I had lots of leftover royal icing from my last Valentine’s cupcakes, so I decided to make some more royal icing decorations using these Martha Stewart Valentine stickers as my design.
As I was making these I recieved an email from Bianca, asking me how long I keep the royal icing in the piping bag and how long I keep it in storage.
She’s one of many who’ve asked, so I thought I’d share the info. here.
So how long can one keep royal icing?
Royal Icing:
Before I answer that question, a little about royal icing.
Royal icing is made using either raw egg-whites (traditional), or using dried egg whites or meringue powder.
Although I have not heard of any documented cases of food-borne illness occurring due to eating traditional royal icing (made with egg whites), there is still a possibility that bacteria such as salmonella can be present in anything made with raw eggs. Although many would not be affected by the bacteria, the very young, elderly, pregnant women and those with weaker immune systems might be.
You could use pasteurized egg whites found in cartons at the grocery store, but I’ve found that the icing doesn’t whip up as nicely using them.
Safest and most effective for cookie decorating in my experience has been royal icing made with meringue powder. I’ll be referring to royal icing made with meringue powder from here on in. All of the following information also applies to both tinted and white icing.
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What is Meringue Powder?
*Meringue powder is a fine, white powder made with pasteurized dried egg whites, sugar and gum; used to replace fresh egg whites when making icings and meringues. (*The Prentice Hall Essentials Dictionary of Culinary Arts, Pearson Prentice Hall, 2008). It usually includes vanilla flavouring and is not usually sold in grocery stores but can be found in bulk food stores, baking supply stores or on the internet.
So now that that’s covered:
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How long can one keep royal icing?
Freshest is always best of course, but you can keep your icing for a week or even up to two.
The longer it sits though, the more time it has to separate.
The water and icing sugar separate; after about a week you’ll have to really mix it up again to use it, and it may be difficult to make sure it’s perfectly smooth. -The liquid pools a bit on the surface, leaving the bottom of the container with dry icing.
If you do end up keeping your icing for a few days or more, I’d recommend putting it back in your mixer quickly before you use it, to try and ensure all ‘lumps’ are out. You may also have to add icing sugar to help thicken it, or a little bit of water to thin it out. Whether or not you’ll have to add icing sugar or water depends on a few factors:
Adding icing sugar – Especially if you’re in a humid environment the icing may have absorbed humidity in the air. (Even if it’s in an air-tight container).
Adding water – Mixing the icing really well (especially with a mixer), tends to add volume/air, and thickens it up a bit. It is necessary to mix it really well to get the lumps out though.
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So how long can one keep royal icing in the (piping) bag?
The icing sugar (powdered sugar), and water in the icing begin to separate over time, so if you haven’t used your piping bags for a few hours, you’ll start to see this happen. How fast it separates depends on how runny your icing is. The runnier it is, the faster it will separate. See pic below for example.
You can try and knead the bag a little bit to help the icing combine together again, but it won’t be as effective as taking the icing out of the bag and re-mixing it with a spoon or spatula etc.
If you use the icing that has been sitting in your piping bag for a period of time, you’ll end up with icing that comes out in little pools of water and icing sugar. (See pic below).
Where do you store royal icing?
Icing made with raw egg whites needs to be kept in the fridge, however, icing made with meringue powder can be kept at room temperature. I store mine in air-tight or re-usable yoghurt containers. (Pic below; the dollop of icing on top makes it easy for me to see what color is inside).
To ensure against any crusting, place saran wrap (plastic wrap), on the surface of the icing as well. If some of it has crusted over (if you’ve forgotten to put the lid on the container for example), scoop those bits out; they can’t be used.
How long do royal icing decorations last?
Once the royal icing has dried, the decorations last indefinitley! (forever lol). They don’t spoil but must be stored in a cool, dry place, in an air-tight container. Besides humidity, the only thing to watch out for is breakage. They are fragile and should be stored between parchment paper and bubble wrap inside the air-tight container.
Grease from buttercream, for example, can also affect royal icing over time, but it will take quite a while for the icing to absorb the grease. After I posted these royal icing {LOVE} decorations (below), there were a few questions about grease affecting the royal icing in the comment section.
Since I’m going to be keeping these cupcakes in a display case at school to show students an example of what they will be learning how to make when the new semester begins in a few weeks, I’ll be able to keep tabs on the progress.
So far I’ve had the royal icing toppers in a cupcake for 2 days and there’s no dissolving, but the grease has seeped into the icing. See pic below with today’s date on the phone. 😉
In this case you could only see the discoloration on the back as the front was covered in disco dust.
It’s definitely best not to place your royal icing decorations on your cake, cupcakes etc. too far in advance before you’re serving them. The grease seeped into these royal icing between 24 – 48 hours of being put on the cupcakes. Smaller royal icing decorations would probably be affected sooner, especially if the entire surface area is resting on the buttercream.
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What does royal icing taste like?
Royal icing decorations are edible of course; it’s really just sugar and meringue powder. It’s delicious if you like the taste of pure icing sugar (lol), but in my humble opinion, pairs nicely with cookies especially. It dries fairly hard, but when you bite into it the sensation is kind of like a soft, crunchy texture. If you are unsure about using royal icing, I suggest trying it once to see what it’s like. Here is the recipe I use.*
For a brief visual how-to on making these Valentine cupcake toppers, see below. A more detailed version on making royal icing decorations (also known as transfers, floodwork, runouts etc.), click here.
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How to make these Valentine royal icing decorations:
1. Pipe base colors with royal icing.
2. Add icing details once the first layer has dried.
3. Sprinkle on disco dust if desired.
4. Using a paintbrush (used only for decorating purposes), brush excess disco dust off.
For a more detailed ‘how-to’, click on the image below:
Making the cupcakes:
I’m grateful to Melissa of MyCakeSchool.com for some cool cupcake tips I learned and used after watching some of her videos (Re: paper towel tip – who knew!). She’s got a ton of great advice on decorating.
I wish I had watched one of the videos before I made my royal icing hearts! It mentioned making the tail of your hearts longer, so that when you stick it in the cupcake, you can still see the whole heart.
The cupcakes themselves were dipped in light pink sanding sugar and for those of you who are interested in cake stands, these milk glass ones were from ebay.
The vanilla buttecream and vanilla cupcake recipes can be found here.
These are just some of the main things I’ve learned about royal icing which have worked for me. If you have any tips, questions or comments, please drop me a line below and come join me on facebook here.
Happy decorating!
xo,
Marian
marian says
INteresting! Something I’d like to try as well. Thanks for sharing@ Anna ♥ Sugarized!
The Chic Geekess says
You truly post the best and most informative posts and tutorials I’ve ever come across! Thank you so much – the information you share is helping me learn how to make delicious things more beautifully!
marian says
@ The Chic Geekess:
Well thank you so much; that’s a pretty sweet compliment! Have fun experimenting!
Jill says
Marian,
Just wanted to thank you for taking the time to reply to my inquiry about the craters in the RI. I’d read your 2 posts on the subject so many times I could nearly recite it ;-), but it turns out that my icing was just too thin. Thickened it up and that seemed to solve the problem.
Love, love your site.
j.
Marian (Sweetopia) says
@ Jill:
Good to hear that the next batch worked out. Thank you so much for your sweet comments; they do mean a lot to me. =)
Bird says
I’ve been told that if you use organic eggs, then the risk of salmonella is non existent..Not 100% sure.
Caroline says
These cupcakes are beautiful! I hope I can get a steady enough hand with a piping bag to decorate with royal icing. At least I can eat the evidence of the not-so-pretty cookies! Love these!
marian says
@ Bird:
Thanks for your input! I’ve heard the same as well! I wish I could find a report that really studied the effects in wide cross-section of people. I’m thinking that there isn’t one (study), as everyone plays it safe… When it come to food-borne illness the effects can be unpredictable… esp. with children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with compromised immune systems.
For years we’ve know about bacteria and foodborne illness, yet there is no ‘cure’. Can’t eliminate it.
I personally have a hunch that it would rarely affect someone from eggs (salmonella), -greens and meat especially have MUCH higher incidences, and I’ll bet organic slims the chances down even more… buuuut have to err on the safe side of course.
If you come accross some sort of study/article, would love to hear about it!
@ Caroline:
I actually have a shaky hand too; I have to rest my arm on the table when I’m decorating. I’ll have to show a closer shot in my next video. Take a look at the Decorated Christmas Ornament Cookie video to see.
Enjoy decorating!
kim says
I recently found your blog and love it! I have recently started baking as a hobby and have so much to learn….. Quick question for you…I love your cupcakes and especially your beautiful decorated cookies! While my cookies are so-so in the decorating department, I am struggling with finding a really great sugar cookie recipe that actually tastes good with the RI I am using to decorate. Do you reccommend one in particular??? Thank you so much!!!
marian says
Kim,
I do have a sugar cookie I use:
https://sweetopia.net/2009/12/sugar-cookie-recipe/
Have fun baking!
Alli says
Hello Marian. I made icing with sugar syrup, for its melting, it works good. I made funny piggy cookies. THANX!!! But, one question, the icing not completly dry, een after more than 24 hours. I really don’t no should it be just like concrete:) or a bit soft when i touch it. What can you say, maybe i do smt wrong
kim says
@ marian:
THANK you so much Marian! You are so inspirational! I can’t wait to get baking!!!!
marian says
@ Alli:
Do you mean you melted corn syrup (sugar syrup)in the icing? If you did use a significant amount of corn syrup that’s probably why the icing didn’t dry… it’s kind of sticky and tacky and doesn’t really ‘dry’.
Royal icing without the corn syrup does dry with a hard surface, and when you bit into it, has a soft crunchy texture.
Would love to see your funny piggy cookies if you’d like to share them on my facebook page!
@ kim:
Have fun! Would love to see your cookies when you’re done too!
katreece says
just found your blog via twitter, love love love it, marvelous creations and wonderful photography, top notch I tell ya!
xoxo
marian says
@ katreece:
Why thank you!
Phoebe says
i’m planning to bake cookies for valentine’s day and it’ll be the first time i’m decorating with royal icing and your blog has helped SO much! thank you!!
marian says
My pleasure! Glad I could help.
Have fun decorating!
Sue says
You decorate SO beautifully! Thanks for the tips!
Sasha @ Global Table Adventure says
I put some of my royal icing in the freezer to see what would happen. It didn’t separate… I could thaw it with the warmth of my hands. Interesting. Anyway, it’s been a couple of months, I’ll have to get the rest out and see how usable it is.
marian says
Interesting Sasha!
Thanks for the input!
Natalie @ Whimsical Cupcakes says
Hi there, love your Valentine themed cupcakes, very original!
I use royal icing quite alot…mostly using the dried egg whites…I store mine either in a ziplock bag or plastic containers..and when i’m not using them, I freeze it!
It keeps really well in freezer and does not seperate for weeks…when i want to use them, i’ll defrost at room temperature for a few minutes. 🙂
marian says
Thanks so much for the info. Natalie!!!
Rachael says
I too have just found your site while searching out RI info, as I never decorated with this before, and so much of your decorating just makes me smile (your owl and butterfly cookies are so cute and pretty!). I had fun with pink and white valentine hearts last night (my son, in 1st grade, wants cookies for his valentine’s to share with his classmates) but am having trouble today with red (he says “pink for girls and red for boys, Mom”). How do you get such a nice red? Thanks in advance!
marian says
Rachael, thanks!
Lots and lots of red food coloring! I compare the icing color with a sample of my inspiration; such as a sticker or scrapbooking paper, and try to match it as close as I can.
Also, if you let the colored icing sit overnight the color will deepen. You could let it sit and see if you’d like to add more red coloring the next day or not.
(I don’t always wait; it’s up to you!)
The main answer; lots and lots of red food gel coloring!
You may want to take a look at my post on bleeding if you’re using a vivid color like red with light colors like pink & white.
https://sweetopia.net/2009/10/how-to-prevent-your-icing-from-bleeding-7-tips/
diana keller says
Hi Marion,
So what frosting is on these cupcakes? ButterCream or royal icing.
marian says
@ diana keller:
There’s a link to the recipes under the last picture of the post (under the pic of the sanding sugar).
=)
diana keller says
Hi Marion,
Hope you are having a wonderful Sunday. Hope you are on your blog cause I need your help. My royal icing does not seem to be setting up but right now after 12 hrs they are still fairly tacky. Since there is meringue in them, can you put them in the oven at say 175, and would it firm up then? Do you have some helpful advice…I have used RI all the time and every once in awhile I run into this problem..thanks:)
marian says
What’s the recipe like which you’re using? (ingredients and measurements)
You can put them in the oven as you suggested; I don’t usually do it because I find bleeding happens more, especially with light and dark colors right beside each other.
Are you working in a humid environment? If there’s moisture/humidity in the air they take longer to dry.
Diana Keller says
It’s not humid at all. In fact it is warm and dry.
Ingredients are:
4 cups Powdered sugar
4 tbsp Meringue powder
water> to thickness ( I usually start out with 1/3 warm water.
marian says
Diana, if you’re not doing anything differently and it’s not more humid, I’m not sure why they aren’t drying after 12 hours; sorry!
Amy says
@ Anna: I struggle to find meringue powder in Australia – instead, I substitute Pavlova Magic instead, which is easy for me to find in supermarkets (it’s in a little plastic egg-shaped container). HTH!
marian says
Thanks Anna! I’ve never heard of Pavlova Magic before, is it egg white powder? (if it’s in an egg shaped container)
Amy says
Hi Marian – yes it is an egg white powder (but not pure egg whites, it has sugar through it as well) – it is used in Australia to make instant meringues & pavlova. You can purchase it very cheaply in supermarkets and I find that it is a a simple substitute for powdered egg whites if I am not making RI from scratch.
Here’s a link I found which shows a picture and describes the product. Maybe it is only an Aussie thing! http://www.westernproductsonline.com/Product/white-wings-pavlova-magic-mix-125g-
isabel says
very creative , precious
Dan says
Hopefully someone here can help me! I used royal icing to ice a mini cookie monster I created for my daughter’s first birthday cake topper. It looks great, but I only did this as a trial run because we’re still 3 weeks out. The trouble is it came out so well, I’d like to use this for the “go-live”. How long will the mold (which is rice krispie treat) iced with royal icing last in the fridge? If i keep it in a dark spot (cardboard box) in the fridge will it last 3 weeks?
Thanks!
marian says
Hi Dan; Dried royal icing decorations by themselves can be kept at room temperature indefinitely. I’ve never covered rice treats with icing so I really can’t say for sure about how to store them!
One idea though; If you don’t want people to eat the topper, maybe leave it out at room temperature for at least 3 days so that it’ll dry out. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think the treat will go bad. The reason why I’m suggesting drying it out, rather than putting it in the fridge, is that the condensation in the fridge might wreak havoc (bleeding) with your colors in the royal icing. Again, I’m really not sure though. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!
Liane R says
Thanks for sharing the Royal Icing info. And I adore your valentines cupcakes!
Lauri says
Hi Marion
I just found your website and love it! I have a strange question for you..can I decorate cupcakes with royal icing and have them on display indefinatley? It will be used in a party rental shop so they will be on a table not in a display case.
Thanks Lauri
marian says
Hi Lauri,
Royal icing is great for keeping on display – it lasts indefinitely as long as where you’re displaying it isn’t humid. Maybe put a fake cupcake underneath it though… something to fill the cupcake liner out, but not something which spoils. Would love to see pics if you’d like to share on my facebook page!
Zena Thomas says
I love, love, love your website!
Marian says
Thanks Zena!
Kerry Phillips says
This is the best post ever!! You answered so many questions for me…Thank you!!!
Pilar says
Dear Marian,
congrats for your special gift!
all of your cookies and muffins are so beautifull.
I am one of your millions of fans, and you are my inspiration.
I am base in Barcelona, quite humid weather, so I tried muffins with RI letters, and they last only one nite, next day they were complitly melted 🙁
so this time I only decorated muffins with butter cream.
thanks for share your knowledge with all of us.
If you have time check my little blog:
http://sweetyfactory.blogspot.com/
xoxo from BCN
marian says
Hi Pilar,
Well that’s good to know! In very humid weather, they really don’t last long at all. Thank you for sharing the info. and your sweet blog. xo
Cheryl Bentley says
Hi Marian, awesome site!!!! You are so good. I am just starting out so these tips and ideas are great. I would just like to know how to get the little heart shapes with RI???
Also I need a simple good recipe for the cupcakes itself if you have. Thanks a million you are a star and so ready to share your talent.
marian says
Thanks Cheryl,
Here is a tutorial on marbling which shows the hearts:
https://sweetopia.net/2010/04/how-to-marble-royal-icing/
There are cupcake recipes in the cupcake section of the blog, enjoy!
Happy decorating and baking!
xo
Amber says
Hi Marian! I have a question for you that I hope you can help me with as I can’t find any answers on the web! I have stored my leftover royal icing in clean sealed yogurt containers in a dark cool space. It has now been just over 3 weeks since I made it and I pulled it out and gave it a stir and it still looks perfect! (no crusting or anything). I keep reading that you can store royal icing for up to 2 weeks, but what if it still looks great? Do you think this would be a health risk? I make mine with meringue powder, but I don’t want to poison my guests! What is your take on this. I feel so bad throwing out all these beautiful containers of colored icing! Perhaps next time I should freeze them instead? Any advice would be much appreciated! Thank you! And I absolutely LOVE your blog. You inspire me every day 🙂
marian says
@ Amber:
I find the quality of the icing isn’t quite as smooth because it has separated more and more over time, so needs to really be vigorously stirred to get it back up to par, but safety-wise, my opinion (which is just my opinion 😉 I think it would be fine at 3 weeks (if you make it with meringue powder).
Funny that you mention freezing it; that’s something I’d like to experiment with. I’ll eventually do a post and also ask for everyone’s feedback. If you try it out, please drop us a line and let us know how it goes.
Happy decorating!
jess says
Hi
I purchased royal icing from a cake store a couple of weeks ago it is in a airtight seal bag am i able to store it in the fridge or freezer and how long?
marian says
Hi jess; I keep mine for up to two weeks if made with meringue powder. If your icing was made with egg whites, I’d keep it refridgerated for about a week.
Freezing; I have yet to try this, apparently it works just fine!
Annie says
Hi, I was just wondering if the colors bleed over time. I’d like to start making some decorations in advance and I’m worrying that the bright colors will affect white/lighter colors.
marian says
Yes, they will, but you can help prevent it by storing in an airtight container with desiccant. Even storing your container in an environment which is as humidity-free as possible, will help.
Zoe VanHoose says
Hi Marian – huge fan of your site! Thank you for your time and generosity in sharing your wealth of knowledge with the world!
My question is about he cupcake itself in the photos above…how did you get the icing perfectly round on top? I have big tips I use to ice cupcake but one leaves the ridges and one leaves it smoothe, but I you coil both of them onto the cupcake (if that makes sense), yours doesn’t look like that…or did you use the smoothe one and then dip them in the sanding sugar? I’m perplexed! They are so awesome I would love to know =)
Thanks again for being so awesome!
marian says
@ Zoe VanHoose:
That’s exactly what I did. I use a very large tip with a circular opening; it leaves it fairly smooth, but not perfect. I then dipped the cupcake in the sanding sugar and that did the trick for making them look uniform/smooth.
I didn’t do this next step, but if you really wanted to, before you put the sanding sugar on, dip a palette knife into warm water, shake it off, then smooth your buttercream with that. THEN add the sanding sugar.
Hope that helps!
Happy baking!
www.sushis-makis.com says
Thanks for sharing! Always nice to learn, i will happily follow your blog from now on!
Alice says
Hi Marian,
I recently found your website and it has been a great help. You seem to have the answers before i even think of the question.
Thanks alot for sharing your knowledge!
Alice
Julia says
Hi, What is the best way to dry & how long do it take for cookies to dry?
Marian (Sweetopia) says
@ Julia: I let mine dry room temperature on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If I’m packaging them, I let them dry for 24 hours. The icing on top of the cookies acts as a sealant for freshness.
Lezanne says
What a genius idea!! Thank you. I am definitely going to make use of my leftover royal icing in this manner from now on.
Riley says
Thank you so much! This really helped me out! 😀