It’s been awhile since I’ve created a blog, so I thought it’s time for me to sit down and take a break from cookie making and instead focus on helping other cookie decorators sort out some of their cookie decorating problems. I’ll be creating a series of troubleshooting blogs, so watch this space for more cookie decorating problems explained. Here I will be discussing how to tell when your icing is over-mixed.
How do you make your royal icing? When I first started making cookies in 2013, I looked everywhere for a good royal icing recipe. I would find one recipe, try it out a couple times and then realise it wasn’t exactly what I had hoped. Either the taste didn’t hit the spot, or it dried too quickly while I was working with it, or didn’t dry at all! If it didn’t dry at all, it became obvious that something was wrong! The icing seemed quite thick and marshmallow-y before I got it to the right consistency, but once it was the right consistency, it seemed fine to use for flooding my cookies. But there I was wrong, because if it’s been over-mixed, it takes MUCH longer for the icing to dry- sometimes several days! And it’s hard to tell how long to mix your royal icing for- many recipes suggest mixing for up to ten minutes! I have always found this to be way too long. Or if you lose track of the time you’ve been mixing, you can also easily over-mix, which is why it’s important to babysit your royal icing while it is being mixed in the mixer. You need to keep an eye on it and make sure that you only mix it until it looks thick and “spiky”. It’s not an exact science, but once you know what to look for with your finished royal icing, then you’ll get it right every time!
If you’ve been looking for a good royal icing recipe, I’ve got you covered! You can buy my royal icing recipe here. And feel free to message me with any questions you have about my recipe; I’m always happy to help!