Royal icing is one of the most beautiful methods you can use for decorating your cookies on an event of something very special, they aren’t just for decorating they taste very good and you can also eat them.
Royal icing is excellent for ornamental baking. It is a deliciously good complement to every cookie, cake, or other sweets. However, this is also one of the fickle icing styles. The one thing that is a major drawback is its time frame for which you can keep it. It can be kept for a very short window of time. It doesn’t last long once it is made. If you are wondering how long can royal icing last then here is a quick guide that will help you.
Royal icing made of egg
1 week, refrigerated
Meringue based royal icing
1 month at room temperature
Either of the technique
2 hours mostly if left in a piping bag
Today we are going to explore the world of royal icing, what is royal icing? for how much time they last and some good tips you can use for keeping royal icing for a long maximum time.
What is Royal Icing?
Royal icing is made by using raw egg whites which is a traditional method you can use to prepare them or you can also use meringue powder or dried egg whites for preparing it.
I have never heard that royal icing does any damage to health or any food-borne illnesses are occurring due to traditional royal icing. But there are still possibilities you need to consider such as salmonella bacteria that can be present when you prepare anything using raw eggs. This is not a point of concern as not many can get affected by this, people who have a vulnerable or weak immune system might get for example very young or elderly or pregnant women.
Royal icing made of meringue powder is the safest and most effective method you can rely upon and use for making royal icing decorations for cookies in my experience. I’m going to recommend royal icing made from here on with meringue powder. It is a white type of decorating icing that gets hard as soon as it is exposed to air. Many bakers offer a royal ice cream touch of vanilla flavoring since it suits most other baked aromas.
You are going to mainly see royal icing made from three formulas. It is either made using raw egg whites or dried egg whites, meringue formula is also one you can use. It is usually known that royal icing made using egg whites tends to hold up better as compared to the formulation using meringue powder.
What is Meringue Powder?
Meringue powder can be used to prepare royal icing but firstly it’s important to know what meringue powder is. It is a fine, white powder that is made using pasteurized egg whites along with sugar and gum.
It typically contains vanilla flavoring and is not available in grocery stores, but can be purchased in bulk food stores, online or baking shops.
How long does it last?
The fresh royal icing will be expected to give the best possible outcomes. Royal icing prepared using egg whites can last for one week if you take care of its refrigeration properly.
Talking about meringue-based royal icing, it can last for a month that is much longer than the egg-based formula. If you use a piping bag both the formula is going to last for a few hours, two hours to be precise. They will start to deteriorate after that and if the consistency is runnier which means that it includes more water then they will deteriorate faster.
The explanation that it doesn’t last for long, whether or not it is properly stored, is because of its formula. The sugar and water ingredients are separated after a given period. It continues to pool up the watery, moist portion of the icing, leaving behind dried, cracked icing. The more it divides, the longer the icing stays.
The good thing that we cannot miss is that if you have dried your royal icing for decoration then they will basically last for a very long time or you can even say forever. The only thing you need to take care of is that you do not break them as they are very delicate and breakage is very much possible.
Best tips for storage
When we are talking about royal icing we cannot miss out talking about the ways you need to store them. Preserving royal icing is very important and indeed you need to know the things you need to do while storing them.
You have to remember how to store it properly to make it last long as possible, whether you have done a little more than you expected to do with your baking project, and want to save it for another day. You might have heard the very popular phrase “if you take care of things, they last†same goes with royal icing. If you properly take care of them they will last longer.
Let’s look at some of the ways you can use for storing royal icing.
Airtight
The best and the number one way you can use and store your royal icing is by using airtight containers. This is very necessary as we have seen what air can do to royal icing. Exposure to air can ruin and make it lasting timeless.
Air can cause deterioration and separation of royal icing. So it’s necessary to anyhow prevent air from it. Airtight containers can do this for you. Buying airtight containers is very important for preserving royal icing.
You can check out these containers they work very well
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0777JD5DD
Grease free
The second way you can use for storing royal icing can be grease-free containers. They also work very well if you want to preserve your royal icing. It is very important to check whether everything you are using to prepare royal icing is grease-free.
The second law for the storage of royal icing is that containers are free of grease. You need to be sure that all the blenders, bowls, and other baking utensils are free of greases while making your royal icing. Grease is a royal icing horror that will discolor and disintegrate entirely. Plastic is not the right substance you can use and it needs to be kept away. It is a porous substance and you cannot use it with royal icing.
Plastic makes it very difficult to de-grease. For alternatives, you can use glass and stainless steel instead of plastic while storing royal icing.
You can check this out
https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Premier-Storage-Containers-1937643/dp/B01E07L4FS/
Paper towel trick
If you have prepared your royal icing using meringue formula then you can store it at room temperature. On the other hand, if you have prepared it using egg-based formula then it’ll need to be stored in a refrigerator.
On either of the techniques for preparing royal icing, you can use yet another method to store it. The paper towel trick is the one you can go with. You can place a slightly damp towel or a plastic wrap directly on the surface of your royal icing then you cleverly use it using airtight containers. This will help to prevent the top layer to crust over.
Reusing your royal icing
There are a few factors you need to consider while reasoning your royal icing there are things that you need to keep in your mind while doing so. The very first things are the formula that was used for preparing it.
If your royal icing is based on egg whites you need to ensure to bring it back to room temperature before mixing it. This will help you to use it again and if your royal icing is meringue-based you are needed to add some meringue powder to it, say 1-2 teaspoons and remix it to get back to the original consistency.
Along with this, you can revive the desired consistency by adding some water to thin it out. This can be done as per your preference according to the consistency you are expecting or need from it. You can add icing sugar if the consistency is very thin and you want to thicken it. This too is done according to your needs. Before reusing it, making sure to mix all of the lumps out of the icing. But when remixing, be alert, because overmixing will lead to air bubbles. This can be remedied by using an electric mixer.
What is the taste of Royal Icing?
Royal icing decorations look very adorable but they are also edible. They are just made of sugar and meringue powder. It can be very delicious if you like the taste of pure icing sugar. They also pair nicely with cookies.
It dries fairly stiff, but the feeling is like a sweet, crunchy texture when you bite into it.
How to prepare Royal Icing?
We have been through almost everything and then how can we miss out on the recipe that is used for preparing royal icing. It is very important to know the step by step process of preparing royal icing.
Ingredients
- 4 egg whites
- 2 teaspoon of lemon juice
- 4 cups icing sugar
Method
You can firstly heat treat the egg whites if you want to do so then you can cook the eggs in a Bain Marie for almost 2-3 minutes constantly whisking.
Do this only until the eggs are warm but not fried. This destroys the bacteria in the eggs and guarantees that they are clean to use raw.
Now take a stand mixer with a fitted whisk attachment. Place the egg whites in a large and clean bowl and turn on the mixer at high speed until the mixture gets foamy for at least two minutes.
After this sifted sugar is steadily added to the spoonful, and then the lemon juice.
Run at high speed until you see it thickened
Your icing will get good consistency at this stage. If you want to make it tougher to frost a cake or write cookies then apply additional icing sugar to the perfect consistency.
Now place the icing inside the bowl and then cover it using a cling wrap. Ensure that this cling wrap touches the icing and no air is allowed in the bowl. This will prevent the icing from getting hard.
Use it instantly or store for up to 4 weeks at room temperature. This is appropriate to fill 1 huge cake.
Your royal icing is ready and you can use it according to your needs.
You can but the royal icing mix here, check out the current price for the products
https://www.amazon.com/CK-Products-White-Royal-Icing/dp/B01NA0COA1/
https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Royal-Icing-Mix-oz/dp/B003TYA1KS/
Conclusion
Royal icing can be a great way to decorate things on special occasions. They look beautiful and they also taste good. The only thing you need to take care of is how to store them and how long can it stay.
Today we saw what royal icing is, how it is prepared, and many storing tips and methods. We saw how royal icing is prepared by a step by step guide and also saw the three formulas. I hope this piece was useful and relevant and you got all the answers to the questions you had.