Hi, i've been working on decorated cookies for a while but i still have some doubts and would like to know your experiences with royal icing, here are my questions.

1. How do you get the flooding consistency??, i obtain it from the stiff consistency adding water, but i have heard some people make first the flood consistency (not adding too much sugar) and then add more sugar to get the stiff (without adding water).

2. How much time does the royal icing takes to get dry?? someone told me that because she didnt add water, her cookies where dried in an hour. But mine take all night....

3. Because of all the hours they have to be drying, mines get soft... and yours???

I really would appreciate your help.

I don't flood - I use MMF. But I use RI for decorating. I add water, a drop at a time until like elmers glue.
Mine dry very quickly. Like with an hour or two. With the water addition. They shouldn't take all night.

Wilton has a product called "Colorflow" for flooding. It has a recipe and you add it to the icing and it works very well. I haven't tried adding additional water to Royal, but it might work.

Enjoy your day!

I have found that my cookies take all night sometimes to dry also. It must depend where you live. I had al large amount to do recently and had to leave them overnight and my cookies went soft too. I kept the cookies for my kids and made a new batch for the client. When I went back to my first cookies they were crunchy again!!!! I have read since then that the royal icing can suck up the moisture of the cookie and I am assuming that is why they went crunchy again.
With the royal I make it stiff and then water it down. I find that this way you get the same colour for the outline and flooding. If you add the icing later it might alter and lighten the colour slightly.
Hope i helped.

Well thats great about colorflow. I've never tried it but will now

I make Antonia's RI. I make the stiff icing first and then water down for flooding. BUt I find that I have to use much more water than her recipe calls for. My cookies take overnight to fully dry, but do not get soft.

Look at this link http://www.cakecentral.com/article54-How-To-Bake--Decorate-Cookies.html

It is a great tutorial on making and decorating sugar cookies. That is where I learned!

Stephanie

If I can ask while on the subject of Royal icing, what recipe does everyone use? I am new and have only used the wilton recipe and I don't care for the taste. Can you add extracts or is there a better recipe to use?

Thanks in advance,
Kim