I made a video yo. Try not to laugh ;) I wanted to share with you my real life experiences working with royal icing, and instead of publishing a photo tutorial, I thought a video might be helpful. Yes, I know there's hundreds of videos out there, but for those that read my blog, now you don't have to waste time scouring You Tube. I have no idea if anyone is even interested in learning how to use royal icing, but for this amateur cook and baker, it has always been something I wanted to learn to do. I consider conquering royal icing my personal climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro. A little dramatic? Maybe. But you know I always err on the side of the dramatic.
Here's the recipe I use.
Royal Icing (adapted from Williams Sonoma recipe)
3 egg whites at room temp
4 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
pinch of salt
a few drops of vanilla extract for flavoring (optional)
Place all ingredients in the bowl of a mixer with the whisk attachment and mix until combined.
I tried the bagged royal icing from the cake shoppe that you just add water too but didn't like the taste or consistency as much. The important thing about this recipe though is you have to add bits of water to it at the end to get the right consistency. I explain this in the video though.
Before we move onto the video, I just wanted to say thank you very much for all your thoughts and prayers about our kitty Zach. We've looked at both the local Long Beach and Orange County animal shelters since we live right on the border, but no sign of him. Sure are a lot of cute kitties there though :( I printed up fliers at work last night so we will hang those in the neighborhood today. I'm still holding out hope though. On facebook a few friends told me they lost their cat for days and they finally did come home. Kimmie lost her cat once for almost 2 weeks before she finally came home. So there's always hope right?
Andrea, this was so helpful! I am so glad you got the courage to post this because it was exactly what I needed to hear.
ReplyDeleteI love how you use the bottles instead of the piping bag. Whenever I use the piping bags it gets so messy and I also feel like I shake. I am going to look for some of these bottles now :)
Hi Andrea, Good luck with Zach. Those pics of the kids with him younger almost broke my heart! So sweet. We were going to make heart cookies tonight...these are really beautiful. Do you use a pastuerized egg white or anything, or just regular old egg whites? ~Jodi
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for posting this video ~ it was very helpful! I need to get some of those bottles ~ the piping bag hasn't worked for me either.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful cookies!
Jodi, yes, I just used regular egg whites! And the bottles make all the difference in the world!
ReplyDeleteYou are the cutest! You make working AND cooking look easy!
ReplyDeleteLove your fingernails and you're adorable.
ReplyDeleteYou wanted to know about the length of the video... and you wanted honesty. So, in my opinion it was a bit long. But I had no problem watching the entire thing. I wasn't bored at all. It's just watching while running an in-home daycare I usually try to limit my time on blogs to just a few minutes.
BUT, with that said, the video was awesome!
I really hope you find your cat too! (((hugs)))
you're so fancy.
ReplyDeleteSuper cute! And you know what? I've been pronouncing your name incorrectly this entire time in my head. I was using the long A with emphasis on the second syllable. Good to know! :)
ReplyDeleteLaura- thanks for your honesty, I appreciate it :) I was aiming for under 5 minutes but then when hubs edited it it came in over 7 and I almost didn't even publish it because I thought it would be so long, but then he would have killed me after he spent all that time on it!
ReplyDeleteJules-most people that don't know me pronounce my name that way. I am so used to it now I don't ever correct them. Many people say that's the way they say it in the Midwest, and I guess they say I talk like a Midwesterner too?
I just wanted to leave you a comment letting you know how helpful I found your video. I made Conversation Heart cookies with my daughters yesterday using your technique and they turned out so cute!! Thanks for the tips!
ReplyDeleteLove this tutorial- thank you!
ReplyDeleteI am local to you (LB area). I can't seem to find a cake shop to buy these supplies when I google it. Which shop do you buy your supplies from?
Thanks so much,
Stephanie
stephanie_janisse@yahoo.com