Dec 21, 2015 I do not claim to be an expert cookie decorator by any stretch of the imagination, but I sure do have fun and this icing is really easy to work with. It only needs two ingredients – egg whites and confectioners’ sugar. I use pasteurized egg whites in a carton just to be safe. You can add food colouring if you like, but I usually avoid it – I quite like the look of all white designs. If you do want pretty colours, gel food colouring will create a much bolder hue than liquid. If you want to “flood” your cookie, which means make a background, first outline your cookie (this creates a dam), then fill it in and tap it on the counter to level it out. You may add a tablespoon or two of water to the icing to achieve a thinner consistency. Let it dry completely (a couple of hours) before going back in and adding detail on top. I use this set to decorate cookies – I love the accordion squeeze bottles; they make it so much easier to get all the icing out. (You can see it in this Chewy Gingerbread Cookies post.) The icing dries hard, so be sure to cover any icing not in use. To store royal icing, refrigerate right in icing squeeze bottles or else tightly covered in storage containers.
