You’ve been on a cookie course, iced some cookies that looked ... fairly good… for your first attempt! Now you’re at home, ready to make your own icing …

But how?

Before We Begin: The Panic, the Backstory, and the Goal

The icing at the class was pre-made and ready in colourful piping bags, all neatly lined up when you arrived there with your bestie! Now you’re home alone and you’re not so sure on what to do! Sound familiar? Not to worry! I’ve got you!

Hi! I’m Liz, creator of “Mrs Brown’s Biscuits”. I started out doing a Christmas icing class in 2017 and LOVED it. I was SO proud of my first six cookies and thought they were masterpieces! I continued icing cookies, using friends and family as ‘guinea pigs’. At the end of 2019 I resigned from my teaching job (after teaching for 24 years) to ice cookies full time! But I digress…

You’re here reading this, to learn HOW to make royal icing! Without great royal icing, mixed to the correct consistency, your cookies aren’t going to look great! Firstly, you need a recipe and a few items to start!

But how?

The Recipe

Step 1: Mix Water and Actiwhite

Mix 150ml of water (at room temperature) and 2 tablespoons actiwhite. Allow this to stand for 5 minutes.

ACTI- what?? Actiwhite is dried egg white that we hydrate with water. If you don’t have actiwhite (which is available at most baking shops) then you’ll need 150mls of egg white, (roughly 4-8 eggs depending on the size egg you use). Don't add any water to this.

Step 2: Add Icing Sugar

You are then going to mix the hydrated actiwhite mixture OR the 150ml egg whites with 1 KG of icing sugar.

The most important step is to SIEVE the icing sugar. This is what will ensure there are no lumps in your finished product that will clog your icing nozzles.

Step 3: Mix Together

A stand mixer is best for this next bit. You are going to mix the ‘liquid’ and the sieved icing sugar together to combine it. The secret is to beat it till it's light and fluffy – at LEAST 5 minutes on a LOW setting.

If you don’t have a stand mixer, beat half the actiwhite/egg and 500g icing sugar, then beat the other half .

Step 4: Store Your Icing

Once your icing has been mixed, keep it in an airtight container till you’re ready to use it!

• If you’ve used actiwhite, it’ll keep fresh on your counter 3–4 weeks.

• If you’ve used fresh eggs, then pop it into the fridge and it'll keep fresh for 3–4 days.

You can also freeze your royal icing mixture!

Coming Up Next...

Now that your icing is made, you can add water to make different consistencies. I’ll show you how to do this in the next blog post!

Happy Icing!