I'm currently in Wilton Course 2 at Ms and Wednesday night we have to bring a batch of royal icing....the recipe in the book is US and being in Canada, we don't have "pure cane" sugar so my WMI gave us a recipe from Bulk Barn....weird thing is...it calls for 1 cup of Meringue Powder, 4 cups of icing sugar and water....

I've checked the Wilton site and yearbooks and the recipe there calls for only 3 tbsp of meringue powder with 4 cups of icing sugar...am I better off using the recipe from the book???

Also, she said that RI can be made no earlier than an hour before class but the yearbook says RI can be kept airtight at room temp for 2 weeks!! What's the real deal??

I would use the recipe in the book. 1 cup is A LOT of Meringue Powder!

Royal Icing can be made a kept for a couple of weeks, but it sometimes needs to be re-whipped. If you make it the day of your class, you should be okay.

That sounds like waaaaay too much meringue powder!

The best recipe I've found so far is Antonia74's royal icing. Very nice to work with! http://www.cakecentral.com/cake_recipe-1983-0-Antonia74-Royal-Icing.html

1 cup is definately toooo much. Not more than than the 3 tablespoons for such a small amount of sugar.

Go with the recipe that calls for 3T meringue.

Aalso, I have found that RI doesn't like humidity!!!

Okay as a WMI, I can tell you you can make that icing more than an hour before class. It is best when at home to make and use it because it is fresh made and a good texture. If you let it sit it gets spongey and will seperate a little (after days.) It is still work able you will just need to stir it up really well in class before you add it to your bag. If it seperates, use your mixer on it for a minute or so.

But realisticly it isn't always to make icing right before class. My students often have day jobs and only have time to get something to eat before class or time to run home and grab their supplies. I also have students that come straight from work. In the 4 years we have never had problems with icing cause it was more than an hour old.

I can't help you with the measurements, as I've always used the Witlon recipe.

Why no pure cane sure there????

Thanks ladies!!

I'm definitely going to use the 3tbsp recipe!!

I don't know what the deal is with the pure sugar cane n/a here but that's what she told us...I don't even know what the difference is between confectioners sugar and pure cane...are they interchangeable in a recipe??

oh i used to use wilton's all the time until i discovered antonia's!! it's wonderful and i love the taste, dries great and when thinned out it's nice and smooth (it keeps great too, just need to stir it a bit) just take a look at her gallery and you'll come over to the other side

I took the class at Michael's as well. I used the EXACT recipe from the book. Just use Roger's icing sugar, or something similar. You will be fine. It always comes out perfect for me.

In other words, there really is no difference between what you use in the US and Canada.

Have fun. I LOVED my Wilton's classes. And was even asked to become an instructor.