How to Prevent Air Bubbles in Royal Icing
I was going to just wish you a Happy Valentine’s but thought I’d turn this post into something helpful for you too.
You may have noticed the air bubbles in these cookie pics already.
My Sweetopia fairy cookies were a bit rushed… Because I was hurrying I ended up making a few blunders. Check out the air bubbles in the icing above and below.
So, here’s how not to get these air bubbles in your icing when you’re decorating cookies.
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How to Prevent Air Bubbles in Royal Icing
1. When you’re making your royal icing, mix it on a very low speed so less air gets incorporated into it.
2. Leave the icing sitting for a while until the air bubbles rise to the surface, where you can pop them by gently ’stirring’ just a little before you add the icing to the piping bags.
3. To ’stir’ your icing use a rubber spatula
4. When you’ve put your icing into your piping bag, massage the royal icing a bit before you twist the top end of the piping bag closed. Press the icing in the bag upwards, starting from the tip and working your way up, pushing out the air bubbles as you go. Then push it back down towards the piping tip.
5. After you’ve finished applying the icing to the cookie, shake it gently left to right.
6. If you notice any small air bubbles, pop them with a toothpick or pin right away. If you don’t, the air bubble usually pops on it’s own and leaves a hole in your icing. (As in pictures above).
7. If your cookies isn’t too breakable, gently lift and tap it on your work surface. This may help pop existing air bubbles you haven’t noticed.
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I tried filling in the hole, crater, or indentation; whatever you call what was left behind, but even just a few minutes after the icing had been piped, it was already too dry for the patching not to be noticeable.
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And just in case you’d like to see a basic step by step of how I decorated these cookies:
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Visual Step by Step – How Cookies Were Decorated
1. Ice the base of each cookie with white royal icing and let dry for 24 hours. Oops, didn’t get a pic of that!
2. Outline the shape using a Kopykake projector
3. Flood or fill in lines with desired icing colors. Let dry for 24 hours so facial features don’t bleed.
4. Add facial features.
Finished!
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Wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day!
Beautiful Sweetopia cookies as per usual! Happy Valentines Day!
Totally love them they’re oh sooo cute! Thanks for always sharing such yummy looking and useful info!
OmiGod…this is so so so awesomely cute….
Que Magnifigue este…bravo!!!!
Oh yeah….LOVE IS IN THE AIR….SO IS ROMANCE N WISHING YA ALL LOADS N LOADS OF IT @ 365
happy v.day sweetopia!
your cookies are just beautiful & this tutorial so very helpful…enjoy the day!!
Thank u so much Marian. Your tutorial is great and your cookies are always beautiful. Happy valentine’s day
Great post & beautifully decorated cookies – I love seeing the step by step and wonderful photography!
This is a question I asked myself when I made Valentines Day cookies just the other day. Thanks for the great tips!
These are the cutest Valentine’s Day cookies I’ve seen. Simply adorable and perfectly decorated! You, my dear are a wonderful cookie artist! I love the outlined look. Simply perfect!
WOW! beautiful amazing cookies. Happy Valentine’s day for you and your family.
You always have the cutest cookies!
Thanks for the tips!
Stunning. Absolutely amazing. Just amazing. You are Amazing!! Just gorgeous. I cant say it enough.. you make it look so easy!! Wow. Just wow!! I love love love these!!! Man I need to get that Kopy thingy. Can you be my culinary hero please? Thank you.
Blessings-
Amanda
Thanks so much for your tips, I always wondered why these tiny bubbles were showing up on my cookies. Thanks! Your cookies look so cute as usual.
Happy Valentines for you and all!
Those cookies are absolutely incredible. You are amazingly talented!!!
So cute I can’t take it! Happy V-Day!
You, my dear, are a genius! I just called my husband over to the computer…”See, see! THIS is why I want a KopyKake projector!!!” Not that I could replicate those…I think you have a special talent that even a projector cannot help me with. I still want one.
Going to try your tips on bubbles…making cookies today.
Happy *heart* day! ♥
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You guys are so sweet! I appreciate all of your comments! ♥
Amanda and Bridget – I’d say you are in the culinary hero/genius category!
Happy Valentines again!
Marian – you never cease to amaze me!!! This is soooo freaking adorable. Using a projector to get the stencil is such a genius idea – definitely don’t think I could freehand this. I am definitely going to need to try to ice my own cookies very soon!!
Interesting post, and a subject matter close to my heart, no pun intended! I worked briefly in a bakery, as a second job for fun, to learn from an expert how to make cookies like this. While I had a blast and learned a lot, neither of us could ever solve the issue of holes in hands and feet. And one of the keys that we noticed is that is occurs in small spaces. I’ve never had a hole open up in a big area. I’m sure there’s some kind of chemistry-related answer behind it, but who knows?
My mentor finally decided that it helped to use a hand mixer on the royal icing that was being used in the small space. She would whip it for 5-10 minutes and use it immediately. She swore that it cuts down on the holes but I could never really tell a difference.
I recently tried a royal icing recipe out of one of the Cookie Craft books and it used lemon juice for the flavoring. I did not get any bubbles like these when I used it. It had a really nice flavor too, but I noticed that it separates much more quickly than traditional royal icing. I wonder if there’s something with the lemon juice that reduced the incidence of bubbles? Anyone else have a similar experience with that recipe?
Your cookies are beautiful!
I know you freely admit to using a projector to help with your outlines… But but the Talent is ALL YOU!
Thank you for your Beautiful blog and for sharing all of your wonderfully helpful tips!
Wishing you happiness and Continued success!
Those cookies are adorable! Thanks for the tips on air bubbles, I was actually just thinking about that after I made my own cookies for Valentine’s Day.
#8. Use Photoshop to edit out the bubbles in your photo…LOL! just kidding – your cookies are adorable. Even with the Kopycake, you still require an incredibly steady hand and mucho talent (and lots and lots and lots of patience – and probably some calming music…). I hope whomever you gave those little pieces of art to appreciated them. Thanks again for sharing your wisdom
Happy Valentine’s Day to you too!
My goodness, these are so adorable!! Thanks for sharing the tutorial.
Sandy; I’m sure you’ll have fun decorating when you start!
Noelle, thank you for your input! I had been wondering the same thing myself about why it happens in small areas! I’m not a scientist (imagine – a cookie scientist lol!), but knew there must be some physics/chemistry reason behind it.
I’ll have to try the tip your mentor passed on to you (whip 5-10 minutes then use immediately). Interesting about the Cookie Craft recipe too… do you think besides the acidity it might have something to do with the amount of liquid?
Yesterday I emailed Julia Usher, author of Cookie Swap, and asked her the question about ‘craters’. I had mentioned I thought it was air bubbles, but wasn’t 100% sure. I also asked why she thought they happened in small spaces. She emailed her reply today and I’m going to include it in an ammendment to this post. (Fairly soon I hope)
Noelle, would you mind if I also include your comment in the post please?
Thanks Janet, Ellen, Kristen and Sarah for your comments too!
Kristen; LOL #8 was brilliant!
Wow, those are amazing!!! So beautiful!!!! Incredible job!
Adorably amazing, as usual!
Happy Valentine’s day!!!
Marian is the best! Just as Bridget said, I too took the laptop over to my husband to see the KopyKake work you did. “See Honey, this is why I wanted to get mine.” To which he replied, “Yeah, but your cookies don’t look quite that good.” Hahaha. Maybe I need more than a projector!
One thing I do know, thanks to you I have perfect icing.
Michelle
Happy Valentines Day! Beautiful cookies and great tips.
LOL Michelle your cookies are awesome! I just went and took a gander through your gallery… I especially love the Christmas Balls you did -the ones with the red marbling through them! My DH tells me what he thinks all the time – these Valentine ones today he called simple but nice, he liked the Olympic ones.. I forget which ones he just said, “Not my favorite.” Men hey!
Thanks for the comments guys! Happy Valentine evening everyone!
gorgeous as always-where was this image from? a sticker???
Thanks Danielle! These are an artist’s Valentine illustration of my Sweetopia fairy.
Your cookies are beautiful! I have a question, perhaps a silly one – since it takes approx. 24 hrs for the icing to dry at each stage, and most of your designs require multiple stages, what do you do to keep the cookies fresh so they still taste as delicious as they look?
Marian, as usual your cookies are fabulous and the detail, specifically the accuracy of the lines is one to admire, I am always awaiting new information from you and your tutorials are always an asset!
Missy; Not a silly question at all. The first layer of icing acts as a sort of sealant to keep freshness in. Even the ones that aren’t completely covered on the first layer (Olympic Mascot cookies for example), seem to be fine though. I’m a little biased of course, but try it and see what you think! (A good recipe helps too of course; I’ve shared my sugar cookie recipe in the tutorial section).
Thanks so much Sharlaine!
you totally rock! I love your step-by-step pics and your designs are so cool! I wonder if I can use my classroom overhead projector to “copy” images for cookies? hee hee.
These are beautiful! Thank you for sharing all your wonderful learning tools. I was wondering what size & brand of piping tip you used to do these cookies. Thanks!
Your cookies look amazing! Really. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them.
Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha
Your outlines are always perfect. I´m so impressed.
And your design are as cute as ever. Love it love it love it.
LOL Cakebrain I had thought about that too!
Rebekah; I used a #3 to do the white flooding (larger surface area) and a #2 to do all the rest (outlines and filling in). I have 3 brands of tips; Wilton, Ateco and PME.
Recently I’ve started to favour the PME brand. They seem to be better quality and I like how they’re a bit longer than the other brands. I don’t know if I’m imagining it yet, but I like how the icing flows from them.
I have this box set
from Amazon, but if you don’t want this many I’m sure you can find them elsewhere. I bought the box set because I’ll be delving into cake decorating a bit more this year. It has some ’round’ tips and other shapes too.
This one
has a few less tips as well but I also like it because it has a #0 and #1.5 tip in it… great if you want to do small details. (The bigger set has them too).
Hope that helps!
Stesha and Pehrnilla, thank you for your lovely comments!
So beautiful !!! the more beatuful i never seen for valentine day on the web !!!
Your cookies are adorable! I want one of those projectors!
These are just absolutely adorable!
These are BY FAR the cutest cookies I’ve ever seen!!!
I smiled when I read Bridget’s comment above (comment #15). I did the very SAME thing with my husband (showed him another cookie post on this blog and said I really wanted the projector) just this very weekend. lol Gorgeous photos! Amazinging yummy looking cookies! Thanks SO much for sharing these tips! I had this bubbles issue last night with some cookies and I corrected all the holes and now they do look “fixed”. I appreciate these tips! Thank you!
these cookies are so pretty and festive! So I was curious about something. I noticed in the steps of decorating, there were a few steps that required letting cookies dry for 24hrs. Well do the cookies stay fresh after being unsealed for several days? I always wonder how this works when I’m decorating. Thanks!!!
Olivia, thanks! The first layer of icing acts as a sort of sealant to keep freshness in. Even the ones that aren’t completely covered on the first layer (Olympic Mascot cookies in another post for example), seem to be fine though. I’m a little biased of course, but try it and see what you think! (A good recipe helps too of course; I’ve shared my sugar cookie recipe in the tutorial section).
This is fascinating! You make it look so easy. I have too much of a shaky hand to attempt to try this. Very well done!
Thanks Liz! I have to tell you, I really do have a shaky hand (and I don’t even drink coffee!). I always sit and rest my arm on the edge of the table to help steady it.
@ Marian:
Of course Marain! Anything to further the cookie cause. This one has been bugging me for years, so any answer would be appreciated. It is such a shame to see such detailed cookies like the ones above ruined by the pesky holes.
Marian – please forgive my typing dyslexia with your name above. I had a choice of typing or calculus class in high school – I guess you know which one I took now…
These are so sweet! I love them and many others on this blog. You make such cute cookies. With the Kopykake projector, can you project anything (pictures, stickers, papers, ribbon, etc) or just images off of slides? How does it work? Looks like a good investment!!
even WITH air bubbles they look so cute and scrumptious!
)
Love … Love… Love Your site! Great illustration work too!
Thanks Candice, Christina and Heather!
Candice, you can project any image you like; from paper, stickers, whatever! The only problem I run into is if the image is on thick paper. I then photocopy it onto thinner paper or onto a transparency. It certainly helps me!
I am so happy that I have found your blog! I adore cookies iced with royal icing. They are my one sweet, that I want to learn to perfect. This was such a wonderful help! Looking forward to following more of your posts.
Hi Marian,
I’m not sure if you’ve already amended your post to include Julia’s insight, but I have a theory based on what I’ve noticed about my cookies. Okay, here it goes:
I’ve noticed that it tends to happen when my flood icing is applied thickly. I think that when the moisture evaporates from the icing, the crust that forms cannot hold its own weight and therefore it implodes upon itself, forming the crater. It doesn’t really happen with stiffer icing because there isn’t as much moisture to evaporate. I once ordered a bunch of pre-made royal icing eyes and many of them were hollow on the inside.
It happens more in small spaces because there is nowhere for the icing to spread out and become a thinner layer.
I tested this theory with my Christmas cookies by applying a thinner layer in my small spaces and it seemed to work. I didn’t get any holes.
Does any of that make sense? Just trying to help solve the mystery
btw, your Valentine cookies are adorable!
[...] Before I go on, I have to mention that following the tips to avoiding air bubbles is good practice when decorating cookies with royal icing (for tips click here). [...]
i’m not having air bubble problems but the sunken craters in my smaller areas are driving me nuts (more nuts)! i have been on a mission to find a solution but so far not much luck. i have tried thick flood and thin flood, both are getting sinkholes. getting a thinner application of icing has produced the best results but is still not working real well consistently. i am doing a lot of leaf and petal designs and am slowly losing my mind to cratering problems, lol.
It is frustrating isn’t it Diane! I’m still on a mission myself… If you have any new breakthroughs would love if you would come back and let us know!
Thanks so much! Your work is wonderful…how do you keep cookies tasting fresh after leaving them out for so long? I have produced beautiful cookies that taste a little bit stale (I live in Costa Rica so I have a very humid environment)
Is there a secret?
Vanessa, it could depend on a few things; The amount of butter in the recipe you’re using (or basically the recipe), how soon you put the first layer of icing on… Maybe try another recipe? If you’re using my sugar cookie recipe, let me know and we’ll try and pinpoint the problem!
Super helpful! I’ve been having an issue with air bubbles and I thought all I had to do was let my icing settle….patience
I will try these tips out for sure!
Your cookies are stunning! So much detail and I’m so inspired
HI Marian – I love the antonia74 recipe for royal icing and it is the recipe I have been using lately. However, I find that there are a lot of air bubbles in my piping. Am I not taking the air bubbles out enough when I put the icing in the piping bag and press it upward and then down into the bag again? it is really a problem for me and any further suggestions would be helpful. Thank you.
Hi Dani1101,
You could try paddling it slowly and lightly with a plastic spatula before you even put it in the piping bag. (Basically pressing and smoothing the icing in a figure 8 pattern).
Other than that I’ve mentioned all I know so far in this post, Part 2 of the ‘air bubbles post’ and in my cookie decorating tutorial. (i.e. mixing on lowest speed, letting the icing sit for a bit so the air bubbles rise to the top and then filling the piping bags etc.)
If I do come up with more suggestions I’ll definitely post them on Sweetopia.
Hope that helps!
U are so talented:) great job u done with those cookies.I love the projector idea..can u share which one are u working with.i have done some research and cant seem to make up my mind.Thank u:)
Thanks so much Mal! My Kopykake tutorial is coming soon!
Hi,
Thanks for your useful and informative posting. I am much interested to start with cookies decoration.
For drying the cookies after applying royal icing, should i just left it to dry in the air or can i put inside a covered container ?
Thanks.
Hi Christine,
Definitely in a covered container. Royal icing dries out very quickly.
Happy decorating!
Thanks for your reply. Nice weekend !
I am having issues with the royal icing absorbing grease from the sugar cookies which leaves the base colors blotchy. If you wait a few days, this usually takes care of itself, but there are times when it doesn’t incorporate fully. Does anyone have a solution to this? It happens mainly if I frost the cookies but it does happen occasionally when I flood. I have switched food colors to Americolors (which are the best, by the way!), tried thinner and thicker consistencies and nothing works. Please help!!
Hi Marti,
Quick question first, you say it happens mainly if you ‘frost the cookies but it does happen occasionally when I flood’; I just need to clarify what you mean when you say ‘frost the cookies’. Do you mean frost with buttercream icing? (I’m guessing not, as you’re asking about royal icing, but I’m not sure if you mean spread the R.I. on with a knife when you say frost, or if you mean it’s a buttercream icing or just plain frosting).
I have never encountered this problem using the sugar cookie and royal icing recipe which I use. If you’d like to try them out here they are:
Sugar Cookie Recipe
http://sweetopia.net/2009/12/sugar-cookie-recipe/
Royal Icing Recipe
http://sweetopia.net/2009/06/cookie-decorating-tutorial-general-tips-butterfly-cookies/