Royal icing is a hard white icing, made from egg white and icing sugar (mix or pure). A little addition of an acidic substance like lemon juice, citric acid or cream of tartar, the texture of the icing can be improved. I use white vinegar and am very happy with it. Royal icing can be used on products like Christmas cakes, wedding cakes, gingerbread houses and many other cakes and biscuits, either as a spreadable smooth coating or as piping decorations. Royal icing is also used to make decorations such as flowers and figurines for putting on the cake.

One way to use royal icing is by piping ornaments or decorations in certain shapes or forms over a plastic sheet. When the decorations are completely dry (overnight is recommended) they can be lifted and glued with soft royal icing onto a cake.

Additional added liquid like lemon juice, water or egg white will bring royal icing into a runny condition to coat products like cookies or dry baked pastries. Flooding work is commonly used with royal icing.

Ingredients

The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units', you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Weight Per Unit: 720
Number of Units: 1
WEIGHT
(grams) 		ALTERNATIVE METRIC INGREDIENT IMAGE CONDITION
A 100 3.5 ounces Egg White Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks. The primary natural purpose of egg white is to protect the yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo (when fertilized). Egg white consists primarily of about 90% water into which is dissolved 10% proteins (including albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins). Unlike the yolk, which is high in lipids (fats), egg white contains almost no fat, and carbohydrate content is less than 1%. Egg whites contain just over 50% of the protein in the egg. Egg white has many uses in food (e.g. mousse) and also many other uses (e.g. in the preparation of vaccines such as those for influenza). (Fresh) Egg yolk and fat free
B 600 21.1 ounces Icing Sugar Mixture Icing sugar mixture, also known as confectioners' sugar or powdered sugar, is pulverised granulated sugar crushed together with a small amount (about three percent) of cornflour. This icing sugar is great to use when making icing for kids' birthday cakes or dusting sweet treats.
C 20 4 teaspoons Vinegar Vinegar is a liquid consisting mainly of acetic acid (CH3COOH) and water. The acetic acid is produced by the fermentation of ethanol by acetic acid bacteria.[1] Vinegar is now mainly used as a cooking ingredient. Historically, as the most easily available mild acid, it had a great variety of industrial, medical and domestic uses, some of which (such as its use as a general household cleanser) are still promoted today. The term "distilled vinegar" is something of a misnomer, because it is not produced by distillation but by fermentation of distilled alcohol. The fermentate is diluted to produce a colorless solution of 5% to 8% acetic acid in water, with a pH of about 2.4. This is variously known as distilled spirit, "virgin" vinegar, or white vinegar, and is used in cooking, baking, meat preservation, and pickling, as well as for medicinal, laboratory, and cleaning purposes. (White)
720

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Method

STEP ACTION DETAIL CONDITION
1 MEASURE Weight all ingredients. Double check
2 PLACE Place all ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
3 MIX Mix them by hand to blend them together. Sloppy mix
4 WHIP Whip the mixture on a high speed (use a paddle, not a whisk). Gradually decrease the speed as it whips to achieve a smooth result. White and creamy
5 STORE Scrape sides down and store in an air tight container.

Important Notes

  • Do not over whip royal icing. If over whipped, it will appear creamy at first but air bubbles will quickly disturb creaminess. Over whipped mixture will produced weak decorations and they may break easily.
  • Always cover the container with a wet towel or air tight lid to avoid the surface of the icing developing a crusty layer. If this dried layer is then mixed in with the rest of the icing, there will be lumps.
  • Mixing bowl must be completely fat free. If a trace of oil or fatty residue (maybe from a previous product mixed with the same mixer) is mixed together with the icing, it will make the mixture sloppy and it can never achieve the optimal firm texture.
  • White vinegar will allow the icing to be remixed back to a good condition if it has been resting too long.
  • Additional egg white will produce sloppy and runny texture to use for spreading or flooding work.

27 comments

  1. my_thea says:
    July 6, 2020 at 7:37 am

    Thank you, you mean dusting powder with alcohol ? right?

  2. my_thea says:
    July 3, 2020 at 10:54 pm

    Hi
    how can i colored the royal icing with gold dusting powder ? i must mix the dusting powder with the icing before i use it of i used it and when its dry then i powder it , Thank you

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      July 5, 2020 at 6:42 pm

      After dry on surface

      1. my_thea says:
        July 6, 2020 at 7:36 am

        Thank you, you mean dusting powder with alcohol ? right?

  3. Anna Anosh says:
    July 25, 2019 at 8:49 am

    Hi chef,ii tried making royal icing.can we do anything if the mix get overmixed.what can we fo with the overmixed product.

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      July 26, 2019 at 8:07 am

      Add little more white vinegar and mix in slow motion

  4. Tanja Hück says:
    May 2, 2019 at 9:47 pm

    Dear Chef,
    I absolutely love your recipe. It worked very well with my previous work. BUT it smells like vinegar. So the wedding cake I made smelled a little bit like vinegar. How can I avoid this? Don‘t you have this problem?
    Looking forward to your kind reply.
    Best regards, Tanja

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      May 16, 2019 at 3:18 pm

      reduce the vineger or use lemon juice.

  5. esper delc corro says:
    November 29, 2018 at 3:25 pm

    Hi Chef, good day. I would like to ask if this royal icing recipe can be use on your santa sleigh instead of using the egg white powder. Thank you.

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      December 5, 2018 at 4:57 pm

      Absolutely. Yes

  6. Radha Ganeriwala says:
    March 31, 2018 at 2:37 am

    Thankyou for the recipe Mr Yerner. I have a question and would highly appreciate your help. I am making a gazebo piece for a cake using your royal icing recipe. The pieces keep breaking. They don’t have a smooth surface and look brittle and break into numerous pieces. I have followed the recipe exactly and was happy with the icing. I did add white gel colour to it. How can I make smooth pieces that are not strong. Please do help. Many thanks.

    1. Radha Ganeriwala says:
      March 31, 2018 at 2:38 am

      Sorry meant to say pieces that are strong.

    2. Serdar Yener says:
      April 2, 2018 at 8:58 am

      You can add extra egg white powder or add a little tylose into royal icing ( too much will make the icing un pipeable)

  7. Maria Marinou says:
    October 1, 2017 at 4:38 pm

    Hi chef! I make my royal icing with fresh egg whites. My problem is that at the start i was putting vanilla for flavor (the chemical) and took a greenish color when it dried . Know i don’t ad anything for flavor but when it dries it gets always a yellowy color with fresh egg whites and more yellowish when the egg whites are a few days old or difrozen. How can i change that? Thank you very much!

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      October 5, 2017 at 1:32 pm

      1. Use powder egg white 2. add titanium dioxide 2. Dot of blue color also help.

  8. klteif says:
    March 27, 2017 at 9:09 pm

    How many days or weeks can we store the royal icing ?

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      March 28, 2017 at 9:34 am

      6 x sugar preserve 1 x egg white I would say 1 week inside a jar at room temp, much longer in the fridge.

  9. Macdacruz says:
    December 19, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    My apologies Serdar, I did not notice the measures in grams… I am so excited to start training that I was reading the recipe and never noticed the ingredients in metric units. Thank you

  10. Macdacruz says:
    December 19, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    Hi Serdar
    Can you convert the ingredients in metric units without disturbing the recipe? I am concern with the decimals when we convert as we have to round it and it may alter the consistency. Please advise.
    Thank you

  11. Mariaxxx says:
    April 22, 2016 at 8:36 am

    Can I use this recipe for string works?

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      April 24, 2016 at 8:44 am

      Yes but not so good. Good string work needs royal icing produced with very fine icing sugar and additional tsp of glucose to a 250 g. Also a little tylose will help.

  12. Shirlene de Zilwa says:
    November 4, 2015 at 6:00 pm

    Wiping the bowl and attachment with white vinegar is said to remove all traces of fat. Hope this is helpful!

  13. Samira Burgess says:
    September 17, 2015 at 5:14 pm

    Hi Chef, this recipe of royal icing does not work it is too runny , I have tried it many times and word for word but it does not work, can you advice pls. why is that and if you have a better recipe. many thanks in advance.

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      September 17, 2015 at 11:09 pm

      there is oil in your mix. Either drop of egg yolk mixed with egg white maybe the bowl or whisk has some oil from last mixing. Try again and let me know

  14. jenny MARX says:
    June 7, 2015 at 9:37 am

    I HATE ROYAL ICING!!! have tried your recipe (vinegar) and my sisters recipe (lemon juice) and it never sets, is always so runny I cant use it. some many different ways I am confused, on internet some say whip lots , you say don’t, use only metal bowls , don’t use metal bowls, I am tired of wasting ingredients. HHHeeeelllllppppp please

    1. Serdar Yener says:
      June 7, 2015 at 11:48 pm

      Hi jenny Please calm down. Take a break and just do few simple steps. Metal bowl no problem but NO FAT NO EGG YOLK. Mix everything together and run the mixer with medium speed till you have smooth royal icing.

  15. Ross Francis says:
    October 20, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    If used and dried for Royal Icing items, how long does the dried item last?

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