Royal Icing

Ingredients: 

2 egg whites

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice or vinegar

12oz/330g icing sugar, sifted

Method: 
  1. Using a clean bowl, beat the whites until they are foamy (do not allow any yolk in the egg whites).
  2. Add the lemon juice or vinegar, then gradually add the sugar, beating until thickened.
  3. Make sure that you keep the bowl covered with a damp teatowel when not in use - royal icing can quickly get a crust.

 

If you're spreading the icing to coat a cake you need to make the mixture a little runnier than if you're piping.

When flooding shapes to make decorations don't be impatient - make sure that you wait at least overnight, and preferably 24 hours (more for thicker shapes) before attempting to take them off the sheet.

Royal icing colours well, and dries to a hard, resilient, matte finish.

You can keep it covered in the fridge for a few days.

If you're worried about using raw egg whites, you can use powdered egg white and it'll work just as well (no, really - royal icing works great with powdered egg white)