The royal icing is a preparation made of egg whites and powdered sugar used for decorating cookies, cupcakes, and sweet preparations in general. The preparation of royal icing is quick and easy, it does not require tools because the egg white must not be whipped, just mix the mixture with a fork to blend it and remove any lumps.
Royal icing is used in different consistencies depending on how we need to use it. In this recipe, I indicate the basic proportions for a fluid sauce generally used for filling. What does this mean? Simply, if we need to make sharp lines such as outlines of figures and writings, it will need to be a little denser, but if we need to fill the figure entirely and have that nice uniform effect, a soft icing like the one you see in the photo will be needed.
My advice is to prepare this base and then maybe take a part where you will add a little more sugar to make it more compact.
Royal icing can be kept for a couple of days, so you don’t have to throw away the excess if you prepare too much, but you must cover it well with plastic wrap because if it comes into contact with air it dries out.
Royal icing obviously due to its composition has a nice white color, but you can also divide it and color it with several colors, preferably in powder form, to avoid diluting the mixture.
With icing, you can prepare many fun but also very elegant things, you just need to get used to the various thicknesses of the tips to achieve more or less fine lines.
Christmas is certainly one of the times when it is used a lot for decorating gingerbread, the classic gingerbread houses, or to decorate simple shortbread cookies.
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Cooking methods: No cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 794.01 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 200.31 (g) of which sugars 195.77 (g)
- Proteins 3.14 (g)
- Fat 0.00 (g) of which saturated 0.00 (g)of which unsaturated 0.00 (g)
- Fibers 0.12 (g)
- Sodium 56.55 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
For perfect royal icing, I also add cream of tartar, but you can omit it if you don’t have it at home.
- 1 oz egg white
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp lemon (juice)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
Tools
To prepare royal icing, you really don’t need any tools that we can’t find at home, so I indicate the bags and tips to work it.
- 1 Piping Bags
Preparation
The preparation of royal icing is simple and quick; it will only take 5 minutes.
Pour the egg white into a bowl, add the lemon juice, the cream of tartar, and start mixing with a fork, gradually adding the powdered sugar to absorb it well.
You don’t need to beat the egg white but simply mix it with the sugar and crush any lumps that may form. When all the sugar is absorbed, your royal icing is ready to be used. Any leftover that you don’t use or if you divide it to color it, remember to always close well with plastic wrap the part you are not using; otherwise, it will dry out with air exposure.
NOTES
To get a nice thick icing for outlining figures, you will need to add up to another 50g of powdered sugar; don’t worry about it becoming too much, it needs as much sugar as you want it thick. If, on the contrary, you make it too hard to work with the bag, you can add a few drops of water until you return to the desired consistency.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Does royal icing need to be stored in the refrigerator?
You can store the icing at room temperature as long as it is kept in previously sterilized containers and well-sealed to prevent it from drying out with air exposure.
If I run out of sugar and need it a bit more compact?
You can also add a bit of cornstarch because it is still contained in powdered sugar, but don’t exceed the proportion, so for example, if you use 125g of powdered sugar, add at most another 20g of cornstarch, no more.
