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Customizable Royal Icing
Customizable Royal Icing

Perfect Customizable Royal Icing

November 28, 2017 Posted by Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More Recipes 42 Comments

Here’s a link to my YouTube video of me making royal icing and chocolate sugar cookies (Live Broadcast!).  https://youtu.be/kH5ciAJALEo

Join our Facebook group! Ask questions, connect with other bakers (new & experienced), and have fun!

Customizable Royal Icing

Perfect Customizable Royal Icing

I love this Perfect Customizable Royal Icing because it's easy to make, flavor, and use! Here's an amazing Foolproof No Chill No Spread Sugar Cookie recipe to use this icing on! Be creative and mix and match your flavors!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Treats

Equipment

  • Stand Mixer
  • Silicone Spatula

Ingredients

  • 907 grams powdered sugar
  • 85 grams meringue powder
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 162 grams warm water
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla (see notes below recipe for other flavor options)
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • Add your vanilla (or other flavoring) to your warm water and set aside.
  • Using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer on low, mix your powdered sugar, meringue powder, and cream of tartar together.
  • With your mixer on low, slowly pour your warm water with your flavoring into the dry ingredients.
  • As soon as all of the ingredients are incorporated, scrape down the bottom and sides of your bowl.
  • Turn your mixer to medium-high and beat until the royal icing is white and will hold a stiff peak when the paddle is removed. This won't take more than an a few minutes (2-4).
  • This is a fairly thick consistency because that's how I prefer mine. Even when flooding my cookies, I use it thicker than most people. Remember, the thinner the royal icing is, the longer it will take to dry. You can very easily add small amounts of water to thin it out to your preferred consistency.
  • To store, place into an airtight container. I also put a piece of plastic wrap onto the royal icing to keep it from forming a crust. I prefer to keep mine in the fridge for up to a month (although, it's usually gone within 2 weeks). You can also store this in the freezer for months! It can be stored in a container or piping bags as both ways work great!
  • Customizable Royal Icing

Notes

  For different flavors you can very easily sub out the vanilla for other flavorings and emulsions! I would recommend starting with 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons instead of a tablespoon as they have different potencies. You can also use spices as flavorings! Again, start with 1 teaspoon because they do go further. When coloring my royal icing I prefer Americolor gels because they are much more pigmented and last much longer!    

 

 

            
Tags: icingroyal icingsugar cookies
42 Comments
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42 Comments

Leave your reply.
  • Dorothea
    · Reply

    April 12, 2022 at 9:45 AM

    Hi and thank you for sharing such wonderful recipes for all us bakers!! I have made you Carrot Cake Sugar cookies and went and bought the Watkins Cream Cheese Flavor. The first time using I just added to my already made Royal Icing which already had Almond Extract in it so you could not taste much cream cheese. I am making a fresh batch of RI and plan to use only the cream cheese flavoring. Since it is a flavoring not an extract I am wondering how much to use?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      April 14, 2022 at 6:33 AM

      Hi Dorothea! Sorry for the late reply! When I’m using the flavorings I start with adding half of what I’d use if it were an extract and go from there. A tip on any cream cheese flavoring you’re using is that a little goes a long way and it’s best to taste it once it’s dried on a cookie. Happy baking! 🙂

  • Joanne
    · Reply

    August 26, 2021 at 10:54 AM

    Hello! I saw that you like Amoretti flavorings, I looked at the website and they have tons of different vanillas! Which vanilla do you typically use for your royal icing? I’d like to try one instead of my emulsion. Thanks so much!

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      August 26, 2021 at 1:44 PM

      Hi Joanne! This Madagascar Vanilla (clickable link) is the vanilla I use from them when I just need a vanilla in general. I do also love their Artisan Vanilla Bean when I don’t mind having the little flecks showing. 🙂 Hope that helps and happy baking!

  • Shelly
    · Reply

    April 17, 2021 at 8:30 PM

    I just made the birthday cake cookies and they are delicious! How far in advance can I decorate the cookies with the royal frosting for a bday party. I’m very slow. Lol. If it’s a week away, do you recommend freezing?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      April 17, 2021 at 8:39 PM

      Hi Shelly! I’m so glad you like them! You can decorate as far in advance as you’d like as freezing is definitely an option 🙂 For something a week away there’s no need to freeze as they’ll still be good as long as you’re putting them in something overnight. Here’s a post I did on Storing & Freezing cookies –> (clickable link) Freezing & Storing Macarons Filled & Unfilled

  • AZW
    · Reply

    March 30, 2021 at 9:29 AM

    I’m planning to bake some cookies for Ramadan and Eid soon and using royal icing for the first time – I can’t wait to try this! I was never fond of royal icing but I don’t think I’ve ever had any that was flavored, so maybe this will be the answer. My question is about emulsions: I’m not familiar with them, are they different to work with in a recipe like this than other flavor extracts? I’m not sure about their consistency, texture, etc. Is there anything I should know specific to emulsions if I decide to try one of those? Thank you!

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      March 30, 2021 at 10:04 AM

      Hi AZW! When using emulsions you always want to start with half of what any recipe would call for in the amount of extracts because the emulsions do tend to be stronger. Their consistency is slightly thicker (think syrup or honey) but they don’t have a different texture. Other than that, they’re great and very easy to use! You also don’t have to flavor an entire batch of royal. You can flavor as much or as little of it as needed 🙂 Have fun, stay creative, and I’m always available to answer questions! Thank you!

  • Silvia Harwood
    · Reply

    December 27, 2020 at 7:38 PM

    Can I use orange extract on royal icing for flavoring?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      December 28, 2020 at 9:00 AM

      Hi Silvia! You can use any extract to flavor your royal 🙂

  • Karla
    · Reply

    December 19, 2020 at 10:52 PM

    Hi. Can I use alcohol like Bourbon or Rum Chata to flavor royal icing?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      December 20, 2020 at 5:04 PM

      Hi Karla! You sure can! 🙂

  • K Sea
    · Reply

    July 20, 2020 at 10:15 AM

    what flavorings( which brand?) do you find work well for royal icing? I want to make a variety of flavored icings, like lime, orange, cherry….

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      July 20, 2020 at 12:21 PM

      Hi K Sea! There’s a pretty endless amount of options there. Any extracts will work, ground spices (though they will leave the tiny spots), and Kool-Aid (though it will change the color as well). There are quite a few other ways to flavor them like using ground down freeze dried fruits, but a lot of these things will change the color or appearance (add spots) of the royal. Stay creative and have fun! 🙂

  • Melissa
    · Reply

    July 1, 2020 at 6:17 PM

    Hello!
    The recipe says to use 6 Tbsp of meringue powder and the video says to use 5 Tbsp. Which is correct?
    Thanks!!

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      July 2, 2020 at 7:47 AM

      Hi Melissa! I use 6 tablespoons.

  • Violeta
    · Reply

    May 4, 2020 at 11:43 PM

    Can you half this recipe ? 😅

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      May 5, 2020 at 7:39 AM

      Hi Violeta! Yes ma’am, you can easily halve any of my recipes 🙂

  • Kathy Herschbach
    · Reply

    April 8, 2020 at 11:35 AM

    Good morning, I don’t have meringue powder but I do have pasteurized egg whites. Is there a way to use them as a substitute? How much would I use?

    Thanks Kyn

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      April 10, 2020 at 10:44 AM

      Hi Kathy! I haven’t used the pasteurized egg whites in royal icing, but you can use 3 tablespoons of the pasteurized egg whites to replace two tablespoons of meringue powder. 🙂

  • Heather
    · Reply

    March 18, 2020 at 5:01 PM

    Hi just baked a batch of your salted caramel cookies and curious what flavor icing you enjoy most with it.

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      March 23, 2020 at 10:52 AM

      Hi Heather! I like to use vanilla.

  • Sandra DeShong
    · Reply

    February 27, 2020 at 1:46 PM

    Hello, how do I or what can I use to get the icing shiny?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      February 28, 2020 at 7:03 AM

      Hi Sandra! By nature, royal icing doesn’t dry shiny. You can add corn syrup to it (up to 2 tbsp per batch), but it won’t dry quite as sturdy as it would without it. It will help with a bit of a shine but there’s not a way to have it dry and look like it does when it’s still wet. 🙂

  • Anjie
    · Reply

    February 2, 2020 at 4:57 PM

    I love your royal icing and sugar cookie recipes, I made 300 cookies for a church function this last weekend, they tasted amazing, and both turned out great, the only complaint I have is that the icing looked a little dull after it dried, is this how it is supposed to be or did I do something wrong?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      February 3, 2020 at 9:35 AM

      Hi Anjie! That’s awesome and thank you for the feedback 🙂 You didn’t do anything wrong. Royal icing dries more matte than shiny.

  • Lourdes
    · Reply

    January 22, 2020 at 8:50 AM

    Has anyone tried flavoring the royal icing with cream cheese emulsion? I want to make the red velvet roll out cookies and I love the combination of red velvet and cream cheese but have read some mixed reviews on the cream cheese emulsion taste…thanks for the feedback!

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      January 23, 2020 at 7:07 AM

      Hi Lourdes! You can use the cream cheese emulsion to flavor your royal icing. It smells pretty crazy while you’re making it, but once it dries the smell is gone and the taste is great with the Red Velvet and the Carrot Cake Sugar Cookies! 🙂

    • Mariza
      · Reply

      May 4, 2020 at 3:39 PM

      Your recipes look great. Can’t wait to try some. Any recommendations on merengue powder and food coloring brands for the royal icing?

      • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
        · Reply

        Author
        May 5, 2020 at 7:40 AM

        Hi Mariza! Thank you. 9 times out of 10 I use Wilton meringue powder and Americolor gel food colors 🙂

  • Juls
    · Reply

    June 24, 2019 at 7:03 PM

    Hi I was wondering if your icing turns out hard/crunchy? I have had a lot of feedback about customers liking the soft, more glaze-like icing I make. It will stiffen when dry, but is soft to bite. I’m asking because I would like to freeze some cookies and I’m concerned about my icing not freezing well. Thanks!

    • 6cakesandmore
      · Reply

      June 24, 2019 at 7:47 PM

      Hi Juls! I haven’t had any complaints about the icing being crunchy. It’s definitely more sturdy than glaze, but it’s not hard or crunchy. I hope that helps! 🙂

  • Randee Parker
    · Reply

    March 21, 2019 at 12:33 PM

    I’m curious as to why thinner royal icing takes longer to dry. “ Remember, the thinner the royal icing is, the longer it will take to dry. “ I thought the opposite would be true.

    • 6cakesandmore
      · Reply

      March 25, 2019 at 3:11 PM

      Hi Randee! The thinner royal takes longer to dry because it has more water in it than thicker royal. More water = longer drying time (more liquid to evaporate/interact with the other ingredients). I hope this helps! Thanks!

  • Heather
    · Reply

    January 25, 2019 at 9:34 PM

    Hi Kyndall! I’m assuming this recipe makes a lot more icing than what’s needed for one batch of your “no chill gingerbread cookies.” I see that you can refrigerate the left overs. Do you use it the next time right out of the fridge cold or do you have to warm it to room temperature?

    • 6cakesandmore
      · Reply

      January 26, 2019 at 12:42 PM

      Hi Heather! Yes, this makes a decent amount of royal. You can freeze and/or refrigerate leftovers. I highly suggest letting it come to room temp before using, especially if you need to thin or color it. If you use it cold, it will be thicker than it will be at room temp, so keep that in mind. It doesn’t take long to thaw or bring to room temp at all (I just set it on the counter for a bit). I hope that helps 🙂

  • Cathy Fix
    · Reply

    March 18, 2018 at 5:27 PM

    How exactly to I apply the icing to the cookie so that it is so perfectly smooth like glass, as yours are?

    • 6cakesandmore
      · Reply

      March 19, 2018 at 12:29 PM

      Hi! That’s kind of hard to explain in text. If you click the link to the YouTube video in the recipe, I show how to flood the cookies the way that I do. There are a few YouTube videos I’ve made there that will help.

  • Sigma
    · Reply

    February 28, 2018 at 9:09 AM

    Do you have a vegan royal icing recipe that does not use the meringue powder?

    • Kyndall @ 6 Cakes & More
      · Reply

      Author
      February 28, 2018 at 7:36 PM

      I’m sorry, at this time I do not.

  • Anonymous
    · Reply

    January 23, 2018 at 8:07 AM

    Hi Kyn what could I substitute the cream of tartar for? I’ve made your cookie dough, turned out magnificent but have no tartar for my icing. Thanks regards Connie

    • 6cakesandmore
      · Reply

      January 23, 2018 at 9:22 AM

      You can leave the cream of tartar out if you don’t have any. 🙂 It’s just a stabilizer, but it won’t negatively affect the outcome if you don’t use it.

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