New to Royal Icing...

Hi, Julredw17, Congrats on making your first post. I look forward to many more to come!

You want to try royal icing.  Search for it and you will find many discussions about what recipe and why.  The biggest decision will be meringue powder or egg whites.  Again there are lengthy discussions.  Icing sheets?  Do you mean edible paper?  First, focus on royal icing before you look at the toys and extras.  Good luck!

Hi, @Julredw17, As Econlady said, you should try "royal icing". The recipe you are using has no egg whites in it, and, thus, is not royal icing, but "confectioner's icing", or what some people call "glaze". It takes longer to dry and doesn't typically set as firm as royal icing; it also spreads more. Depending on the quantity of liquid in the recipe you're using, it can also spread quite a lot and look very sheer, as you seem to be experiencing. I have a royal icing video on my YouTube channel that you might want to check out - in addition to explaining differences between these types of icings, it provides my recipe and talks about substitutions for using raw eggs (such as meringue powder and pasteurized whites) to guard against salmonella. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much to the both of of you for the info!  I am going to definitely trying "royal icing" and good to know the difference!  I am also going to check out your YouTube video too Julia. 

Thanks again.

Julredw17 posted:

Thanks so much to the both of of you for the info!  I am going to definitely trying "royal icing" and good to know the difference!  I am also going to check out your YouTube video too Julia. 

Thanks again.

You're very welcome! Best of luck with your icing exploration!

I have searched the site and have not found this particular mention...how do I keep my royal icing shiny after cookies have dried? Do I need to switch to a glaze?

Betsyk posted:

I have searched the site and have not found this particular mention...how do I keep my royal icing shiny after cookies have dried? Do I need to switch to a glaze?

Hi, there are actually a number of posts on how to make icing shiny (once it dries shiny, it stays pretty much as shiny as it started). Here's what I came up with when searched the forums for both "shine" and "sheen": https://cookieconnection.julia...agination.sort=SCORE

I think you'll find various answers to your question in these links. But, if not, please start a NEW forum post with a more specific question.

Julia M. Usher posted:

Betsyk posted:

I have searched the site and have not found this particular mention...how do I keep my royal icing shiny after cookies have dried? Do I need to switch to a glaze?

Hi, there are actually a number of posts on how to make icing shiny (once it dries shiny, it stays pretty much as shiny as it started). Here's what I came up with when searched the forums for both "shine" and "sheen": https://cookieconnection.julia...agination.sort=SCORE

I think you'll find various answers to your question in these links. But, if not, please start a NEW forum post with a more specific question.

Also, many people speed-dry their icing in various ways to enhance sheen; this recent post discusses all these various methods: https://cookieconnection.julia...r-speed-drying-icing

Also, we have a great blog post about the effect of adding various additives to icing to enhance sheen and to soften the bite; you should definitely read this one from start to finish, as it contains a lot of great info backed up by controlled experiments: https://cookieconnection.julia...lbox-talk-corn-syrup