Skip to main content

Royal Icing

If not using immediately, transfer to an airtight container (icing hardens quickly when exposed to air), and store at room temperature for up to one week. Beat with a rubber spatula before using.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

1 pound confectioners’ sugar
5 tablespoons meringue powder
Liquid or gel-paste food coloring (optional)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugar, meringue powder, and a scant 1/2 cup water on low speed. Beat until mixture is fluffy yet dense, 7 to 8 minutes.

    Step 2

    To thin the icing for flooding (filling in areas with a thin layer of icing), stir in additional water, 1 teaspoon at a time. Test the consistency by lifting a spoonful of icing and letting it drip back into the bowl; a ribbon should remain on the surface for 5 to 7 seconds.

    Step 3

    To tint icing, dip a toothpick or wooden skewer into food coloring, and gradually mix it in until the desired shade is reached.

Reprinted with permission from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart. © 2005 Clarkson Potter
Read More
We’ve got baked cheddar and leek pasta, maple-mustard sheet-pan salmon, and a strawberry shortcake roll.
You don’t need melted chocolate to make a good brownie
Keep this easy frittata recipe on hand for quick breakfasts, impressive brunches, and fridge clean-out meals.
Like lemony baked salmon and strawberry shortcake roll.
Like spicy carrot rigatoni and weeknight-fancy ravioli with peas.
Turn humble onions into this thrifty yet luxe pasta dinner.
Thinly sliced and cooked hot and fast, pork tenderloin is the juicy, cook-quicking weeknight champion of this vegetable-heavy stir-fry.
Filberts, goobers, scaly bark nuts: Explore the world beyond almonds in this guide.