Of all the things I get asked about, my royal icing recipe is #1 – so here it is!
Some things to keep in mind:
- I find the 1/2 cup water is just enough to mix my icing to a nice stiff consistency that’s ready to be coloured and watered down as needed. Depending on your climate, you may need a little more or less water for the initial mixing.
- You can use any type of bakery extract or emulsion for flavouring, but keep in mind if you use a dark-coloured flavour like dark vanilla, it’ll affect the colour of your icing. I like Lorann Butter Vanilla as it’s light coloured and gives the icing a little extra buttery flavour.
- The lemon extract is added to help cut the sweetness and give the icing a fresh bright flavour. Be careful here as even a little too much can create a very strong lemon flavour (sometimes nice, but not always what you want when you’re going for a classic vanilla icing!). The pinch of salt is also added to help balance the sugar and is not noticeable in the finished icing.
- This recipe creates quite a bit of icing, so you can put it in air-tight containers and store on the counter if you’re planning to use it that day, or put it in the freezer for up to 6 months. I like to split my icing into 2 smaller containers so that it thaws quicker when I take the container out of the freezer.
Ingredients
- 5 Tbsp meringue powder (I use Wilton)
- 1/2 cup lukewarm water
- 1-2 Tbsp white corn syrup
- 2 tsp flavouring (I like Lorann Butter Vanilla)
- 1/8 tsp lemon extract
- Pinch of salt
- 1 bag of icing sugar (1kg or 2.2lbs)
- 2 tsp white gel colouring (optional)
Directions
Spoon 5 leveled tablespoons of meringue powder into the bowl of your mixer. Add 1/2 cup water and whisk by hand until meringue powder is dissolved (make sure you use a silicone or plastic whisk if you have a metal mixer bowl! You can also mix in another bowl and then transfer to your mixer).
Add corn syrup (I usually do one generous tablespoon but this doesn’t need to be an exact measurement), flavouring, lemon extract and salt and give it a quick whisk to combine.
Add icing sugar, then turn on your mixer and mix on low until the ingredients come together. The mixture will be very thick. Turn your mixer up to medium speed (I use speed 4 on my Kitchen Aid) and mix for 2 minutes.
After 2 minutes, turn the mixer off and scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Turn the mixer back on medium speed for around 1.5-2 more minutes. Overmixing is the WORST thing you can do to royal icing, so watch it carefully at this stage! You’ll see the icing start to lose it’s shine and form peaks along the sides of the mixer. Turn your mixer off and test the icing by dipping a spoon in it and pulling upward. The icing is done mixing when it’s matte-looking and forms a stiff peak that doesn’t bend when you pull the spoon out of it.
Optional step: Just before my icing is done mixing, I add a few teaspoons of white gel colour and continue mixing until it’s combined. This creates a nice, bright and opaque icing and can also help prevent colour bleed. If you do add gel colour, you’ll likely need to mix for another 30 seconds or so to compensate for the extra moisture you’ve added.