Delicious Royal Icing for Holiday Cookies and Cakes
I’m not sure about you, but I’ve decorated thousands upon thousands of holiday cookies at this point and having a good recipe for royal icing makes it so much more enjoyable. I like this one because it works great and tastes delicious.
The secret ingredient is maple extract. I find the taste of powdered sugar to be cloyingly sweet and maple extract brings a warmth that cuts through the metallic taste of the sugar. Lemon juice helps to cut the sweetness, too.
We use the same icing to pipe on cakes. We just adjust the consistency for our desired effect and omit the extra flavoring. Skip to the end of the recipe for my notes about achieving the desired consistency.
Royal Icing Recipe
Yield: 1 6 quart mixer bowl full (about 8 lbs)
INGREDIENTS
1.25 cups meringue powder (we use celebakes)
2.5 cups water
7 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 tbsp corn syrup (for a shiner icing)
OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp + 1 tsp maple extract (we use watkins)
1 pinch of salt
DIRECTIONS
Combine the meringue powder and water and mix together with a whisk until well combined.
Strain the meringue mixture directly into the mixing bowl.
Add about ⅔ of the powdered sugar and combine with the meringue powder mixture using the whisk attachment. (A note about sifting: We like to use a fresh 7 lb bag to avoid sifting but if you have an open bag/older powdered sugar sifting is a good option to avoid lumps)
Add lemon juice, maple extract, salt, corn syrup, and cream of tartar.
Switch to the paddle attachment and mix for 5 minutes at medium speed. The icing should appear lighter and shiny when the egg whites have stabilized.
Add additional powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. At the bakery, we usually add the whole bag and then adjust the consistency later on a case by case basis.
Tips for Icing Cookies
Flooding Consistency: When the icing is drizzled on a surface it should stay in place and not run. Any peaks should settle to form a smooth surface. You can test this off the cookie by making an outline on parchment paper and then filling it in with icing, just like you would fill a cookie. If using the ribbon test, the ribbon should disappear in 10 seconds. You can adjust the consistency of icing by adding small amounts of water to thin it out or small amounts of powdered sugar to thicken it.
Detail Work Consistency: There is more flexibility with this. The icing should have enough body to execute the details that you are working on. For line work, I like a consistency thicker than flooding but thinner than something I would use to pipe pearls or embroidery. I recommend making your icing and then testing it to make sure you get your desired result before working on your cake or cookies. If you find that your icing is settling too much, add more powdered sugar. If it is too stiff and difficult to pipe, add more water. If you use all 7 lbs of powdered sugar in this recipe, the consistency should be nice for line work.
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