Royal icing is tricky business, there is no question about it. Most recipes are very similar but how you mix ingredients and figuring out the consistency is critical to success. The other critcal consideration is environment. Royal icing needs the appropriate environment to dry. The best way to become proficient with royal icing is to practice!
I make large batches of royal icing three to fours times a week. I decorate on average 600 cookies a week; so I get a lot of practice with royal icing. I have also had a number of failed batches, disasteous cookies and oops moments. Here are my top five mistakes I have made with royal icings:
Mistake 1- Under Mixing the Batch
I will never forget years ago when I was first learning to wokr with royal icing. I mixed it using a hand mixer and I told a friend; wow I never knew it took so long to mix. I think my first 20 batches were probably under mixed because in reality I got tired of holding the mixer. Mixing until the icing fluffs up is important. While I still mix small batches by hand, I definitely learned to lean on a stand mixer so I didn't under mix.
Mistake 2- Creating Gritty Icing
There is noting worse than making your cookies, making your icing, mixing all of your colors and then starting to decorate and constantly clogging your piping bag with what seems like dry gritty pieces. It is so frustrating....
This is simply caused by undissolved meringue powder or powdered sugar. Learn to love warm water for your royal icing. Also, note the mixing instructions for your meringue powder and following it!
Mistake 3- Mixing the Wrong Consistency
I have made the wrong consistency more times than I can count. Learning to count or measure the consistency is worth your time! I have wasted so much time shaking cookies smooth when I make it too think or scrapping cookies off and satrting over if I make it too thin and it falls off. This skill definitely takes practice but will be a game changer for creating the masterpieces you aspire to.
Mistake 4- Working in a Humid Climate
Do you have color bleed or the icing is not set? Do you know the humidity of your room? I have found that in high humidity, cookies will not properly dry the result is that the icing holds onto more moisture and when cookies are packaged they have color bleeding issues or the icing is too soft.
In order to learn and understand this, you need to know waht you are wokring with. This simple Digital Hygrometer Indoor Thermometer Humidity Meter Room Thermometer will help you better understand the environment you are working in and what happens when the weather changes. From there you rcan start to learn about how ot manage and adjust. In some cases I have used a dehydrator to assist in drying cookies, a dehumidifier to decrease humidity or simply allowing longer dry times.
Mistake 5- Under Measuring the Meringue Powder
I have a terrible habit of not writing down recipes because I think once I have made them many times I will remember. The reality is I forget... I have under measured my meringue powder more times than I want to admit. In most cases, the results are unnoticed because slight adjustments won't have a huge impact but when you under cut it by half or more be prepared for icing that refused to set. Simple fix for this one! Follow a recipe.
Participate in a Live Virtual Workshop on Royal Icing with Us
Want to learn more and avoid major mistakes? Join us for a live Royal Icing Revolution: From Basic Mix to Consistency Mastery In this one hour workshop you will learn how to make our basic royal icing recipe and create four different icing consistencies. We will demonstrate using the icing consistencies to provide ideas and guidance on what consistency you need to achieve different types of decorating. Each student will receive a digital copy of our royal icing recipe. We will save room for Questions and Answers. The workshop will be recorded and available for participants after the class.
Happy Decorating!
-Dani