Miss Biscuit's Guide to Perfect Royal Icing

Fresh from the Miss Biscuit classroom, we're tackling the most common royal icing problems head-on! Say goodbye to inconsistent consistency, lacklustre colours, and royal icing that just won't dry (argh!) with these 5 super simple ways to rescue your royal.

Julia from Miss Biscuit says that while over-mixing royal icing is a problem, so is under-mixing.

Air is a good thing when it comes to making royal icing for cookies. By whipping on high speed for a full 5 minutes, you are whipping lots of air into your icing.

Air gives you control when you are piping as well as a nice and puffy finish to your designs.

Water based colours like Aqua Blend are a must when colouring royal icing.

Because royal is primarily made up of water and sugar, the oils in an oil-based food colouring will cause separation and ruin the consistency of your icing.

Sticking to water-based colours will ensure the even distribution of colour and beautifully vibrant results!

If you are trying to achieve dark colours like black, red or navy, always allow enough time for the colours to develop before decorating.

For black, colour up to a dark grey, for red, colour up to a deep pink and then let your icing sit to develop for a few hours.

If you try to achieve dark colours immediately you will be adding too much colouring and your icing won’t dry down.

For the best results, you need to dry your decorated cookies quickly. If you try to air-dry them on the bench you will end up with bleeding, cratering or a matte finish.

Dry your cookies in a dehydrator at 40-45 degrees or in your oven at under 50 degrees for 1-2 hours (longer if you’re in a really humid environment).

Even after drying your cookies in a dehydrator or oven, once they are fully dried, let them sit on the bench for 24 hours before bagging or storing in an airtight container.

This ensures they are completely dry and avoids ruining your beautiful decorating!