What is the correct consistency of RI for dots? When I piped my dot border they made a peak on the top (like a Hershey kiss) and I had to go back and touch the tops with a clean, wet fingertip to make them round, still they dried with a hole in the center. What am I doing wrong?
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I would try adding a little more water to your RI consistency. For dots, I use a consistency between piping and flood that seems to work good (sorry, I haven't counted the seconds).
Thank you, The Tailored Cookie! So I guess I'll try 20sec next time and see what happens. I hate the holes in the middle.
Yes, I use a looser icing of "beadwork consistency," which I achieve by adding about 2 to 3 tsp water per each cup of my Royal Icing "glue." You should never have to pat down dots after they're piped! If you use the optimum consistency, you'll also save a lot of time.
I have a blog post on my site about beadwork (aka piping dots) and one of the videos in my new video series also addresses the topic extensively.
I hope I've helped a bit!
Link to post on my site:
https://www.juliausher.com/kitc...dwork_technique_tips
Link to my video series:
When I'm piping dots that I don't want to spread, I use the consistency of very thick "peak" RI and do the C trick used when making buttercream dots. You make the dot, let go of the pressure and make a C before lifting off. That should flatten the peak. I find using thinner icing can spread too much if I want really small or really rounded dots.
I pipe with a parchment cone and always use roughly the same loose consistency for dots. I just hardly open the tip of the cone, if at all, if I want teensy-tiny dots. Cones offer a lot of precision for tiny detail work.