Royal Icing Not Setting

Clean your bowl and utensils with vinegar and then try again.

I must be doing it wrong. I washed/rinsed with HOT soapy water followed by a vinegar rinse. Final rinse with hot water. Should I be doing it differently. Sorry. I'm just stumped. Over 6,000 cookies and this is now plaguing me. I'm so stumped and a bit deflated. 

Homemade for Heroes posted:

I must be doing it wrong. I washed/rinsed with HOT soapy water followed by a vinegar rinse. Final rinse with hot water. Should I be doing it differently. Sorry. I'm just stumped. Over 6,000 cookies and this is now plaguing me. I'm so stumped and a bit deflated. 

Are you washing everything touching the ingredients and use a fresh towel.

I just looked at my almond extract. It has oil of bitter almond. Could that do it? I thought I'd used this before but now I'm not sure. 

I wash everything, including the mixer, utensils, and anything I touch. I use paper towels. I wash after use and again before. 

Oh the humiliation. I figured it out. It wasn't MP. It was royal icing mix. No wonder it's not working!  I called a friend and we were trying to figure it out. I asked her to look at her almond extract ingredients to check for oil. Then I looked at the CK bag...it's RI mix. Oh my!! Well off to the store for MP. Then perhaps a stiff drink!!! Thanks for trying to help this bumbling dummy lol. 

Glad you figured it out!

I use CK royal icing mix from time to time, and it definitely sets hard and pretty fast, as long as you follow the directions on the package (just add 5 Tbsp water and mix). So, I hate to say it, but I doubt the fact that it's royal icing mix (in general) is the issue. Perhaps that particular bag was a bad formulation, but I've never had trouble with CK royal icing mix. I also don't think a smidge of oil on your utensils is going to disrupt setting that much . . . a smidge of oil will deflate a meringue (which is why people tell you to clean bowls when making meringue), but all that bowl-cleaning is overkill, in my opinion, when making royal icing. I use my mixer for many things and never do a vinegar-clean of it before making royal icing. So, my guess is you just got a bad batch of mix or added too much oil-based flavoring to your icing. One reason I prefer to make my royal icing from scratch, starting with raw eggs or pure albumen, is because you always know what you are putting into your icing, and that means more consistent results.

I think she was royal icing mix like it was meringue powder.  

Econlady posted:

I think she was royal icing mix like it was meringue powder.  

Oh, well, that would explain why the mix didn't work! 

200 cookies iced and drying...finally!!! Thank you for the input. I was pulling my hair out and going way overboard trying to figure it out! In the past I had one batch of RI not set. I've mostly used one mixer for all. I've been careful about cleaning after I heard tiny traces of contaminants would ruin RI. The uber overkill cleaning started after the RI started not setting up not knowing I had ordered RI mix instead of MP. I about drove myself nuts trying to figure it out. 

I like MP for the ease. I dislike eggs and wasting the volume of yolk I would throw away is the main reason I use MP. If I could make cookies with yolk only, I'd try the egg white way. I just can't bring myself to waste that much of the egg. 

I'm off for that stiff drink while these cookies dry. Long day of drawing tomorrow. Since I lost an entire day and they are for local Airmen, I'm drawing and dusting with powdered sugar. 

Homemade for Heroes posted:

200 cookies iced and drying...finally!!! Thank you for the input. I was pulling my hair out and going way overboard trying to figure it out! In the past I had one batch of RI not set. I've mostly used one mixer for all. I've been careful about cleaning after I heard tiny traces of contaminants would ruin RI. The uber overkill cleaning started after the RI started not setting up not knowing I had ordered RI mix instead of MP. I about drove myself nuts trying to figure it out. 

I like MP for the ease. I dislike eggs and wasting the volume of yolk I would throw away is the main reason I use MP. If I could make cookies with yolk only, I'd try the egg white way. I just can't bring myself to waste that much of the egg. 

I'm off for that stiff drink while these cookies dry. Long day of drawing tomorrow. Since I lost an entire day and they are for local Airmen, I'm drawing and dusting with powdered sugar. 

But you can use pasteurized whites or albumen powder (pure dehydrated whites) and waste nothing, while also guarding against salmonella and always knowing what you're getting. Both are super easy, and cheaper than MP, too! Best of luck!

I'll definitely look into that!! Thank you. Sending overseas, I worried about the raw egg thing. And cheaper than MP, that's great with the volume I do. 

Julia's pasturised egg white recipie works for me.  Admittedly, I havent used another RI recipe since hers is just right, you know, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".   Happy that everything worked out!

PS. Thanks for sending your cookies overseas. They'll be greatfully received and your art work on the cookies will make a big impression.  You spent a lot of time to brighten their day and that will touch their hearts. 

Hi!  I am have the exact same problem as Homeade for Heros in above posts.  I have tried almost everyone's recipe and have the same problem of the icing not setting up for 3-4 days and then sometimes it is still soft.  I live in the DFW area of Texas with about an average of 64% humidity.  I bought a huge dehumidifier, it hasn't helped one bit.  I tried many recipes and suggestions all to no avail, after mixing my icing it is dense but not stiff (won't hold a stiff peak) and will not set up.  I have resorted to recently placing an order of CK RI mix in hopes it will work, but I cannot afford to continue to order it on a regular basis.  Any suggestions?  Anyone else live in my area and not have problems?  

Andrea R posted:

Hi!  I am have the exact same problem as Homeade for Heros in above posts.  I have tried almost everyone's recipe and have the same problem of the icing not setting up for 3-4 days and then sometimes it is still soft.  I live in the DFW area of Texas with about an average of 64% humidity.  I bought a huge dehumidifier, it hasn't helped one bit.  I tried many recipes and suggestions all to no avail, after mixing my icing it is dense but not stiff (won't hold a stiff peak) and will not set up.  I have resorted to recently placing an order of CK RI mix in hopes it will work, but I cannot afford to continue to order it on a regular basis.  Any suggestions?  Anyone else live in my area and not have problems?  

Sorry, I can't really help any further than I already have with the suggestions above. Sounds like your icing is too wet to start though, if it takes this long to dry. We have 100-percent humidity here in St. Louis right now, and I iced several cookies today, set them in front of my open dehydrator (using it like a heat fan), and all dried just fine. Maybe someone else will have some additional insights. Best of luck!

I have tried cutting back the water in several different recipes, adding more powdered sugar, mixing less, mixing more, I am stumped.  Hopefully the CK RI mix will do it if not I'll try your recipe with egg whites.  Anyway, thank you for your post I love your site and products and will visit here often.

pip posted:

Julia's pasturised egg white recipie works for me.  Admittedly, I havent used another RI recipe since hers is just right, you know, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".   Happy that everything worked out!

PS. Thanks for sending your cookies overseas. They'll be greatfully received and your art work on the cookies will make a big impression.  You spent a lot of time to brighten their day and that will touch their hearts. 

Thank you! If it puts a smile on one face, I’m a happy girl! 

I’ll be trying Julia’s recipe soon  

Andrea R posted:

Hi!  I am have the exact same problem as Homeade for Heros in above posts.  I have tried almost everyone's recipe and have the same problem of the icing not setting up for 3-4 days and then sometimes it is still soft.  I live in the DFW area of Texas with about an average of 64% humidity.  I bought a huge dehumidifier, it hasn't helped one bit.  I tried many recipes and suggestions all to no avail, after mixing my icing it is dense but not stiff (won't hold a stiff peak) and will not set up.  I have resorted to recently placing an order of CK RI mix in hopes it will work, but I cannot afford to continue to order it on a regular basis.  Any suggestions?  Anyone else live in my area and not have problems?  

I think I’d try the scratch route IE Julia’s recipe. I have made cookies in the DFW area for Sheppard AFB Airmen in July. Took longer to dry but only overnight not days. I’ll be there again next week

I hope you figure it out. I definitely feel your pain.