Royal Icing

[cookiejar]

Hi! I decorate a lot of cookies with royal icing but get inconsistent results with the finish on the cookies once they are dried. Sometimes they have a beautiful sheen, other times they dry to a matte finish. I adjusted the amount of liquid used, the temp. of the water used, and how long I beat the icing but I still can't figure out what makes the difference. Does anyone out there know how I can get a shiney royal icing?

[momoreg]

Are you using colors? Some colors affect the sheen.

[cakerookie]

Humidity can also play a role in royal icing I think...

[cookiejar]

I do use colors but I'm not sure that's the problem for instance, one time the red will have a sheen and the next time it won't. My standard recipe called for beating it for a very long time but when I watch shows on TV, the people seem to mix it just until they get the desired consistency so I tried that--but I didn't see a big difference. We don't have a lot of humidity here in Phoenix (dry heat, don't ya know) so I'm not sure that's the issue. I had a recipe once for a cookie icing that was very similar to royal but had a little bit of corn syrup. That was nice but then my colors tended to run together. I don't really mind the dull cookies, it's just that the glossy ones were nicer. It's so frustrating when you know it's gotta be something simple.

[momoreg]

How are you making the icing? The best, most foolproof way is with royal icing mix, or 10x with dried egg whites and water. Beat with a paddle for a few minutes until fluffy and white. When you want a thin consistency, add just enough liquid so that the shape doesn't hold itself-- no more than that. I've found that too much liquid or color will have that dulling effect. Especially blacks and reds.

[cookiejar]

That's basically what I do, except my recipe calls for a very small amount of cream of tartar. The recipe is: 1 lb of powdered sugar, 3 tbs of meringue powder, 3 1/2 oz warm water, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar. I see that my meringue powder has other ingredients such as corn starch, gum arabic,locust bean....I wonder if I'd be better off just using dried egg white. What is you recipe?

[cookiejar]

In checking out "similar threads" I saw that I'm not the only one looking for glossy royal...what a relief to know I'm not the only one. It sounds like egg whites produce glossier icing but the samonella thing is a concern. Do you think using the liquid egg whites they sell in grocery stores would work? I think they might be pasteurized.