Royal Icing HELP

toadfly

Hi all,

its time to ice the three christmas cakes, I would prefer to use sugarpaste but mammy wants royal icing. Thing is I am confused, some say to just use water and others egg whites and liquid glycerine with the icing sugar.

Which is best, easiest to work with?

Thank you..

Millypenny

I think glycerine is added to stop the royal icing hardening too much.


If you wanted to cut out shapes from the icing i.e. make leaves etc. you would then make up the icing without the glycerine.

Magic Monkey

Icing sugar + water = Flat/Simple/Water icing
Icing sugar + egg whites (and glycerine, but it's optional) = Royal icing

Royal icing has to be spread with a palette knife, sugarpaste is rolled. If you do use royal icing, you can buy bags of it in powdered form in Tesco, which is basically icing sugar and egg white powder to which you add water. Either way, most cakes will need a layer of boiled jam and marzipan before the finishing layer of your choice.

Acoshla

I use the royal icing in the bag from Tesco, making my own with eggs and all was just too time consuming and that bag is so handy! Just add the water to it and off you go.

toadfly

Thanks for the replies..

Millypenny wrote: »

If you wanted to cut out shapes from the icing i.e. make leaves etc. you would then make up the icing without the glycerine.

No I will use sugarpaste for that, icing is just to cover the cake.

Magic Monkey wrote: »

Icing sugar + water = Flat/Simple/Water icing
Icing sugar + egg whites (and glycerine, but it's optional) = Royal icing

Either way, most cakes will need a layer of boiled jam and marzipan before the finishing layer of your choice.

Yip jam and marzipan is done.

Spadina wrote: »

I use the royal icing in the bag from Tesco, making my own with eggs and all was just too time consuming and that bag is so handy! Just add the water to it and off you go.

Cool thanks, I only have one bag of royal icing power, the rest is Tesco own brand icing sugar.

Is there much difference in the finished product?

kerash

I would use some of the royal icing you can buy in bags it really is good and a lot easier.

toadfly

Used royal icing last night to do one, disaster.

The other two are being done in sugarpaste tonight I dont care anymore!

Thanks again.

kerash

TillyGirl wrote: »

Used royal icing last night to do one, disaster.

The other two are being done in sugarpaste tonight I dont care anymore!

Thanks again.

What went wrong? Royal Icing is fairly fool proof

Plowman

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