How To Make Royal Icing

Want to learn how to make royal icing that’s perfect for decorating cookies and cakes? This easy royal icing recipe uses just a few ingredients to create a smooth, glossy finish that hardens beautifully every time.

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Royal Icing

Smooth, hard-drying icing made from egg whites. powdered sugar, cream of tartar, and vanilla.

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Prep Time 6 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Equipment

• 1 Stand mixer

Ingredients

  

• 454 g powdered sugar sifted
• ⅛ t cream of tartar
• 85 g egg whites room temperature

Instructions

 

• Sift powdered sugar and cream of tartar into the bowl of the stand mixer.
• Attach the paddle attachment and mix on speed 1. Gradually add the egg whites.
• Continue to mix until the icing to soft peaks.

Keyword royal icing

pro tips

• mise en place: weigh and prepare your ingredients and supplies before starting. The purpose is to streamline the cooking process, ensuring efficiency and reducing stress. Minimize the risk of errors and allow for better focus on technique and timing.
• equipment varies: ovens vary. Purchase an oven thermometer to ensure the oven is at the correct temperature. Each oven will have different hot spots, and some use convection to heat. If your oven has convection, I recommend lowering the temperature by 25°. Place your baking pans in the center of the oven on the middle rack for even baking.
• read the recipe: be sure to read the entire recipe before starting. This way you can see if any of your ingredients need to be room temperature or cold, or if any of the ingredients need to be processed before adding to the other ingredients.
• room temperature ingredients: room temperature ingredients blend better together.

equipment and supplies

• bowls, various sizes
• stand mixer with paddle attachment
• rubber spatula
• piping bags
• food coloring gel

recipe instructions

step one: mise en place!

step two: sift the powdered sugar and cream of tartar into the bowl of the stand mixer.

step three: attach the paddle attachment and mix on speed one. Gradually add the egg whites. Increase to speed 3 and continue to mix until soft peaks.

step four: separate into bowls for different colors. add to piping bags fitted with a very small circle tip.

tips for success

• outline the cookie then fill in. this prevents drips.
• add more egg white if the icing is too thick. Practice first, the consistency might be right, you just think it needs to be more liquidy.