Royal Icing Consistency
When I started decorating cookies, the single most frustrating thing for me (and I knew I was not alone) was royal icing consistency. I was known as The Bald Baker because Royal Icing Consistency made me pull my hair out every time I made it. When I grew my hair back I changed my name to The Bearfoot Baker. I looked and looked for videos and tutorials, but there were not any so I began to play. I made batch after batch until I got it right. Here is “my” way of doing it. I want this to be a starting point for you because what works for me, may not work for you.
I’m working on updating this post. I’ll have it updated soon so we can decorate cookies together. Bear with me because I’m so excited to give you decorating tips that you can use to make beautiful cookies! Today is 10/14/2021 so stay tuned!
I grew up watching TV shows like “The Beverly Hillbillies.” I am kinda like them as far as keeping things simple. So, I will start with what I call my “Fancy Icing.” You know, like how the Clampetts called the dining room table “The Fancy Eaten Table!” I don’t know the proper name of this icing and I don’t want to. It is thick and makes my cookies beautiful or “Fancy”. Good enough for me!
Royal Icing Consistency:
Fancy Icing
This icing is straight from the mixer. I didn’t thin it down. As a matter of fact, I used this recipe and removed 1 1/2 TBLS of water so it would be thicker.
When you pull your spoon out it should make a peek like this one.
When you squeeze this icing onto a cookie it should hold it’s shape. This consistency is used for flowers, ribbon roses, shell borders and other techniques to fancy up your cookies. Remember my penguins? I used this icing for their hats. I will show you more things you can do with this icing soon.
How do you know the difference between your icing? Well, it is easy. You cut it with a knife and see how long it takes for the cut to disappear. The number of seconds it takes to disappear will tell you what consistency it is. I will show you.
Just so you know, I NEVER use a stopwatch to time my icing! I just count but people count at different speeds so this is my way of showing you the difference. A picture is worth a thousand words right?
Outline Icing:
I was a little surprised to see my outline icing was 30 second icing. I do like it a little thick but that seemed a little long. So, I put it in a bag and it was just the way I liked it. When I used it for piping, it came out of the bag very easy but held its shape.
Flood Icing:
This is my flood icing. The line disappeared after 5.9 seconds. So lets call it 6 Second Flood. I like it like this because I can flood a lot of cookies really fast and it makes the surface of the cookies smooth and ready for the detail work.
Fifteen Second Icing:
This is my Fifteen Second Icing. I learned this from SweetSugarBelle. When she did her post on Twenty Second Icing I got so excited that I almost did a cartwheel.
Why do we need Fifteen Second Icing? I am glad you asked. Let me show you.
When Outline and Flood Get Together:
In these pictures you will notice 2 bags. One is for outlining and one for flooding. I use outline and flood most of the time when I decorate. I love outline icing for detail work because I feel like it gives me the control I need. It is like a well behaved dog. It knows how to sit and stay! I put it where I want it and will stay all day.
“Remember Tom Cruise in “Top Gun?” Well, that is how flood icing makes me feel. To quote Maverick, “I feel the need…the need for speed!” I can flat out make some cookies with this icing! I squeeze and it just knows what to do. It fills every hole and dries with no bumps or craters. Love this icing! When you put them together they look good and dry with an edge, kinda like Maverick and Goose.
The downfall to using outline and flood icings is, I have to mix two consistencies of icing, use 2 bags or bottles, use 2 couplers, use 2 tips and have double clean up! Yes, I will spend more time preparing the icing and more time during clean up. Not really fun but sometimes you need to do it.
Fifteen Second Icing:
Fifteen Second Icing is wonderful. You only need one bag to outline and flood. One bag, one coupler, one tip so it will cut your prep and clean up time in half. And when it dries, it is smooth and has a nice round edge with no outline. This icing consistency reminds me of being a mom in Nike’s! Yes you heard me, a mom in Nike’s. It gets the job done without wasting time! Just do it!
Well, there you have it. I use 4 consistencies of Royal Icing. I hope you start playing and experimenting until you find what works for you. Don’t give up because you will get it! I promise!!!
Everyone needs to find what works best for them but it is good to have a few people show you how they do it. So head over to these blogs and see how these amazing ladies like their icing. I wish there were around when I started decorating.
Here is the way my friend LilaLoa likes her icing.
Here is the way my friend SweetSugarBelle likes her icing.
Here is the way my friend Sweetopia likes her icing.
If you are looking for some tips and tricks to cookie decorating, you may enjoy the “Beginners Guide to Cookie Decorating”..
Bear hugs,
Great post! You are so right that what works for one person may not work for another. I have tried piping and flood, 20 second, 15 second, 10 second, etc. I always find myself going back to piping and flood. It’s more time and cleanup but it makes the cookies just like I like them. I’m gonna sound like a broken record but I just love your photos. You are a pro Lisa!
Melissa, I just outline and flood most of the time. Sometimes I will find a cute simple design that will allow me to use the Fifteen Second Icing but most of the time I make 2 of each color.
You are so sweet and you could never sound like a broken record here!! LOL!! I love when you leave me comments! You make my day:)
Happy Creating!
THANK YOU, THANK YOU for sharing what works for you! I STILL struggle with consistency at times!!!! Love how you showed everything step by step and loved seeing the stop watch!!!!! I’m so grateful to have so many amazing people willing to teach their techniques!!!! You’re cookies are all around AMAZING!!!
Oh fantastic – so happy to hear that your flood icing is so runny, I like it that way too – it’s great for wet on wet dots/hearts/marbling etc. Having read books and other web sites I thought I was being clumsy and I really ought to be using it thicker…like proper cookie decorators do!!! So happy to hear that all this time I WAS doing it like a proper cookie decorator – great blog Lisa, thanks so much.
I am new to cookie decorating and have only done pipe and flooding! How do the cookies turn out differently if you use 15 second icing to outline and flood rather than the two different consistencies?
Hi Christina, the only things I have noticed is the Fifteen Second Icing doesn’t dry with craters like the flood does sometimes and you don’t have the outline edge. Let me know if you have any other questions:)
Great post I personally outline and flood with one bag i dont have the patience to do two different icings haha but it definitely took alot of practice!
Thank you so much for this! I still struggle with icing consistency. You are too funny! I have one question. How many seconds is the icing you use for detailed work with # 00-1.5 tips? Thank you so much!
Great tutorial, I’m book marking for future reference.
Question – I have had so much trouble with dark icing fading onto light. I like your 6 sec icing idea but that seems to be where I get into trouble. Even with a nice dry outline when I introduce the looser icing it seems to cause the whole thing to fade out into the light color after several hours. Any thoughts?
I have 2 suggestions for this problem. The first is make and color your icing before and use less gel color. As the icing sits it will become a little darker.
The second suggestion is use a fan to help dry your cookies. SweetSugarBelle did a post and when I started doing it my bleeding troubles disappeared. You can find her post here.http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/2011/04/my-1-fan-wfmw/
Remember, you can always make your flood icing a little thicker. Humidity does effect royal icing so what works in one place may not work in another. I do feel like the fan will help you.
Thank you for this post! I just started decorating with royal icing in January and icing consistency is what I am struggling with. I need to be more patient with myself! You made me want to go make icing IMMEDIATELY but it is 10:00 PM so I think I’ll wait till tomorrow:)
Hey Susan, we all struggled with the icing in the beginning. Every now and then I still have a weird batch. Keep practicing and you will get it. Let me know if you have questions;)
I think we were feeling an icing consistency epidemic. Everyone needs to know!! (Do you mind if I add a link to this post on my post?)
Only if I can add yours to mine:)
Love the post. A couple of questions…are you thinning out with water or corn syrup and how much do you add? Or are you adding until it flows at the number of seconds you like?
I use water and the spray bottle in the picture to thin my icing. I add one spray at a time until I get it the right consistency.
What a fabulous post – Just pinned it to my cookie board! Thanks for the mention. xo
I love that you actually timed yourself. I’ve heard of the 15 sec. icing as 10 sec, 12 sec, 20 sec-etc cause everyone counts differently! It’s nice to see it actually timed. next time, I think I need to time myself to see how long my “12 second” icing really is!
This post is so awesome, Lisa! Hopefully you saw that I linked to it from one of my recent posts. I just think this answers so many questions for anyone who is new to cookie decorating. Getting the right icing consistency can be frustrating and posts like this are what helped me get it all figured out! Thanks so much for sharing!
Many thanks for the explanation and photos, I too was going to end up bald as my consitencies weren’t right. I will give these methods a try next time I bake.
Hello,
I have a question, what is the consistency difference between the edge icing and the flood icing?
Thanks!
The “outline” icing you put on the edge will hold its shape and not run off the side of the cookie. The “flood” icing is a little thinner so it will smooth out and not be rough or bumpy.
If you have any other questions feel free to email me at lisa@thebearfootbaker.com
Random question…
Does putting more or less icing come out smoother for you? I am trying to work out some of my normal issues and it just never looks as even and perfect as all the online cookies I see!
Hi Alexis, I like to build my icing up a little bit but, the smoothness depends on the way you make your icing. When I first started my icing was lumpy looking. Email me if you have more questions and I will do my best to help you.
When using the 15-sec icing, how long do you wait between outlining and flooding?
I wait until the outline sets up a little. You want it to be firm enough to support the flood.
BRILLIANT POST! THANKS! I only started experimenting with royal icing today and it drove me crazy to be honest! But I love it! One questiom.. When I add some water to make the flooding the colour becomes lighter and the overall result is not perfect as you can see the outlining darker than the flooding.. any tips for this? Thank you very much!
Hi Lisa, you are amazing!!! congrats on the blog and the great work you do!!! I live in Colombia (South America) and am a self taught artist/baker. I do “edible art”. It’s great to run into blogs like yours!! keep up the great work!
Hi Patti! I just looked at your site and you are very talented! Love the Halloween cake with the spiders!
Hi, thanks so much for the post! You mention using 4 consistencies of icing. Is one of them the 20 second icing of sugarbelle’s? What would be the benefit of using the 15 sec over the 20 sec and vice versa? I’ve not made them each so I’m having a hard time picturing the differences. I hope I’m making sense. I’m having a hard time verbalizing my question. 🙂
Hi, love the blog…I am so new to cookie decorating but you have made me believe I can do it. Last night I attempted to make some RI transfers and left them out all night to dry but this morning they were still kind of mushy on top and I don’t think they will come off the paper nicely in one piece. Do you happen to know what I might have done for this to happen? Thanks so much and your baking / cookies are amazingly beautiful!
Sometimes it takes royal icing transfers a little while to dry. I would suggest using a fan to dry them and make them a few days in advance. I live in a humid place and sometimes mine dry overnight and sometimes it takes 2 days. I wish there was a more precise answer but, you have to play it by ear with royal icing.
This is some great info! I’ve been doing custom cakes for years but have just started experimenting with cookies. Really helpful! Thanks and keep up the great work 🙂
Thanks Marija! Let me know if you have any cookie questions 😉
Thank you so much for sharing. I cannt wait to try. Royal icing is the something that I cannt seem to master. Hopefully after ur tips I will. Quick question , u made some cookies the other day and have found that they have craters in them but only in one color and it all came from the same batch. Do u know why this happens?
Hi Rachel,
Sweetopia made 2 great tutorials on air bubbles in royal icing. You can find them here:
http://sweetopia.net/2012/09/how-to-help-get-rid-of-air-or-bubbles-in-royal-icing/
http://sweetopia.net/2010/02/part-2-how-to-prevent-air-bubbles-in-royal-icing/
hiii, it is really useful site, i like to ask what are the tips number u r using?
thanks
Hi Amira,
I love PME Tips and usually use #1.5 for details, 2 for outlining and flooding small areas, and #2.5 for flooding large areas.
Thank you so much! Today is my first day to attempt piping royal icing on cookies. Love all the detail you put into this with the pictures. It really helps! Also, thank you for providing different types of piping consistencies. I hope my cookies look half as good as yours!
You can do it Molly! Let me know if you have any questions! Have fun making cookies!
hey
How long should I wait after flooding the cookies before making the artwork/designs over cookies …
Hi Malvika, What kind of design are you making on a base coat? Are you referring to icing, painting food gel? Email me at lisa@thebearfootbaker.com and I will be happy to help anyway I can.
Hugs!
hey lisa
i want to make mickey mouse cookie.
hugs
look how long ago you posted this and it is still inspiring beginners like me to try! to my knowledge, I have not tasted Royal Icing. The buttercream icing of my childhood’s cut-out cookies that Mom made is the only icing I ever recall eating. I gave up making cut-out cookies long ago because after alllllll that work,
they weren’t “pretty”. Royal Icing intrigues me.
a blog like yours is so FULL of all the information that I am delighted to find and download into my brain!
(yay me!) I SO APPRECIATE the time you have taken with photographs and explanations; it’s just great to “meet” people with such generous hearts that they literally share the wealth with all of us!
I thank you again! I have bought all my ingredients and am ready to try and I can’t help but feel successful already because of gals like you that have paved the way through to make my path easier.
many hugs woman!
Awe Michele! You are so sweet! Thank you for taking the time to leave such a nice comment. I have a few videos on royal icing as well so be sure to check them out.
Here is one no how to make royal icing with a hand mixer: http://thebearfootbaker.com/2014/06/make-royal-icing-with-a-hand-mixer/
How to outline and flood a cookie:
http://thebearfootbaker.com/2013/02/how-to-decorate-a-cookie-with-royal-icing-video/
How to make Royal Icing: http://thebearfootbaker.com/2013/04/how-to-make-royal-icing-video/
Let me know if you have any questions! Just email and I will come running! 😉
Just a quick question… Does the consistency of the icing affect the final hardness/crunch of the dried decoration. I’m thinking of using royal icing to pipe lace on waxed paper first then when it dries, transfer it onto flooded cookies when I need to for a raised effect. Would using a stiffer icing result in a stronger lace that is more resistant to breaking. Tried using a 10 second icing and it was really brittle.
Thanks and Regards.
Hi Richard,
Piping lace onto wax paper is fairly simple but, removing it in one piece is the hard part. Royal icing dries hard but, it is delicate. A thicker icing will give you a more defined line but won’t help with the breaking issue. I do know from experience, if you pipe a wider line on wax paper it will be less likley to break. I myself have never tried to do lace as a royal icing transfer. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done but, I think it would be extremely hard to remove it in one piece.
I wish I had a better answer for you. Sorry!
Hi Lisa
I am struggling to find meringue powder.. Just wondering how many egg white I need to use instead of the powder.. Thanks in advance
Looking forward to hearing from ya
Kara
Hi Kara,
I haven’t tried it with egg whites yet. It is on my list of things to try but in the meantime, here is Wilton’s recipe: http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Egg-White-Royal-Icing-1 and here is one from Sweetopia: http://sweetopia.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Classic-Royal-Icing-Made-with-Egg-Whites.pdf
Hope this helps,
Lisa
Holy cow, Batman, you just gave me the magic formula I need for icing. Up until now, it has been “that looks about right”.
Haha… me too 😀
Where can I find the 15 second icing recipe?
Hi Aviva,
Here is the link to the icing consistency: http://thebearfootbaker.com/2012/03/royal-icing-consistency/
Hi…to thicken my royal icing i added a lot of sugar but thw end result was terrible. The icing is a lot sugary and not frothy. What do i add to it to get the right consistency for flowers? ?
Hi Khadija,
When you make your batch of royal icing, cut down the amount of water your recipe calls for. If you recipe calls for 3/4 cup of water, take out 3-4 tablespoons before you add it to the meringue powder. (Here is the link to my RI Reciep: http://thebearfootbaker.com/2011/12/antonis-royal-icing/) The icing will taste the same but when mixed, it will be a lot thicker. Then, you can get the consistency you want when you add your food gel colors. Add a little water with a spray bottle filled with water to thin it or sprinkle a little powdered sugar at a time to thicken it.
My email is lisa@thebearfootbaker.com if you have more questions. I am here to help! 😉
I am new at this, but confused. Do you use 15 second icing to flood AND outline? I want to find a recipe that will do both because I can’t do separate icing because I can not for the life of me get the colours to match, so I need to use one icing for both. I think you said you do, but then it sounded like maybe you have separate recipes…help!!!!
You can use 15 second icing to outline and flood. If you outline and wait a few minutes to flood, your icing will show a line on the edge where the outline and flooded icing meets.
If you outline and flood immediately you icing will look like it is rounded and smooth without the line. It will look smooth until it touches the cookies.
Different decorators have different ways they prefer. I usually outline and wait. But you need to make a few and see which one works best for you.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Bear hug,
Lisa
Where is the 15 second recipe. Am I over looking it
Here is a link to my icing consistency: http://thebearfootbaker.com/2012/03/royal-icing-consistency/
Hello Lisa, just started following your blog and holy cow, I love it. I’m looking into making sunflower sugar cookies for my sister’s wedding and I think I’m going to pipe & flood a basic round cookie then use your stencil transfer method (inspired by your sleigh post) to make the sunflowers. Anyway, your blog has been so very insightful and inspiring, thanks a bunch!
What a great idea Amanda! I would love to see pictures of yur sunflower transfers when you make them. Your sister is lucky to have a cookie artist in the family!
Hi Lisa! I’ve been a longtime admirer of your work ever since I saw your awesome swan cookies as part of the 12 days of Christmas over on Callye’s site. I’ve always wanted to actually try out that tutorial but never really had the guts to do it – but today I finally baked up a batch of heart shaped cookies and am planning on doing the RI decorating tomorrow. However, I have a question about the icing consistencies.
1. What is the ‘second count’ for the ‘thick icing’ you refer to for the feathers on the wing?
2. Does the flood icing in the tutorial refer to the 5 second icing in this post?
3. Is it possible to pipe out the large dots for the feathers, then use a damp paintbrush to drag them out? I just discovered that I don’t actually have a piping tip in that size and was hoping I could get away with just piping the feathers with a hole snipped in the piping bag.
Thank you so much for your help! Apologies for all these questions and I also just want to say how much I love your blog:)
Hi Jacquelyn,
I am so glad you are going to make the swain cookies. They are still among my favorite cookies. Sorry it took me so long to respond to your questions. I have been playing with the grandkids and decorating the house. I hope I am not to late to help.
Let me try to answer your questions.
1. The “thick” icing I refer to needs to be thick enough to stay in place and maintain a dent once you pipe it.
2. My flood icing is 15 second icing and you can see the tutorial for my Royal Icing Consistency post here: http://thebearfootbaker.com/2012/03/royal-icing-consistency/
3. Yes you can use a paintbrush to make the feathers on the wings. When I first made these cookies that technique wasn’t as popular as it is now. I think it would look nice on the swans.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Bear hugs!
Hi Lisa;
I am looking forward to trying this recipe, just love new royal icing ideas and your templates are terrific! Once this summer heat spell is over I’ll be cranking up the oven and baking some cookies to try these ideas of yours. I loved the Beverly Hillbillies too … I think the dining room table was the actually their billiard table.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This all makes sense now!
I have been really struggling with my icing consistencies and have only realised a mistake has been made once it’s been mixed, put in the bag and onto the cookie, then I scream! The way you have described it makes perfect sense and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have just started cookie decorating but I love it already. I have a birthday coming up and I have listed all the cookie cutters I would like.
Happy early birthday Melanie!! I hope you get every cookie cutter you asked for and MORE!!! 😉
Thank you for this post and recipe post! It was very easy to follow and I got so many compliments on my cookies! I am looking forward to the 15 second icing tomorrow. 🙂
Love her look of royal icing the taste of buttercream. I have been trying to combine them with not much luck, does anyone have a recipe for better tasting Royal icing that looks good too?
Happy New Year Lisa,
May the New Year be better than this one.
I just finished reading your blog, you make an old lady from Riverside, CA feel like a 20 year old kid.
I will definitely try your methods for the RI. When I read your blog it’s like your reading my mind.
Thank you again for be a great teacher.
Your Pal,
Maria
I just have really started getting in to decorating sugar cookies across the past year. Probably mostly out of laziness, I have been doing about a 15 second Icing because I don’t wanna bother to take the time and extra equipment to do the outline and the flood. But, I do think they look better when you do the outline and the flood … so I’m starting to wonder about Maybe giving it a try. My question is what size of piping tip do you use for the outline? When I use the thick icing for details, I find that it doesn’t squeeze out of the smaller tip very well and sometimes my outline gets kinked up a little bit? So I would think maybe you need like at least a 2 or a 3? Maybe if you can help me with that info, then I might actually try a the outline and flood method for my Easter cookies. Thank you!
Hi Mel,
I usually use a PME #2 decorating tip to outline my cookies. If I want to go smaller sometimes I need to thin the icing ever so slightly so it doesn’t curl or get wonky when I pipe.
I’m so happy you’re decorating cookies and I’d love to see your work!