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Hello, fellow cookiers! I could really use your help...

 

I made a large batch of cookies, and after outlining and flooding the cookies, the icing never completely set. I can stack them and they're reasonably firm, but they're still a little tacky on top and marshmallowy underneath the top layer of icing. Since other cookies I made set just fine, I think I may have thrown off the meringue powder-sugar-water ratios in that batch of icing, making them not set properly.

 

My question was about the safety of these cookies. Is royal icing like buttercream, where the safety of it is determined by the amount of sugar in the recipe? Could this problem be indicative of a food safety concern? Thank you so much!

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I'm not an expert, but I don't think safety would be a problem if you are making the royal icing with meringue powder and not egg whites.  There are no ingredients that could "turn" like there are in buttercream.

If you're using meringue powder and not raw egg whites, then there's no potential carrier of salmonella (which is carried in raw, not pasteurized or dehydrated, eggs), but you can still cross-contaminate (introduce bacteria to) any food product if you handle it improperly (i.e., don't wash hands, get something else in it). Products with high concentrations of sugar can suppress bacterial growth but they are never a complete preventative. Proper handling to avoid cross-contamination is always important. In this case, if you handled everything carefully, there's probably not much to worry about.

If you're serving the public, you should really take a food safety and sanitation course. (Most, if not all, US states require it, in fact.) Here's a link to tell you more: http://www.servsafe.com/home 

Better if you can use raw white egg rather than powder.I agree with admit that sugar products can suppress bacterial growth.It is important to add exact amount of ingredients in your recipe.

Cookie Gifts

Cookies From Home posted:

Better if you can use raw white egg rather than powder.I agree with admit that sugar products can suppress bacterial growth.It is important to add exact amount of ingredients in your recipe.

Cookie Gifts

This is not accurate if you are talking about the risk of salmonella in whites. Powdered whites are dehydrated, and thus any bacteria in them is potentially killed during this heating process. Powdered whites are generally safer than unpasteurized, raw whites.

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