Royal Icing Airbubbles
Royal icing air bubbles are one of the most annoying things ever to cookie decorators. You can have a beautifully decorated cookie and then bam! One little air bubble wants to be the star of the show and make an unexpected appearance in the middle of your cookie. UGH! It is so frustrating.
It happens to all of us. Maybe not every day or every time we decorate, but it happens. I don’t think there is anything we can do to ever prevent them all from showing up in unwanted places, but we can take a few steps to slow them down.
I may not always have time to do everything I can to remove them, but my number one way to remove them is to do nothing. Place the icing on the counter and cover it with a damp towel and do nothing. Let it sit there for a little while. Doing nothing will allow the air bubbles to rise to the surface and then you can use a knife or an offset spatula to pop them. Doing nothing sometimes is very hard because it means we have to be patient.
Tips on how to Remove Royal Icing Airbubbles:
- Let your icing rest for a few minutes. You can cover the icing with a damp towel and let it rest on the counter for a few minutes. The air bubbles will make their way to the surface and you can pop them.
- Once you outline and flood your cookies, shake your cookie from side to side and tap it on the tabletop. This will force air bubbles to the surface of the cookie and you can pop them with a toothpick.
- I have noticed lately, the larger the piping tip I use the more air bubbles I have. It’s not so bad if you use a #3 tip, but if you use a #6 or trim a lot off the end of the decorating bag, look out. I did that for a large cookie and it had more bubbles than bubbles in a bubble bath.
- Mix the royal icing at a lower speed. The higher the speed and the longer you mix it, the more air bubbles that get incorporated into your icing.
- Once the icing is in the piping bag, massage it gently. You can even twirl it around in a circle like a helicopter blade so the bubbles will end up at the top of the bag and the icing will be pushed down to the tip. Maddie’s Cookie helped us with this tip and you can see her tutorial on Instagram! Look under Icing Tips and you will see her video. Thanks, Maddie!
Now like I said, this isn’t an end-all cure-all to remove all the royal icing air bubbles in the world. There will be air bubbles. We need to accept it and move on. Don’t stress over them. Just take a few steps to prevent them as best as you can keep decorating and have fun.
If you are looking for royal icing information you should check out the links below.
Royal Icing Quick TIp
How to fix a mistake on a cookie
How to decorate a cookie with royal icing video
Bear hugs,
Wow, let it rest… massage it….. Makes me almost wish I was royal icing as I could sure use a massage and a little nap. haaaaa. Great post Lisa.
Hi Lisa! Just wanted to share this great idea with you here, just in case you missed it. On Cookie Connection this past Sat., Jacinda of Ali’s Sweet Tooth was talking about using a dental vibrator to help bubbles to the surface, in royal icing. Here is the link to the chat … http://cookieconnection.juliausher.com/chat-event/live-chat-with-jacinda-baynes-harper-of-ali-s-sweet-tooth The comments about the dental vibrator starts around the 52nd or 53rd comment down.
Great tips! Thanks Lisa! I have another – Make icing bullets and stand them up or fill bottles and turn them upside down in a cup. The bubbles rise to the top. I always find that I have more air bubbles when I’m trying to squeeze out the last drops from a bullet.
Me, being patient is one of the hardest things, maybe I could do this if I put the bowl in another room and tried to forget about it. Again, you always make me want to go and whip up a big batch of royal icing, thanks for the tip!
For some reason lately, I am having a terrible problem with air bubbles:( Thanks for the tips, Lisa!