This Royal Icing Recipe with Meringue Powder is delicious, smooth and glossy, has stiff peaks for decorating, but also thins easily for yielding different textures and flooding. You will love this versatile royal icing recipe!
Table of Contents
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
- Delicious taste and is less sweet and chalky than recipes made with real egg whites.
- Only has 4 ingredients and is easy to make.
- Is silky with a nice sheen and produces minimal air bubbles.
- Holds its shape well when piping flowers and outlining.
- Has a beautiful texture and is easy to thin for flooding.
- Does not have a hard bite, but is firm enough to stack and package cookies, if needed.
Royal icing with meringue powder is used for decorating sugar cookies, achieving intricate designs on cakes, making royal icing flowers you can save for decorating and it can also be used as glue for gingerbread houses.
I’ve tried many royal icing recipes with my favorite sugar cookie recipe and this one that I found online so many years ago has always been the only one I will use.
This recipe, frequently called Antonia76, has been very popular in the cookie and cake decorating world for obvious reasons. I don’t think you will be disappointed!
Ingredients
- warm water
- meringue powder (I like Satin Ice brand)
- cream of tartar
- powdered sugar
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Step 1: Add warm water and meringue powder to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.
Step 2: Using a hand whisk, beat water and meringue powder for about 30 seconds until frothy.
Step 3: Add cream of tartar to the water and meringue powder mixture.
Step 4: Using a hand whisk, beat in the cream of tartar for about 30 seconds more until combined.
Step 5: Add powdered sugar all at once to the bowl with the water, meringue powder and cream of tartar.
Using a paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer using the beater attachments), beat on low for about 30 seconds.
Step 6: Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber/silicone spatula. Continue beating on low for 5 minutes.
Step 7: Increase mixer speed to medium and beat another 5 minutes.
Once your royal icing is mixed, cover the bowl with a damp tea towel to prevent crusting and drying.
Tint your icing with gel icing colors and thin with small amounts of warm water to reach your desired consistencies and decorate!
Hint: When thinning royal icing, I like to use a small spray bottle to add water a little bit at a time.
Variations
- Change up the flavors by adding vanilla or almond extract, butter emulsion or lemon juice. If you do decide to do this, just adjust the water amount because the extracts will change the consistency.
Equipment
- stand or hand mixer
- large mixing bowl if not using a stand mixer
- measuring cups and spoons
- glass measuring cup
- rubber/silicone spatula
- kitchen scale for weighing powdered sugar
- small spray bottle
- tea towel
Storage
On the counter: Store royal icing in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days. I also cover the bowl with plastic wrap before placing the lid on. It gives it that extra seal.
In the refrigerator: Store royal icing in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Let the icing come to room temperature and mix well before using.
In the freezer: Store royal icing in the freezer in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months. Let the icing come to room temperature and mix well before using.
Top Tips
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of corn syrup to royal icing if you’re going to be making large decorations like flowers. When you have large or thick decorations, they tend to be a little hard to bite. When I made the cookies in the photos above, I added corn syrup to yield a softer bite on the flowers.
Related
Looking for other buttercream, frosting and icing recipes? Visit this page.
You can also visit my cake and cookie decorating page for other decorating ideas.
Royal Icing Recipe with Meringue Powder
Equipment
- stand or hand mixer
- large mixing bowl if not using a stand mixer
- measuring cups and spoons
- glass measuring cup
- Rubber/silicone spatula
- kitchen scale for weighing powdered sugar
- small spray bottle
- tea towel
Ingredients
- 6 ounces (170g) warm water
- 5 tablespoons meringue powder (I like Satin Ice brand)
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 2.25 pounds (1 kg) powdered sugar (About 8 1/8 cup, but I recommend using a digital scale for accuracy.)
Instructions
- Add warm water and meringue powder to the bowl of stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.
- Using a hand whisk, beat water and meringue powder for about 30 seconds until frothy.
- Add cream of tartar to the water and meringue powder mixture.
- Using a hand whisk, beat in the cream of tartar for about 30 seconds more until combined.
- Add powdered sugar all at once to the bowl with the water, meringue powder and cream of tartar.
- Using a paddle attachment in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer using the beater attachments), beat on low speed for about 30 seconds.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber/silicone spatula. Continue beating on low speed for 5 minutes.
- Increase mixer speed to medium and beat another 5 minutes.
- Once your royal icing is mixed, cover the bowl with a damp tea towel to prevent crusting and drying.
- Tint your icing with gel icing colors and thin with small amounts of warm water to reach your desired consistencies and decorate!
Notes
This royal icing recipe with meringue powder takes some experimenting to get it to the consistency you like it for piping and flooding, but once you practice a little bit, you will love it!
Pair this recipe with my perfect non-spread sugar cookies.
If you try my recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below. I love to hear from readers.
Sweet regards,
Michele
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