[pastrycake]

I was wondering if I can substitute meringue powder for the pasteurized egg whites in Alton Browns royal icing recipe:

3 ounce of pasteurized egg whites
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powder sugar

I have made Wiltons royal icing but never used them on cookies. I don't like the taste of icing for wilton class. I guess I can used different flavored extracts. I plan to use them on shortbread cookies. The recipe above had good reviews on food network so I thought I will give it a try. I usually just mix together powder sugar and water or lemon juice but it was runny and mess. I need something that dries fast and is glossy so that I can pack them and stack them for gifts. Any tips would be great!

[nowIamone]

I always use meringue powder. Put 3 tbsp in 1/3 cup warm water and let it sit for a few minutes. Whip with +/- 1 lb. of powdered sugar.

[stir it up]

pastrycake, it's not a prob to substitute meringue powder for egg whites accordingly. I haven't used that particular recipe, but in general it is done fairly frequently.

I'm not a fan of royal icing, but one more tip I have for you (besides don't make it LOL) is to get pure with the sugar. Don't use commercial or store bought icing sugar that contains corn starch. Grind your own sugar to very powder fine from granulated cane sugar and nothing else. This will make the icing suck less. Raw corn starch is a big negative in Royal icing.

OK, another tip, choose an appropriate flavoring oil that is PURE and of high quality, say pure orange oil, and add a couple drops. You could probably get away with a tiny bit of Grand Marnier too in combination.

I'm sure your cookies will be very festive.