Vegan Royal Icing Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is a trick for royal icing? ›

Most of the problems I've encountered with royal icing can be solved by making sure the icing is not over-mixed. The icing should be thick and creamy when it comes off the mixer rather than light and fluffy. I mix my royal icing on medium-low speed for no longer than 5 minutes.

Salmonella will not grow in the frosting, but bacteria present in the egg may still be alive. Although the risk is relatively low, it is best for immune-compromised people not to eat royal icing made using fresh egg whites. Dried egg whites are a safe option since they have been pasteurized.

Meringue powder can get expensive, and it's made with eggs, which we don't want. Use either xanthan gum or arrowroot powder instead of meringue powder to make royal icing without eggs. You only need a half teaspoon of either of these for the recipe, so one container will last you a very long time!

Undermix, and your royal icing looks translucent and is structurally weak. Overwhip, and you're giving too much volume to the egg proteins via air, causing the structure to weaken in a different way. Overmixed icing usually looks porous when dry, and sometimes will not even fully dry and be soft/brittle.

There are three main types of royal icing: stiff consistency, piping consistency, and flood consistency. They are used for different decorating techniques, although sometimes you can use different consistencies to achieve the same result.

Using salt and acid (cream of tartar) balances the sugary sweetness. Silver rum adds a subtle flavor, without darkening the icing like vanilla. Creaming helps minimize the grit of powdered sugar.

One of the key ingredients to making the perfect royal icing is meringue powder, an egg white substitute that offers a stable, easy-to-work-with consistency without the headaches and hassles associated with raw egg whites.

A lot of recipes (especially those written in the USA) call for corn syrup, and glucose liquid can be used instead! Glucose liquid can also be used to soften icing, create a softer crumb where flour is used in cake recipes, and can thin down royal icing to prevent it from setting too firm.

Is Royal Icing Made with Raw Egg Whites Safe to Eat? The risk is slight, but it is certainly possible for raw egg whites to contain food-borne pathogens, such as Salmonella. Fortunately, you can prepare royal icing using two different methods with little to no risk by using meringue powder or pasteurized egg whites.

Why does royal icing smell bad? ›

You'll know it's bad if you open it and it has puffed up a lot (bacteria growth) and/or it smells sour. If you're using pasteurized egg whites or fresh egg whites in your royal icing recipe, shelf life is generally lowered by about 50% for countertop, and 25% for fridge, and remains the same for freezer.

Cookie icing can be used in the same way that royal icing can; however, it doesn't dry as hard as royal icing does. It's great for flooding cookies or piping designs into wet icing. To thin the consistency of cookie icing, just pop it in the microwave for about 20 seconds.

The greatest point of failure when making vegan meringues is whipping, or actually not whipping the aquafaba enough. You should get to really stiff peaks. So if you are in doubt, whip a couple of minutes longer.

Is there a different recipe for each consistency? Nope! The way you make royal icing is to mix the icing to a stiff or medium peak (the thickest you'll need) and then thin with water from there. There is NO such thing as a perfect recipe for piping or flood consistency.

Start with a base icing that has white gel added to it. Uncolored royal icing has an off-white natural tinge and is more likely to allow bleed and absorb color. Add white gel to your base to act as a stabilizer to prevent color bleed right off the bat. The biggest culprit in color bleed is usually oversaturated color.

Luckily, there are multiple ways that you can speed up the process. Leave your cookies to try at room temperature and expose them to as much airflow as possible. If your home is humid, use a dehumidifier or a fan to help dry the cookies quicker, or use a heat gun to solidify the icing at lightning speed.

Corn syrup helps give shine and also a soft-bite to your icing. Without corn syrup, your royal icing can be as hard as a rock, and no one wants to chip a tooth on a cookie. I use 1 Tablespoon of Karo Light Corn Syrup in my icing recipe. I've seen some cookiers use more but this ratio works well for me.