[Cookie Decorating] The 411 on RI - Royal Icing

Ever see those super satisfying icing videos on Instagram that hold you in a trance as you watch the icing come together to create the perfect topping for a sugar cookie? 👀 If you’ve stopped and watched those videos, you’ve probably seen a baker working with royal icing. Royal Icing is the perfect match for a sugar cookie base because it’s sweet, has a nice snap, and pairs well with your favorite coffee. Once dried, they're easily bagged and can be stacked without causing damage to the icing crust.

🤔 So what is royal icing? Can you buy it at the store? Do you have to make it? What is it used for and why is it different than other icings you might see on the shelves at your local grocery store? Let’s dive into the world of royal icing and discuss the pros, cons, and "what-for" questions you might have when decorating with RI.

RI 411 - Why choose royal icing to decorate sugar cookies?

Royal icing is popular amongst bakers because it dries firm (hard enough to stack, soft enough to eat) allowing you to ship and store cookies. RI is also outfitted for adding super tiny details to make sugar cookie sets pop, unlike buttercream or icings that you find at the grocery store that taste delicious but is hard to package.

Royal icing, commonly abbreviated to "RI" in cookie communities and recipes, is an icing that has been around for a loooong time. At the beginning of the "sugar cookie cottage baking" industry, 🥚 royal icing consisted of raw egg whites whipped up to a foamy consistency that made up the foundation for royal icing.

Now? 🥣 We have what is called meringue powder and it takes the place of the temperamental egg whites of yesteryear. Meringue powder is a dry mixture of egg whites, sugar, and sometimes other ingredients like flavoring or food coloring. It’s the basis for any royal icing recipe and something you’ll need on your journey to mastering royal icing.

The best part about royal icing is that it’s fairly simple to make consisting of only 3 main ingredients: meringue powder, water, and powdered sugar. Other options for icing include buttercream, cream cheese frosting, fondant, ganache, and glazes.

RI 411 - Which meringue powder is best for royal icing cookies?

There are tons of different brands of meringue powders on the market. The one you choose to go with will be a 💖 personal preference. Ask in any baking group and you'll quickly find that every baker has a favorite brand. I highly suggest you try a few and find the one that fits your tastes (and your workflow) best. There will be pros and cons to each brand. We can discuss a few here to help you narrow down which one you might want to use in your recipe.

• ➡️ The brand I use is called Royal Batch by Bakety Bake. It whips up super smooth and feels like a cloud when piping your icing. It has extra ingredients in it to help you save on additional costs (like white food coloring, vanilla flavoring, and corn syrup which gives it a softer bite). It’s become super popular with bakers so it can sell out sometimes which would be the con since you’ll have to wait for the next restock and it can be more pricey than other powders but you can use code “TWINS” to save 10% on your order and knock the price down a bit. Full disclosure - Bakety Bake is a Baking it Down Podcast sponsor as of the writing of this blog post, but no - that's not an affiliate code, we just begged her to give us all a discount (heck - I use that code too!).

• ➡️ Wiltons is a huge brand that has been around the longest. Many bakers will use Wiltons because it’s easy to get at stores like Micheals and JoAnn Fabrics which saves on the cost of shipping since you can run in and get it yourself. The cons for Wiltons is some folks said the amount of bubbles they experience with Wiltons makes it not so user-friendly and a few years ago there was a shortage of it making it hard for bakers who use it religiously to find it. If you’re just getting started, Wilton’s is a great place to start when it comes to meringue powder since you can purchase small cans of it which will let you test the product without having to invest a lot into it.

• ➡️ Sunny Side Up Bakery is the Hobby Lobby baking brand and you can find their meringue powder in the baking department there. On the plus side, it is one of the cheaper ones and the downside is that if you run out of it on a Sunday- you will be waiting til Monday since Hobby Lobby stores are closed on Sundays. A lot of bakers will start with this brand because of the price point and how easy it is to find but they may switch due to taste as they experiment with other powders on the market.

• ➡️ Genie's Dream Meringue Powder is a fan favorite due to its accessibility and ease of use. You’ll find that some of your favorite cookie supply shops wholesale Genie's Dream making it easier to rack up rewards and save you money (pretty sure that’s girl math right there). You can also buy meringue powder in bulk up to 10 lbs making your stash last a time. The cons for Genie's is that they switched suppliers for their eggs causing a few batches of their meringue powder to act and smell odd (according to the Baking group's reports). I’m not sure how many are still in circulation but that’s something to keep an eye out for. They’ve since changed their suppliers, but the bags in the bad batches were never recalled.

You’ll find tons of other brands on the market, and I can only suggest testing as many as you can so you can find the one that works best for you. No matter which brand you use, you can always add your own flavorings to make it uniquely yours.

RI 411 - How to mix meringue powder to make royal icing.

Now that you’ve chosen a good meringue powder, it’s time to make your first batch of royal icing. Each brand of meringue powder will have a recipe for you to use that works best with that brand so I suggest following that recipe so you will have the most chance of success with your royal icing mix. The hardest thing about royal icing is nailing down the consistencies you’ll need for flooding your cookie (meaning putting the base icing down) and details (what you add to the top of your flood).

🗒️ Since I use Royal Batch, I can talk you through how I make my royal icing using that meringue powder.

The first and most important step is to whisk your meringue powder with 🚰 warm water (per the directions - always follow the directions before you go rogue). I mix it until all the powder has been thoroughly mixed in and stop when I see a nice foamy layer on top. ⏲ This shouldn't take more than a minute and a half tops. Don't overmix!

🫗 Once I’ve whisked my water and powder, it’s time to put it in the mixer! Using the paddle attachment and the mixer on low, I’ll start adding my powdered sugar in slowly. I do add in a tablespoon of cream of tartar (this helps stop color bleed in humid areas like where I live) and if it’s been a rainy week I’ll add a little extra white food coloring for good measure (this trick also helps stop color bleed).

⏰ I’ll mix that on low for about 4-5 minutes or until I get stiff, white peaks and then I’ll add more water to get it to my flood consistency. To see if you have stiff peaks, lift your mixer head up and see if the icing separates from the paddle and holds its shape. If it does- you’re good to go to the next step.

• 🧠 Tip: Flood consistency icing should flow off the spatula like thick folds of honey. If your icing runs off your spatula in a straight line and isn’t thick like honey - add more powdered sugar (like half a cup more) while mixing until it's incorporated and test again.

• 🧠 Another Tip: If you’ve added water and your icing still isn’t flowing off the spatula, add a tablespoon more water, mix, and test again.

You may think to yourself that mixing it longer will incorporate everything better but not when it comes to royal icing. Meringue powder is an unstable ingredient, and if it’s overmixed- it transforms into a nightmare to work with.

I always suggest mixing on low and as soon as everything is incorporated, immediately stop mixing. Over-mixed icing will still act like regular mixed icing until it dries - then you pay the over-mixed price. It will either be spongey and squishy to the touch, or it turns back into powder when you apply pressure (which is no good when you need to bag and tag these cookies for delivery). Royal icing is considered fully dry when it's hard to the touch and has a slight snap when breaking the cookie. If your fingernail pokes through - it's either not dry or overmixed (more on that in another post).

RI 411 - How to decorate sugar cookies using royal icing.

Just like the videos you see on Instagram, the most common way to ice the cookies is using a tipless piping bag. ✂️ There are so many different brands of piping bags on the market that choosing one comes down to personal preference yet again. You’ll find many types of bags like reusable ones to one and done, and it’ll come down to what you find most useful and effective for your baking workflow.

• ☝️ The number one thing to look for in piping bags is a single-seam piping bag. You’ll find that piping bags at Micheals or other craft stores will have a seam on both sides of the piping bag and that’s great for thicker icings like buttercream, but you’ll want to have a single seam when working with royal icing. Why? Double-seamed bags will make your icing come out like a ribbon whereas a single seam will allow the icing to come out as a round cylinder. We want to get our icing as round as possible so we avoid weird curves or bumps in our icing.

• ✌️ The next thing to look for is the thickness of the bags. 🤏 Bags are measured in microns and the thicker the bag, the harder it is on your hands when piping your flood consistency but the better it is for piping thicker icing details. I’ve found that the best microns for flooding are the bags between 30 and 40 microns.

The bags I use most are from Sweet Pink Olive for flooding and the extra small ones from The Sweet Designs Shoppe for outlining.

RI 411 - Tips to effectively dry cookies decorated with royal icing.

Now that you’re cookies have been iced, it’s time to dry them. ⏱ The amount of time you’ll need to dry your royal icing will depend on how moist your cookie dough is, but typically royal iced sugar cookies need at least 24 hours to dry completely. You’ll find that the icing will crust pretty fast as it is exposed to air but the icing underneath the crust needs extra time to fully dry since it doesn’t have any direct airflow.

🌬️ There are tricks to get it to dry faster like using a tabletop fan pointed at your cookies overnight or lowering the room temp. If you are invested in making cookies part of your regular activities, 🔥 using a dehydrator and / or a dehumidifier can speed up the drying process.

Regardless of the brands or techniques you use with your royal icing, it's a fun way to dress up even simple sets. Once you get the hang of it, you can experiment with different flavors and mixes. And if you’re looking for a group of bakers to discuss various brands and recipe techniques, I’d suggest you join the Baking with (Sugar Cookie Marketing) Group on Facebook. It’s a fantastic place to talk with experienced bakers and get their tips and tricks on how to make royal icing even better. Bonus - you get me!

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