Last night I tried to make RI daisies. Um, yeah...didn't work. First, the icing was too thin- the petals kept running together after they were piped. Ok, so I added more powdered sugar. Same thing happened. I finally ended up with too stiff of an icing that couldn't be piped

What's the trick with Royal icing and making flowers? I just can't seem to get it. Does anyone have a special RI recipe that they use that gets great results? Please help- the cake is for tomorrow.

I just use Wilton's royal icing recipe and I've never had a proble with it.

Royal Icing

3 Tablespoons Wilton Meringue Powder
1 lb. (4 cups) confectioners' sugar (about 1lb.)
6 Tablespoons warm water*
Beat all ingredients until icing forms peaks (7-10 minutes at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer, 10-12 minutes at high speed with a hand-held mixer). Recipe makes 3 cups.

NOTE: Keep all utensils completely grease-free for proper icing consistency.

* For stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

**When using large countertop mixer or for stiffer icing, use 1 tablespoon less water.

Thinned Royal Icing: To thin for pouring, add 1 teaspoon water per cup of royal icing. Use grease-free spoon or spatula to stir slowly. Add ½ teaspoon water at a time until you reach proper consistency.

Just what KCSCARLET said. This is a no fail recipe. I've made it several times and NEVER had a problem with it.

Good Luck!

Guess I need to invest in some meringue powder. thanks!

p.s. how will I know when it's at the right consistency?

I think sometimes I lose track of time and think I've beaten the RI enough. I had something similar to what you describe happen to me, then turned the mixer back on and increased it one speed and let it go a few minutes longer - turned out that was the problem.

I hope you can get it to work for you!

Normally, the "main" recipe is a good consistency for flowers. But after you make a few you can better determine is it is working for you, then adjust as necessary.

Make sure everything is grease-free though or even that won't work!!

I have found that humidity is not a kind to RI!!!!!

I've only used the Wilton recipe and I have had a few batches fail. I believe my problems were not enough mixing and grease contamination of my utensils.

I now have a dishwasher and a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and have no problems since.

To thicken Royal Icing I use cornstarch.