Royal too hard and crunchy for you? Glaze too runny or not opaque enough? Icing taking too long to dry? These things were all my nemeses (is that even a word?), so began my quest for a happy medium. An icing medium - one that I could create wonderful cookie art with. After my cookie friend Bonnie mentioned that she adds a little corn syrup to her RI, I began tweaking (I do a lot of that) until I had, for me, a perfect, one consistency icing that gives me no heartache (knock on wood!!!) I would like to share it with you today - what I like to call Royal Glaze. Some who have tried this recipe really love it, and yet others, for lack of a better word,
meh.... (If you are comfortable with and used to glaze, this may not be for you - it dries much quicker. That may be a good thing, but takes some getting used to!) I would say it behaves more on the royal-ish side, but while packable and stackable, it dries quicker, and with the addition of a little glycerin it is softer to bite into. And I have never (knock on wood again!) had any bleeding or blotching with Royal Glaze. So, if you'd like to give it a go, here it is...
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- First, and most obvious step, gather your ingredients:
5 T Meringue Powder
3/4 t Cream of Tartar
3/4 C warm water (less for a thicker consistency)
2# 10X Cane Powdered Sugar (such as Domino)
1/4 C corn syrup
1 T Glycerin (like Wilton - NOT drugstore glycerin!)
1 t flavoring of choice (I use vanilla and butter)
*White food coloring gel (like Americolor)
*optional, I use about 12 drops
Sift powdered sugar into the bowl you will mix in - I use a strainer - it only takes a minute to do & no mess.
Combine meringue powder and cream of tartar; pour the water into that, and whisk for about 30 seconds. I like to use a teeny whisk in a measuring cup.
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Pour that mixture into the powdered sugar - I like to run it through the strainer in case any little lumps remain - then I use a spatula & smoosh the rest through the strainer.
Give the mixture a little stir to make it wet enough that it won't poof up when you start to mix.
Mix on LOW with PADDLE attachment for 10 minutes. During these 10 minutes, you will add the rest of the ingredients...
...like the corn syrup, glycerin, flavorings and white food gel.
You may want to scrape down the bowl & paddle once everything is added.
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For some reason the videos are not showing on my iPad but they are fine on my PC.
I hope you are able to view them... sorry about that, will try to get it fixed!
When it's done, it should look like this:
(please excuse my videography!)
I consider Royal Glaze a 12-15 second icing, but I must count
fast because the video is only 11 seconds... I did shake the
bowl a little at the end too 'cause I was about to drop the camera...
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I like to pour it all into a gallon Ziploc - makes it easier to work on colors without it crusting.
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I use bottles, and since the small holds 2oz and the large holds 8 oz, these are the amounts I divide it all up into.
First, I put a cup on the scale (weighs 2.75 oz) - I then reset the scale to 0 (tare weight) so when I pour my icing in, I only get the weight of the icing.
After kneading the gallon bag a little to break up any air bubbles, I snip the corner off the Ziploc, and pour in the amount of icing I want.
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- Then, using a very damp paper towel over the snipped corner, I use a clothes-pin to hold it closed. This way, there is no crusting while you are working on your colors.
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- Now, mix your colors. Notice in the bottom left picture the icing looks black, but when I pulled the spoon out you can see it is not mixed enough. Keep mixing until the color is solid. Colors will intensify with time, so if your black is almost-black, that's ok. Now would be the time to add water if you wanted a thinner consistency.
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- I either pour it into my bottles & cap for storing in the fridge for a day or so, put the couplers/tips/covers on for immediate use, or pour into smaller Ziplocs to freeze for later use.
- I also weigh at the end when I make a lot of a color, and then store it in smaller amounts.
- Tip: don't fill bottles all the way to the top - if you need to stir the icing, you will want some room in there so it doesn't come out the top. I like to use bamboo skewers to stir : )
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- While it's a lot of work to get red, white requires no mixing - straight to a bottle or Ziploc & that's it. Love white : )
- So, when you're done, your gallon bag will be empty, and your colors are ready to use or freeze.
- When freezing I always put a label on the bag so I know when it was made.
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Then I put all of those into a freezer Ziploc or Tupperware container, and into the freezer they go! I have a side-by-side fridge, so the freezer is really narrow. These stack great in there. Oh, and what's with that piece of parchment with the little gobs of icing on it, you ask? Well, I always put a little fresh-made or mixed icing on parchment as a test - to make sure it dries properly & nothing went wrong with the icing. Better to know before than after decorating all those cookies!
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I use this as a one-consistency icing (same for outline, flood and detail) by using different sized tips - large (3-5) for flooding, smaller (00-2) for details. Makes about 5 cups (or 5 - 8oz bottles / 20 - 2oz bottles) - dries between 6-10 hours, less for minis. Depends on how thick you flood - I like to ice thick, so average sized cookies are usually done in about 8 hours, 10 if all black or red or a color that needed a LOT of gel to color it, and around 6 for minis. Of course, high humidity may add time to that, so plan accordingly : ) Love that I can decorate in the morning, and deliver in the evening!
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Oh, and last but not least, more dishes. Oh, girls...
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HAPPY ICING!
Disclaimer...
I will more than likely update this post 'cause there may be additional tips I have forgotten to mention...
not on purpose of course...
