Royal Icing Recipe

My Favorite Royal Icing

Here is my classic easy royal icing made with meringue powder. It’s easy to work with, sets quickly, and won’t break your teeth when it dries. It has the most delicious taste and texture and makes decorating sugar cookies fun and simple. Use this traditional royal icing recipe for both flooding and outlining your sugar cookies.

Prep: 5min

Total: 5min

Yield: 3

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (480g) confectioners’ sugar, sifted (I use and recommend Domino brand)
• 3 Tablespoons meringue powder (not plain egg white powder)
• 9-10 Tablespoons room temperature water
• optional for decorating: gel food coloring (I love this food coloring kit)

Instruction:

1. Watch the video of the icing above so you get an idea of what the final consistency should be.
2. Pour confectioners’ sugar, meringue powder, and 9 Tablespoons of water into a large bowl. Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat icing ingredients together on high speed for 1.5 – 2 minutes. When lifting the whisk up off the icing, the icing should drizzle down and smooth out within 5-10 seconds. If it’s too thick, beat in more water 1 Tablespoon at a time. I usually need 10 Tablespoons but on particularly dry days, I use up to 12-14 Tablespoons. Keep in mind that the longer you beat the royal icing, the thicker it becomes. If your royal icing is too thin, just keep beating it to introduce more air OR you can add more sifted confectioners’ sugar.
3. When applied to cookies or confections in a thin layer, icing completely dries in about 2 hours at room temperature. If icing consistency is too thin and runny, it will take longer to dry. If the icing is applied very thick on cookies, it will also take longer to dry. If you’re layering royal icing onto cookies for specific designs and need it to set quickly, place cookies in the refrigerator to help speed it up. See blog post above for make-ahead and freezing instructions.

Royal Icing

Ice your cookies, cakes and cupcakes with Alton Brown’s glossy Royal Icing recipe from Good Eats on Food Network.

Prep: 0 7min0

Total: 0 7min0

Yield: 3 1/2 cups

Serving Size: 1 of 6 servings

Nutrition Facts: servingSize 1 of 6 servings, calories 321, Fat 0g, Saturated Fat 0g, Carbohydrate 80g, Fiber 0g, Sugar 78g, Protein 2g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 25mg

Ingredients:

• 3 ounces pasteurized egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instruction:

1. In large bowl of stand mixer combine the egg whites and vanilla and beat until frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar gradually and mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and mixture is shiny. Turn speed up to high and beat until mixture forms stiff, glossy peaks. This should take approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Add food coloring, if desired. For immediate use, transfer icing to pastry bag or heavy duty storage bag and pipe as desired. If using storage bag, clip corner. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

How to Make The BEST ROYAL ICING (Quick & Easy Tasty Recipe)

FAQ

What are the three types of royal icing?

What three ingredients is royal icing made of?

What is a trick for royal icing?