I started to fall in love with royal icing cookies a couple of years ago when I started watching lots of cookie frosting videos online. I thought, these cookies look amazing, but I bet they are not very good. So, I started researching recipes, looking for a dough that held its shape after cooking and that was super tasty. I finally found a recipe that I love. I add fresh orange zest and vanilla paste to my dough.
The royal icing that I use dries hard to the cookie and acts as a perfect seal to keep cookies moist. The cookies taste great a week after decorating!
I started playing with royal icing about a year a half ago and it is still a mystery to me! But here are some royal icing tips that may be helpful.
- If you are playing with designs, save a cookie and play around on parchment paper! Simply trace out the shape you are making.
- It takes several hours for royal icing to dry completely. I would say to be safe - 6-8 hours. Consider this for your packaging schedule.
- The most challenging thing with royal icing is getting the consistency right. Which will take a while to learn. To thin my royal icing now, I use water from a squeeze bottle so I can easily control how much I am adding. Use a little at a time.
- When mixing royal icing color, the more you mix, the more air will be beaten into the icing and the lighter the color will appear. Be careful not to mix too much.
- I sometimes use a piping bag without a tip, and sometimes I like to use a coupler and tips.
That is all I can think of for now! It has been a fun challenge to learn how to use royal icing, and I am happy to now offer my customers beautiful royal icing cookies in Seattle.