Royal Icing Recipe with Meringue Powder
This easy Royal Icing Recipe with meringue powder dries firm and smooth, making it perfect for decorating sugar cookies, holiday cookies, and more. It’s simple to tint, pipe, and flood for beautiful results every time.
Servings 3 cups (May Vary)
Calories 631kcal
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp meringue powder i.e. Satin ice or similar
- 1/2 cup warm tap water divided use
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or butter emulsion use clear for pure white icing
- 1/2 tsp light corn syrup i.e. Karo or similar
- assorted food coloring
- 4 cups powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
Instructions
- In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add the meringue powder and about 3 tablespoons of warm water. Add vanilla extract and Karo syrup. Mix on high speed until mixture is frothy. (about 1-2 min.)
- Switch to the paddle attachment. Gradually add powdered sugar and one tablespoon of additional warm water one at a time on medium speed. (Don't add too much water, you can add more water later if you need to thin the icing out).
- Continue mixing on a low speed until the icing can drip off of the spoon and is smooth. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar and if it's too thick, add a little more water.
- Separate desired amounts of icing into small bowls and tint with food color of choice adding as much color as you desire.
- If elements of the cookie design need a very thick consistency, add additional meringue powder to the individual bowls to achieve the desired look and thickness for that color.
- Add about ½ cup of tinted icing to a pastry bag and tie off or use bands to secure the opening. Do not overfill the bag!
- Snip a small hole in the tip of the pastry bag OR before filling fit with a small round pastry tip to outline your cookie, followed by flooding the inside of the outline.
- Allow time between steps for drying to create definition working incrementally depending on how involved the design.
- Add sprinkles or embellishments while the royal icing is still wet, and let dry completely before storing.
- Chocolate Royal Icing Cocoa Powder - You can use cocoa powder to tint the frosting in various shades of brown. Unsweetened cocoa powder or Dutch process cocoa powder for a deeper brown color and give the icing a chocolate flavor. Do this when you separate out the icing for tinting incorporating the sifted cocoa powder towards the end of the mixing process, after the meringue powder and powdered sugar have already whipped up to stiff peaks, to minimize the impact of the cocoa's natural oils on the whipping process. You may need to add small amounts of water to thin.
Notes
- Flavorings - You can use vanilla extract, lemon extract, almond extract, butter extract or any flavoring that you enjoy.
- Don't Overbeat - When adding the powdered sugar make sure the mixer is on medium-low speed. You don't want to beat the sugar too vigorously as it may add too much air and create bubbles in the icing.
- Pastry Bags - I use tipless pastry bags for outlining and flooding. You can also use a small tip, if you prefer. The consistency of the icing should not be too thin as this will run off the edges of your cookie. Use a clean piping bag for each color.
- Spreading the Icing - You can spread this icing onto the surface of a cookie and skip the pastry bag, especially helpful for beginners. A thicker consistency works best for spreading. You can also use to embellish the top of cakes when your designs needs a sharp edge. Keep in mind that unlike a traditional cake icing like a classic soft buttercream, it will dry hard.
- Adjust the Icing Thickness - For thicker royal icing use more meringue powder and less water. For thinner frosting use more water. It depends on your design as to how thick it needs to be.
- Allow Ample Time for the Cookies to Dry - Royal icing can take several hours to dry depending on the thickness. Place on parchment lined baking sheets and allow to air dry overnight, although the amount of time can vary. You can pop them into the refrigerator to speed up the drying process.
- See more tips, tricks and faqs in the body of the post.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cup | Calories: 631kcal | Carbohydrates: 161g | Fat: 0.003g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 5mg | Sugar: 158g | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 0.1mg