorate) that does not call for raw eggs?
Would be very thanksful for any suggestions or tipps!
Miss Muffin
103. Louise
June 22nd, 2009 12:10 am
Steph: You can pipe flowers with this icing only you would not thin it with water but maybe ad more icing sugar to get it more stiff.
Miss Muffin: Pasturized egg whites is found in supermarkets. If you cant get that or the merinque powder you can order if from UK cake decorating sites in that case you would be looking for egg white powder. Try and look here http://www.squires-shop.com/ibf/index.php?p=product&id=2725&parent=0
104. Miss Muffin
June 22nd, 2009 5:52 pm
Thanks so much for the answer! I guess I could get the powder also in special bake shops – it’s just alot effort to do it in order to make some cookies. (I don’t have anything special in mind – no special occasion or anything.) Therefore I was just wondering whether there is an alternativ to royal icing that could be used. I already had the idea to use fondant instead – I might give that a try. I’m just curious whether there is another frosting or icing recipe that could be used for cookies but does not contain eggs …
105. Louise
June 26th, 2009 11:19 pm
Miss Muffin: Well then you can make it with only water but you have to add the water a little bit by bit or it will be too runny. You will not get the same workability like real RI but it could do. Or just use fondant on the cookies?
106. Miss Muffin
June 28th, 2009 9:10 pm
Thanks again! I already tried to do the frosting just with water. It’s really not at all like the RI.
I will try the fondant option. 
107. Bea
July 1st, 2009 10:59 am
I found your site by accident. From the moment I found it I totally fell in love with it. Your tutorials are great and inspiring. Thank you for taking the trouble of sharing your ideas with us. Greetings from Germany.